Club Officers
2010 BMWBMW Officers & Committee Chairs
BMW Bikers of Metropolitan Washington has an active slate of Officers & Committee Chairs. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us with any questions. either via Email or in the forum, each BOD Officer and/or Chair has their forum handle next to their name.
I started riding in August, 2004. I bought a K75S off of E-bay from a guy in Michigan. A friend of mine and I drove from Illinois to the UP to pick up the bike. Never been on a bike (except as a passenger) I knew absolutely nothing about motorcycles. I practiced for a week and then took my driving test - flunked with Flying Colors!! Practiced another week and passed. Now I'm licensed and Dangerous!!! I didn't ride much my first year. I did a couple of decent trips including the MOA in Lima. In the Spring of '06, I moved to Virginia. This is when my riding really took off. I never knew what a "Twisty" was but boy did I learn that term really quick!! Now I'm loving VA and struggling with my BRICK!! Even with new tires, I still felt heavy. So in May, I bought a 2005 R1200ST from a guy in New Hampshire. Rode 2 up with Jim on his very uncomfortable GS and I rode my new bike home!!! I've been on the road quite a bit since. Now I love the Twisties!!!
Vice President - Maria Vandergucht (MariaV)
I had thought about riding for years, but never had piloted a motorcycle. I satisfied the urge for awhile with a convertible, but people stared at me when I wore a helmet in the car. :-) All kidding aside, I took the Rider’s Edge course in May 2003, to answer the question of whether I wanted to pursue this motorcycle thing. And the answer was a resounding YES! I bought my first bike, a 2003 BMW F650CS, in October 2003. In a year and a half, I had only put 7500 miles on it, and knew that a bigger bike was the next step for the trips I wanted to take. In May 2005 I got an R1150R and have nearly 60K on the clock. Many riders ride more, many ride less. But I love my bike and look forward to hitting 100K with it. I joined the club shortly after buying my first bike, and found a welcoming group of folks who love to ride and encourage others. I hope all new members have that same experience. I started my involvement in the club just participating in events, then helping to organize the vendor/door prize aspect of the annual rally, then decided to run as an officer. I’m now in my second year as VP and enjoy working with the officers and Board who also give of their time. I encourage you to get involved in the club. You can do it in little ways and big ways. Join us for a RTE or Tech Day…vote in the annual election…help with our annual rally. Our club’s success relies on your involvement, and I find that I enjoy and value something more when I put some skin in the game.
Ron started riding in 1999 on a Yamaha V-Star 650 and had planned on eventually moving “up” to a Harley Davidson. A year on the Yamaha convinced him that cruisers were not to his liking and he started looking for alternatives. After a brief fling with a Kawasaki Concours, Ron found a 2000 K1200RS demo at Adventure BMW in Chesapeake, VA in May 2001 and became a BMW fan soon after.
The K1200RS was sold in April 2003 after Ron moved to Virginia and he went bikeless for four years when the urge to ride returned. Using some “fuzzy math” to show his wife that an inexpensive motorcycle was cheaper than the commuter train, Ron convinced his wife to let him get a 2002 Honda VFR800. The BMW itch returned in May 2008 when he spotted a ’07 K1200S on Craigslist. Fuzzy math was out the window as it was now evident that the real reason for getting another motorcycle was the joy of riding. The K1200S eventually gave way to a K1300S in July 2009.
In addition to BMWs, Ron is a sport bike rider and has a track-prepared Honda CBR600F4i. He normally rides track days at Summit Point and is a member of the Northeast Sport Bike Association (NESBA) and Team Pro-Motion.
Ron resides in Fairfax, VA and is employed by the Department of the Army. He’s been married for 26 years with two children. His wife, Linda, started riding in 2008 and has Ducati Monster 696. When not riding, Ron likes to watch pro football (Baltimore Ravens and whoever’s playing against Indianapolis), college lacrosse and a variety of motorsports. Ron also plays bass in a local cover band called Cheap Therapy. He is retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Treasurer - Elsie Smith (Elsie Smith)
In 1990, Elsie joined the club and began serving on the board as the Secretary. Since then, she has held many positions, such as meeting/events, rally, membership, and editor. She was honored as a Hall of Fame member in 1996.
She began riding in the early '70s on small dual-sport bikes. In March 1990, she bought her first BMW, a used 1971 R75/5. After getting bitten by the long-distance riding "bug," Elsie competed and finished 28th in the 1997 Iron Butt Rally riding a 1985 K100RT. She has since then competed in several 48-, 24- and 10-hour rallies with varying success.
In 2001, she traveled with over 10 club members from Nice, France to Munich, Germany with Edelweiss Motorcycle Tours. On her 2003 R1150RT, she took Larry Grodsky's Stayin' Safe course, a two-day back-to-back track day with Reg Pridmore at Virginia International Raceway, and spent a week riding solo in Ontario and Quebec provinces.
Aboard her current ride, a 2006 F650GS, she completed the MotoMark1 off-road school and then took a three-week vacation to join the MotoDiscovery Road to Real Expedition tour in November 2008.
Elsie joined the club with every intention of serving its members. She feels that the best way to get the most out of the club experience is by actively participating and helping as much as one can.
Membership - Paul Brown (griffin378)
Hello club. Paul Brown here, your BMWBMW membership chair. I’m writing to briefly introduce myself and to describe my approach for performing membership responsibilities.
I first started riding motorcycles in 1990 and I started riding BMW in 2003. I’ve owned two 1150 GS bikes and I’ve had some great experiences with them, taking trips to local favorite areas in the Appalachians and taking more extended rides throughout the US and Canada.
I joined BMWBMW a few years ago and I have come to love the club. We’ve got a great group of friendly, creative, supportive and knowledgeable people who are willing to share their strengths with the rest of us. I find the club’s tech days, membership meetings, group rides and other all-welcome events to be warming and rewarding. The club’s on-line forum and monthly newsletter are first-rate and keep us all in touch.
As your membership chair, I do my best to process membership requests in an efficient and timely way. Since the job involves monthly reporting, I process membership requests once a month. My objective is to process membership requests received by the first of the month during that same month.
Please send any membership requests or inquiries to me - - I’ll be happy to help!
Email: membership@bmwbmw.org
Mailing address:
BMWBMW Membership
PO Box 101115
Arlington VA 22210
Editor - Rick Przybylski (RJP3579)
It started for me back in the late 80’s. After flirting with a Suzuki RM125 on the trails, a friend of mine bough a new Honda 750 Nighthawk which he let me ride around the block a few times. I was hooked. Unfortunately it took me several years before I would actually get back on a street bike. Since it had been several years, a friend let me ride his K75 around a parking lot. He had always talked to me about BMW bikes and I became interested in them plus there was just something about the way they looked that attracted me to them. I purchased my first street bike in 2005 with my R850R and joined BMWBMW shortly afterwards. Took the Basic Rider Course a few months later and obtained my motorcycle license. In November of ’07, I purchased my ’04 R1150RT from Bob’s BMW and here I am.
Check out the Online Between the Spokes!
Government Affairs David Gilmore (streetdoc)
I first started riding around 1969/70 on friends Honda 70’s. In 1975 as a 17 year old fresh out of Marine Corps Boot Camp, I tried to buy a car but couldn’t get financing for $500 even though I had put $1500 down on a 70 Dodge Challenger. So I took back all of the money and bought my first motorcycle a Honda 500/4. Six months and 12,000 miles later I traded it in for a Honda 750. Eight months and 20,000 miles later I got transferred overseas and sold the bike. After I came back went through a couple of other Endro style bikes then stopped riding for about 25 years. Two years ago I got back into riding and bought my first BMW, a 99 R1100RS; it took me on my first Saddle Sore and Coast to Coast ride. The 50CC ride convinced me that I needed something a little more comfortable. So, a 07 R1200RT replaced the RS, boy is it nicer. I love riding, my favorite is what I call my Front Tire Ride, and I am just following where the front tire takes me.
Committee Chairs
Square Route Rally Chairs - Maria Vandergucht (MariaV)
Rides - Ed Phelps (phelps2ride)
Check out BMWBMW's Ride Pages for the latest information and updates on our club and member rides and events, and tons of resources on the great roads in the mid-Atlantic area! Also check the message boards for last-minute and informal rides and ride ideas!
The Safety Chair / Committee is responsible for the promotion of safe riding practices by club members, for coordination of the activities of the club in the promotion of greater safety for all motorcyclists.
I learned to ride in the fall of 2006 while I was going to school in Daytona Beach. I got my first bike, a new 2007 F650GS, at the end of February 2007 (just in time for Bike Week!). My F650 was my only mode of transportation for the remaining two years that I was in school in Daytona, and I commuted on it daily once I moved off campus. I also learned to fly while I was in Daytona, and earned flight ratings through Certified Flight Instructor.
I'm a software engineer, doing mostly application level programming, and some database administration. I'm glad to be able to support BMWBMW as the webmaster.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions related to the website, send me an email anytime.
Meetings & Events - Tina Fraembs (BMRGirl)
I am looking forward to improving our communication within the Club for Meetings and Events. With your help, I'm hoping to plan a fun-filled year!!! Please feel free to send me any suggestions for meeting places, speakers, upcoming events, Poker Runs, Tech Days, Rallies, Other Club's functions, and any other events you would like to share with the Club!! Send any comments or contributions to events@bmwbmw.org
Check out BMWBMW's Event Pages for more information on all our upcoming events!
Technical - Wes Fleming (Chiba)
Check out the BMWBMW Events Page for information on our Slack-Pack tech events, and the message boards for tips, tricks and informal maintenance and wrench-gatherings.
Sales - Christine "Tigger" Bauer (Bauer)
I was very pleased to be asked to finish out the 2007 Sales Chair position. My riding experience includes being the "chick on the back" on and off over the years. My dad, when I was in elementary school, used to have a candy apple red Suzuki 500 and he would sometimes drop me off at school in my uniform (yes - Catholic school). I was the envy of every kid. It was awesome.
Now, I'm the passenger on Günter's 2004 R1200C which we love, although he's been looking at an R bike because "if you want to do rally's then we need some comfort and cargo space" was his quote (I think it's just an excuse to get another BMW) :)
As most of you know, I tried the BRC at the end of June 2007 and was completely overwhelmed on the range and while the members of this awesome club have been very supportive and encouraging, I'm still re-thinking about trying again.
We're fairly new to the club, having joined in 2005, and have only been participating in activities for about the past year or so. I have only served as the 2007 SRR Door Prize/Vendor Retention chair but am trying to be more active and bring new ideas, energy and enthusiasm to the club.
Always remember – Tigger’s Bounce!
Check out BMWBMW's e-Commerce area for information on our club-logo shirts, hats, and more!
Don't forget, feel free to e-mail us with any questions or concerns!