Enjoy a car-free bike ride in Portsmouth this Saturday

Farm-to-Farm Bike Ride is a first for Aquidneck Island

By Jim McGaw
Posted 5/3/18

PORTSMOUTH — In what’s being billed as a first for Aquidneck Island, bicycle enthusiasts will have a chance to wheel around Middle Road and pass six local farms along the way on …

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Enjoy a car-free bike ride in Portsmouth this Saturday

Farm-to-Farm Bike Ride is a first for Aquidneck Island

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — In what’s being billed as a first for Aquidneck Island, bicycle enthusiasts will have a chance to wheel around Middle Road and pass six local farms along the way on Saturday, May 5. 

Best of all, they won’t have any cars to compete with.

Bike Newport is holding the inaugural Portsmouth Farm-to-Farm Bike Ride, a leisurely four-mile jaunt that’s suited for riders of all ages. It will take place from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, starting at the School Administration Building on the north end of Middle Road.

Bike Newport educators will be on hand to lead helmet fittings and bicycle checkups before heading out on the road with the riders. Middle Road will be shut down for the event, with police positioned at both ends and along the way to assist with redirecting traffic. 

“Residents of Middle Road and surrounding residents have received letters,” said Bari Freeman, executive director of Bike Newport, which works to improve education, infrastructure and safety so more people can ride bikes for transportation and for recreation. 

Ms. Freeman said the event will allow families to ride a well-travelled road that doesn’t always lend itself to safe travel on a bike. Middle Road has no sidewalks, so cyclists share the street with motor vehicles and pedestrians.

“Riding on Aquidneck Island means riding with cars,” said Ms. Freeman. “We’ve got this beautiful corridor that will work besides the rail, and that’s coming, but in the meantime there’s no place to ride without cars.”

To make Saturday’s ride extra manageable for bicycle-riders, the Department of Public Works will sweep Middle Road before the event starts. “The whole length is two miles, but people can turn around at any point,” she said.

As an added bonus, participants will pass six local farms during their ride along Middle Road: Escobar’s Highland Farm, DeArruda Farm, Quonset View Farm, Portsmouth Nursery,  BAW Farm and DeCastro Farm. 

Other local farms will provide food to the event caterers — including local grass-fed beef burgers from Cloverbud Ranch that will be sold at Escobar’s Farmhouse Inn. Information about all the farms will be available at the start and along the route.

Ms. Freeman said local resident Daniela Abbott and Linda Ujifusa, a member of the Town Council, approached her in March about the idea for a ride. “It really fell into place,” she said, adding that local volunteers, along with town officials, all came on board.

Ms. Abbott is the lead event volunteer for the event. “Middle Road is the perfect venue for this family-friendly event, offering some of the best views in Portsmouth,” she said.

Event organizers look forward to making the ride an annual tradition in May, which is National Bike Month. “It is a great event for so many reasons including encouraging community health, supporting our local farms, and providing a fun opportunity for recreation,” said Ms. Ujifusa.

Parking will be available at the School Administration building and Town Hall, as well as Escobar’s Farmhouse Inn, where the event caterer will be selling local grass-fed beef burgers from Cloverbud Ranch.

Bathroom facilities will be provided by the school district in the School Administration parking lot.

Since it’s a first-time event, Ms. Freeman said it’s difficult to predict how many people will show up. “Hopefully more than 100 people,” she said.  For event details and registration, visit bikenewportri.org/farmtofarmride.

Numerous local businesses are sponsoring the event, including Newport Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, Bristol Marine, Countryside Children’s Center, YMCA of Newport County, EcoRI News, Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, Aquidneck Pediatrics, Clean Ocean Access and Rhody Fresh Milk.

Upcoming events

Bike Newport has several other events scheduled for National Bike Month:

• Garaje en Español on May 7 and 21

• Bike to School Day on May 9

• Ladies Night at the Bike Garage on May 10 and 24

• Bike Night on May 17 at the Jane Pickens Theater

Bike Newport

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