Fifty Barns 300k & Royal Athols 200k on May 9th

We have a 300k & 200k (mostly separate routes) on May 9th. Registration closes @ 3pm on Friday, May 8th. We’ve used both of these before but not for a few years. I (ride lead Jake) really like both these routes. They are challenging but interesting and fun. Routes are mostly small back roads but you do cut through Amherst and a few other small towns.

More details here

Note: The “password” on the registration link refers to 2024 but it is still valid. It’s a way of verifying that riders are current RUSA members, a requirement of our rides.

2026 – March 29th 100k, Membership, Season Pass, Event Registration

Hello NERds! Season Pass, Membership, and registration for the first few events of 2026 are up.

We also have a last-minute spring addition to the calendar: on Sunday, March 29th, there will be a 100k out of Ferris Wheels Bike Shop in Jamaica Plain (Boston). See the event page for more details.

The Season Pass gets you $50 off all 2026 NER events, making all events 400k and shorter completely free. NER Membership is completely optional and gets you voting rights in any NER official votes as well as showing your support for randonneuring in New England. It is NOT required for riding events with us. RUSA membership, available through RUSA at https://rusa.org IS REQUIRED for all events; please join/renew in advance.

Events with registration open (more to be added over the weekend):

The registration for the New England Six Pack 1200k/1000k is going live on Tuesday, March 10th. See the event page for the details.

Resting Up for 2026

With the cold weather and early darkness, NER now takes a breather until April when the season starts back up. (See the calendar of events for NER and the Westfield MA regions.) But in the meantime, there’s a lot of planning and options for informal riding.

NER’s inaugural 1200k, The Six Pack 1200, is scheduled for September 2026. The route is being continuously tweaked and other details being finalized. More information will be found here in the next few months. A new discussion group / email list has been created for those who want to stay informed about the event. (No content there yet.)

Randonneurs USA (RUSA) has now dropped the addition fee for riding permanents. Perms are a great way of riding a randonneuring type route on your own schedule, obtaining RUSA “credit” for the completion, and unlike Brevets you can modify all aspects of the route except for the control locations. Perms are a lot of fun and it’s good motivation to keep riding throughout the winter.

You can see a list of perms in the Boston area as well as search for perms anywhere in the US.

Occasionally people announce their intention to ride a perm on the NER Discussion Group for others are interested in joining the attempt.