Thanks for all the welcome notes! ljbikes, I just wanted to respond to your question. It depends on where you ride in RI, in the part of the city I live in and commute in, the traffic treats us well. There are parts of Providence that are "not so kind" and the same holds true for Newport.
Also, we have some wonderful bike paths that are developed and some are being developed. It is a nice State for cyclists.
I saw you're from Maine, that is where I went to college! (Many, many hills ago):cool: