In 1996 the coach of the three Manchester high school cross-country
ski teams got together with Bedford townspeople and started up BXCSC.
We got a large turnout of citizenry for our initial trail building;
that's both dwindled, in that it's mainly a small core who do the work
(it was ever thus for volunteer organizations), and grown, in that we
have many, many memberships.  While the club is independent of the
teams, there remains a close connection, and we often rely on team
members for volunteer projects.

We maintain about 5km of trails at Legacy Park, near the intersection
of New Boston Road with Wallace Road in Bedford.  The trails include a
lot of beginner grade sections, some intermediate level sections and a
few more difficult trails.  There's a good variety of scenery as our
trails mostly run through the woods.  We groom them using a Tidd Tech,
both for classical and for skate skiing.  There's lighting on the
soccer field near the warming hut, the baseball field by Chubbuck
Road, and the connecting trail between the two.  Our night skiers will
usually ski with headlamps, though.

With a lot of cooperation and financial support from the Bedford Rotary
we have a warming hut at the main entry to the trail network.  The hut
is open weekday afternoons when the ski teams practice, and is open and
staffed by volunteers on weekends when snow conditions warrant.  In 2007
we completed an addition to the warming hut with heated bathrooms and a
pantry.

Club meetings are monthly from October through March, usually on the
second Monday at 7:30PM.  We sponsor an annual race day on the
Legacy Park trails (the teams also schedule events there) and will
run a couple of day trips.

Club membership is strongly encouraged, but by no means mandatory to
use the trails or compete.  Dues go overwhelmingly to pay for trail
maintenance and improvements.  It costs $5 for students and senior
citizens, $10 for other individuals, and $25 for families.  We also
have sponsoring memberships at $50 per year, fund-raising bunwarmer
(think heated bathrooms!) memberships at $100, and team memberships
at $150 per year for high schools.  Team membership entitles all
team members to free registration in all our races (except high school
state championships) at Legacy Park, and allows the team to schedule
its own events there.  Members get a few mailings each ski season
with news and encouragement to show up for meetings and work days.

There have been a few adults who have wanted to meet other skiers to
practice more seriously.  The Bedford Nordic Masters Ski Club works
with adults at all levels to train and have fun X-C skiing.

We're online at www.bxcsc.org.  The site shows our schedule and gives
other information about the club, including the most up-to-date trail
map and directions to Legacy Park.

Thanks for getting in touch with us.  Hope to meet you on our trails!

                                        -- Richie