Who We Are

What started as a personal effort to stay out of her car during Newport’s busy summer season became a full-time effort to help Newport become the bicycle friendly community it is destined to be. After two years as a volunteer coordinator, and thanks to the generosity of local foundations and funders, Bari became the Executive Director of Bike Newport in 2012. She brings to Bike Newport more than 25 years of experience in the non-profit sector where she worked to build collaborations and to optimize resources. Bari has led initiatives on women’s health, civil rights, and financial services regulation, before turning her focus to bicycle advocacy. Now it’s all about getting more folks to choose bikes for local transportation – no parking, no quarters, and no spandex required!

bari@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Dave comes to Bike Newport with a wealth of experience in the alternative transportation movement. He caught the two-wheeled bug during his undergrad years at the University of California, Davis, where a dense network of bike-only streets allows over 10,000 students to ride to class every day. Dave has broad experience in the world of bike nonprofits, having managed events and business partnerships at Bike East Bay in Oakland, California as well as at Chicago’s Active Transportation Alliance. He has also volunteered as a mechanic in a number of community bike shops and spends his free weekends exploring New England’s hiker/biker campgrounds. Dave works to grow Bike Newport’s programs, which feature a unique and exciting combination of community bike shop education and bicycle advocacy. Feel free to contact him if you see an opportunity for your business or community organization to partner with Bike Newport on making our city a wonderful place to ride a bike.

dave@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Niko brings 20 years of experience in corporate and nonprofit offices to Bike Newport. She’s a dedicated consensus and capacity builder who believes that we all succeed when we build strong communities. A local rider with three kids on bikes, too, Niko is excited to help correct perceptions of cyclists, to help raise the profile of bike riding, and to build more biking as a transportation and equity solution. The result – more and more people on bikes, and everyone of every walk of life seeing themselves reflected as they pedal around town. In Niko’s words, “Newport is a good place to provide safe, efficient and well connected bike travel – we are part of the national shift to choosing bikes to get to work, school and play.” Niko is pictured with her “threenager” who swears she’s grown up and is thrilled every time she can bike with her mother.

niko@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Cycling has been an integral part of Rhys’ life since he learned to ride as child. As soon as the training wheels came off, his bicycle became his primary mode of transportation to school, sport practices, appointments, and friends’ houses. Nearly three decades later not much has changed. Rhys still commutes to work on his bike rain or shine and has become a dedicated member of Newport’s growing hardcourt bicycle polo community.

rhys@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Clare has been riding for as long as she can remember and brings 20 years of experience in education, social media management and nonprofit organizations to Bike Newport. She’s ridden in triathlons, long distance rides and completed her first century last year. Whether it’s commuting, longer distance road biking or trail riding, Clare loves to be out on her bike. From the UK, Clare brings experience of bike friendly cities and extensive travel and is looking forward to using her experience to further Bike Newport’s mission.

clare@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Nate Giblin has been an outdoor enthusiast his whole life. He moved to Newport four years ago after completing the Appalachian Trail, to ride pedicabs for the summer – and soon fell in love with pedal powered transportation and the City of Newport. What was supposed to be a temporary summer job turned into a permanent relocation and a new way of life!

nate@bikenewportri.org

(401) 619-4900

Bio to come

Bike Newport Volunteer of the Year in 2015, Pat is always generous with his time and spirit. Pat can be found nearly 365 days of the year on an assortment of road, folding, fat tire, and mountain bikes. If there’s a Bike Newport ride, chances are that Pat is happily sweeping. In addition to being an avid cyclist, Pat loves to sail for fun and in all the local regattas. A retired NUWC Systems Engineer, Pat lives in Middletown with his wife, Janet. He has two grown boys, both engineers, and four grandchildren with a fifth on the way.

Bio to come 

Colin is an avid bike rider and all-around outdoors enthusiastic. He rides because it’s the cleanest, fastest way to get around Newport. Having grown up outside Boston and ridden around the cities of New York and Washington DC, he seeks to advocate for rider safety and improved road infrastructure in densely populated areas. You can find him in the Bike Garage wrenching or out on the road trying to make the machine attached to his feet go faster.

Steve built his first touring bike at the East Quad Bike Co-op in Ann Arbor, Michigan and then promptly road it across the state. He’s since embarked on many longer treks, including a 1000 mile tour from Michigan to Vermont. Steve calls Aquidneck Island home, living in Newport and working as an environmental consultant in Middletown where he’s helping to establish the nation’s first offshore wind farm. He’s never far from the Bike Garage, where he spends many hours getting greasy and lending a hand to others. Steve led the bike brigade that restored a fleet of bikes for visiting ballet dancers to Island Moving Company, where his wife Tara is a principal dancer. Not just a bike geek and windmill junkie, Steve is also a talented graphic designer – creator of the famous Giant Squid of Narraganset Bay that adorns Bike Newport’s signature jersey and many other feisty and fun illustrations for Bike Newport. 

Art likes working on and riding bicycles.  He is presently a Professor of Oceanography at the Graduate School of Oceanography, URI and has been involved in many areas of earth and planetary science research.  Art has managed bicycle shops and been active in community bicycle organizations all around the country. He is an avid cyclist and enjoys bike touring at any opportunity. He particularly enjoys helping people learn bicycle mechanics by advising them on how to fix their own bikes. At Bike Newport, Art regularly volunteers at the Open Garage and mentors several student interns from the East Bay MET School.

Michael grew up in rural Foster, R.I. As a youth, he spent countless hours riding a mountain bike or BMX. While living in Providence, he bought his first road bike for commuting and has been doing so ever since.
Michael has been a bike commuter in different regions of the U.S. Upon moving to Colorado for a job as a snowboard instructor, he noticed cycling infrastructure which made it easier, safer, and more enjoyable than that in place here in Rhode Island. It is a goal of Michael’s to improve the cycling infrastructure here in Newport for a number of reasons, including a decrease in automobile traffic congestion, noise and emissions, as well as an increase in community connectedness and health.

With four years under his belt at Bike Newport, Brandon is our senior MET School intern. Already a skilled mechanic, Brandon is a wealth of information for Bike Garage participants of every skill level. Brandon enjoys sharing his passion for bikes and biking when he teaching safety and riding tips to youth at the Bike Library on many Saturday mornings. He also serves as a resident consultant member of Newport Health Equity Zone Transportation Committee. 

Valerie Larkin is a long-time bicycle enthusiast, going back to her undergraduate days at the University of Pennsylvania, when a bike racing friend coerced her into riding centuries. She first came to Newport in 1980 to work for the Navy and to attend graduate school at Brown University. After moving around Rhode Island for a number of years, she was very happy to return to Newport in 2015, especially because her new home is less than five miles from her office. Since then she has been a dedicated bicycle commuter. Valerie’s particular interest is the integral role that bicycles play in sustainable cities and towns. When not on her bicycle, Valerie enjoys tennis, writing, playing music, and being on the water.

 Laura Murphy has been working for the Preservation Society of Newport County for 20 years in the retail division. Laura hooked up with Bike Newport when Trudy Coxe, the Director and CEO of the Preservation Society, asked her to represent them at the meetings. She was impressed by the organization and decided to give 100% of her volunteer time to Bike Newport. Laura is an avid horsewoman, but also rides her bike to and from work. When she lived in Washington D.C., the trek was 12 miles each way. Today it is a mere 3 miles to and from work! But as Laura says it relaxes her, gets in her exercise, and takes one more car off the road.

Omar Tazi is a certified public accountant (CPA) who has worked in public accounting servicing many non-profit organizations throughout the state of Rhode Island.  He is a born and raised Rhode Islander who moved to Newport in 2015 and is eager to use his expertise to better the community. Omar is thrilled to be a member of Bike Newport and will work hard to ensure financial sustainability of the organization and keep Newport a bike friendly and safe environment.

Sarah was a bike commuter early on, biking to school in her hometown of Washington, DC – up to the highest point in the city.  When she lived in Southeast Asia with her family, her fondest memories were biking through the rice paddies and back roads of Vientiane, Laos. Sarah has lived and biked in Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, New York, Baton Rouge, and suburban Baltimore, and was never so inspired to get back on a bike as she was when she moved to Newport with her family five years ago.

Marguerite has been a school nurse teacher for over 25 years on Aquidneck Island and Bristol. As an avid outdoor enthusiast she enjoys biking as a family activity and transportation to work. “Biking enhances our sense of our community, thereby contributing to overall health and wellness. I am excited to be part of Bike Newport.”