NER Election 2021

New England Randonneurs is a member based, volunteer organization led by a Board of Directors which is elected annually. The board consists of a maximum of 10 members.

The election for the 2022 Board of Directors begins the week of December 6th, 2021. All current members are eligible to vote. Instructions for voting will be emailed to the address the member used to register for their membership via BikeReg.

For more details, contact NER’s Clerk Emily O’Brien (emily -at- emilysdomain -dot- org)

2022 Candidate profiles:

Sarah Bergstrom – incumbent

I’ve been involved as a rider with NER since 2013, and on the board for several years. I’m now the Regional Brevet Administrator (RBA), the liaison with RUSA, which I’m happy to continue doing. I enjoy designing routes and leading events — for me, the only thing more satisfying than finishing a long ride is watching people pull into the finish of an event I put on. I would also like to help NER encourage new people to find randonneuring as well as provide fun and challenging events for our current ridership.

Dave Cain – incumbent

My name is David Cain and I’ve been involved in randonneuring for about 10 years. I continue to appreciate the magic of the sport–in particular I enjoy supporting rides here in Vermont where I live. I think having all the New England states represented with both rides and board members would be an excellent goal. I have been on the NER board for 5 or 6 years and look forward to another year of service.

Charles “Chip” Coldwell

I rode my first brevet in 2000, a 300K to Voluntown, Connecticut with the Boston Brevet Series (Dave Jordan, RBA). I DNF’d the 400K that year and didn’t pick it up again until 2003, but I haven’t missed a season since (except 2012; a baby girl got in the way). I have two near term goals for the club. First to get more rides in more places on the calendar (with PBP approaching, we all could use some homologation). My second near term goal is to get some merch back in stock. Not sure if I’m brave enough to open up the “wool jersey” can of worms again, but it’d be nice to have some technical jerseys and maybe custom reflective vests with rear pockets. Longer term, I have a pipe dream about bringing back Boston-Montreal-Boston that will probably never see the light of day.

Jake Kassen – incumbent

I’m a founding member of NER and have been a randonneur since 2006. I was the NER RBA for five years and was a RUSA Board member for two years before giving someone else a turn at administering the rides. I’m passionate about NER and Randonneuring and do what I can to see the organization continue to offer challenging and enjoyable events to the cyclists of New England and beyond.

Emily O’Brien – incumbent

I am a longtime randonneur and volunteer, and I have served on the NER board for a number of years. I’m NER’s current clerk and registered agent. I look forward to continuing to support NER’s activities in the coming years.

John “Rosy” Rosenwinkel (he/him)

While I am relatively new to randonneuring (having completed my first series with NER this past season), I am not new to the spirit and practice of long-distance self-supported exploration by bicycle. I am drawn to the community, personal growth, and joy that can be fostered by combinations of people and bikes (as is the case with randonneuring) and have been deeply involved in a new community bike shop in Providence that is organizing towards those goals. I am experienced in behind-the-scenes organizing and planning and am excited to put that skill and energy to use with NER. I am also particularly excited to continue recruiting more people to NER from southern New England (and potentially develop more rides out of Providence), which I will do regardless of whether I am elected!

Ted Shwartz – incumbent

Here is my history with NER and Brevets

2014 – First brevets, ever, with NER
2015 – Started volunteering at NER brevets
2018 – Started hosting brevets from my home
2019 – First attempt at PBP
2021 – NER Treasurer

As one representing both the older and slower randonneur world I find that I get a lot from both randonneuring and volunteering with NER. I have had success, and DNF’s at every distance with NER. I still have hope to succeed at PBP.

My continuing goal with NER is to see and show the benefits of randonneuring to new brevet riders

Phillip Stern – incumbent

I’ve been a biker all my life but really got into it as an adult in 1991. My favorite randonees are the Fleche and the 600k. I doubt I’ll ever do a 1200k. 
I’ve been on the NER board for a couple of years. This year I want to focus on gravel randonees and diversity in cycling.

Tsun Au Yeung – incumbent

I’ve been an NER rider for almost a decade and took Randonneuring semi-seriously since 2015. I am happy to continue my duty as a board member to facilitate putting on event for the New England region. I am a problem solver and I enjoy tackling challenges both on the bike (in terms of long distance riding, don’t count me to be your personal mechanic, there’s a relatively long learning curve there) as well as the logistical challenges of putting on event. I have been humbled by the athleticism of our club and I look forward to have the opportunity to service our club members next year as we hopefully pivot out of this pandemic.