BEHIND THE NAME

Common Interests..

THE PALADIN RIDER ASSOCIATION is a 99% RIDER ASSOCIATION WITH THE SPECIAL PURPOSE OF FUNDRAISING FOR WORTHY CAUSES. (WE ARE NOT AN MC).

The original name of our growing RIDER ASSOCIATION was, "MILE HIGH CITY EMPLOYEE RIDER ASSOCIATION". The association was founded in 2004 by six employees of the City and County of Denver; a.k.a. THE MILE HIGH CITY.

The intention was to recruit motorcyclists employed by the city government which number more than 8000. (OBVIOUSLY NOT ALL OF US RIDE MOTORCYCLES).

Our common interests include that of improvement of the quality of life for children and the ongoing plague of domestic violence related crimes. The organizations we sponsor with charitable events include, but are not limited to: THE DENVER CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER and THE NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

A change in direction..

Along the way we came to the realization that many of the people we ride with are not necessarily employed by the city.

In 2006, the association founders met to discuss the possibilities in prospecting outside of the city. With an overwhelming yes vote we proceeded to add non employees to our membership. Shortly thereafter we took on quite a few new members and are growing every week. Today, we are comprised of city workers, small business owners, construction related workers, truck drivers, etcetera.

In fact, today; we accept members that ride any kind of bike: H.D. ,  GOLDWING, HONDA, KAWASAKI, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, VICTORY, CUSTOMS, BMW, IT'S WIDE OPEN. We do however prefer cruisers because it is difficult to mix cruisers with crotch rockets. Crotch rockets need to be going 100+ to be happy. BRING WHAT YOU RIDE, WE WILL MAKE SPACE. Find out more about membership in our CONTACT US section.

Since we are no longer comprised of solely city employees we have removed the employee conentation from our patch work and for identification purposes have added a new name. PALADIN RIDER ASSOCIATION.

Noteworthy: we strictly use a one back patch system so as to respectfully comply with c.o.c. regulations. (see the link to the confederation of clubs on our links page.)

Medieval Ancestory..

SO WHAT IS A PALADIN? Many people remember Paladin as the lead character in an old black and white western show called, "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL". This guy was a hired gun for just about any job that needed to be done. Although he was cool; this is not the origin of our name.

PALADIN DEFINED:

1. MEDIEVAL CHAMPION - A CHAMPION OR HERO, ESPECIALLY IN MEDIEVAL LEGEND OR HISTORY.
2. CHAMPION OF A CAUSE - SOMEONE KNOWN FOR CHAMPIONING A NOBLE CAUSE.
3. ONE OF CHARLEMAGNE'S COMPANIONS - IN HISTORY CHARLEMAGNE WAS SURROUNDED BY 12 LEGENDARY KNIGHTS. THESE KNIGHTS WERE KNOWN AS UNRELENTING WARRIORS AND CHAMPIONS OF THE CAUSE DURING THE CRUSADES.

So, it is with this medieval history that we stake our name with the legendary PALADIN KNIGHTS; champions of noble causes. We strive with each endeavor to uphold the legend as modern day PALADIN'S with a modern day list of noble causes.

 A TRUE WARRIOR DOES NOT SEEK WAR, NOR DOES HE WISH TO DO BATTLE. HE MERELY  BELIEVES THAT IT IS HONORABLE TO CLING TO A WORTHY CAUSE. IT IS NOBLE TO REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO ARE WEAKER THAN HIMSELF AND IT IS VALIANT TO BELIEVE THAT MANY THINGS ARE WORTH GIVING UP EVERYTHING.

-PHIL MESSINA-