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About Us
- PARR History
The POTOMAC AREA ROAD RIDERS is one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in
the greater DC area - almost three decades old and still serving a dynamic membership.
PARR
sprang from the
VIRGINIA FOURS, a local motorcycle club established in the mid 70’s
and named after its members from
Virginia
who rode new, ground-breaking Honda 750 cc 4-cylinder motorcycles. In those days
the club met at Fort Belvoir
and kind of bounced around from place to place. By the late 70’s the membership
had evolved to include members from
Virginia
,
Maryland
and D.C. and a wider variety of motorcycles.
In the early 1980’s, reflecting this broader range of interests, the club name was
changed to POTOMAC AREA ROAD RIDERS, adopting a logo showing all three jurisdiction’s
flags. The club also chartered itself with the American Motorcyclist Association
(AMA) and later became a
Virginia
corporation. At this point, the club
found a home at Stoneybrooke Park in Alexandria, VA. PARR continued
at a small membership level of about 12 active members,
until the late 80’s, when membership began to grow.
By 1984, a PARR newsletter,
The Spoke-n-Word, was developed to keep members informed of events, activities and each other.
By 1986, PARR’s culture centered around
open motorcycling events for the local motorcycling community, which, in part, raised
money for PARR’s annual December holiday banquet. Open events included Poker
Runs (many of which were charity runs supporting various organizations), as well
as a fun run that was instituted on January 1, 1983, named the
Polar Bear Run. The highest-ever
attendance at a PARR
Poker Run was 208
riders in April 1986. Closed runs –
those open only to PARR members – were
few and attendance low. Closed runs
usually were weekend camping runs to southern
Virginia
or
West Virginia
.Within the southern
Maryland
and northern
Virginia
areas, PARR became well known among riders for superb open runs, and enjoyed a continuing
mailing list of 120 riders.
In 1986, PARR joined with the
Olde Dominion Chapter of ABATE of VA (ODC ABATE) to institute the first
Law Ride Charity Run. The PARR Charity Run was
conducted on the Saturday before the Law Ride. As part of National Police Week all of the proceeds from the run supported the National Law Enforcement Officer’s
Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).
The
Law Ride Charity Run operated successfully
for over seven years with significant participation of law enforcement officers
from all over the country. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts arose with
National Police Week planning schedule. This made the Charity Run difficult
to attend and the ride was reluctantly discontinued.
By the Charity Run’s end, the
efforts of PARR and ODC ABATE had raised thousands of
dollars for the NLEOMF.
By the late 80’s, regular scheduled rides, open to non-PARR members were established
(currently, the 1st Sunday and 3rd Saturday of each month).
These rides generally run from around four to six hours, explore winding,
rolling country roads, while avoiding the interstates for the most part, and generally
include from four to ten riders.
The 90’s saw PARR moving to internet web site, as a more efficient means of communication
among members, with the public, and to recruit new members.
In the 90’s, PARR continued to host several
Poker Runs each year, in addition to the Polar
Bear Run. But, by the late
90s, there occurred a proliferation of both new and specialized motorcycle clubs,
as well as motorcycling events promoted by charitable organizations.
This began eroding PARR’s supporting-rider
base.From 1996 to 2000, typical Poker
Run attendance figures dropped from the 120’s into the 80’s.
Given the costs and member-efforts needed to conduct Poker Runs, and the
narrow profit margins driven by lower attendance, PARR was compelled to reduce its number of Poker Runs.
Despite this, PARR still continued
to offer some Charity Poker Runs.
At the same time as open runs were being reduced, a new PARR culture was forming that specialized in closed runs of two or more
days. Mike Wascak, who held various PARR officer positions – including Road
Captain, conceived the idea of exceptionally well-planned rides through spectacular
areas while staying at notable and interesting locations.
Mike spent most of the Winter and Spring each year planning “Endless
Mountain Tours"( EMTs).
These were usually four-day rides through the Poconos, the Alleghenies,
the Laurel Highland and Susquehanna valley areas of Pennsylvania and the Catskill
Mountains of upstate New York. These
rides quickly garnered a large PARR following
– often having a ¾ mile long formation of 30 riders.
By the close of the 90’s, PARR
had moved from its perspective of open and charity/ motorcycling-community events
toward closed runs, including the exceptional
EMTs . This cultural change
augured well with
PARR’s rapidly growing
membership.
By the early 2000’s, PARR had established a permanent location for business meetings at
the Jewish Community Center in
Fairfax, Virginia
; had developed an upgraded web site;
AND had inaugurated the Diesel award. The Diesel
is a stuffed comical animal character that is entrusted to a member that makes a
noteworthy bonehead mistake on a club ride - the mistake that started it all was
a member filling his gas tank with diesel fuel – thus the name of the “award.” Other
notable infractions include a member looking for his helmet, not realizing it was
on his head!
PARR’s popular
Polar Bear Ride remains PARR’s
only open run.It continues each year
on January 1st has now been a PARR and D.C.-
area motorcycling tradition for over 25 years.
It has been a great calendar highlight and a break from the winter riding
hiatus.Weather, as the title of the
ride would suggest, has presented its challenges over the years, but the staying
power of riders is remarkable, with the reward being some great mid-Winter rides.
As we move into the mid to late 2000’s PARR continues to refine its activities
to better serve its members.
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