Staff Directory

Dean's love of bikes bloomed after receiving a Schwinn Pea Picker Krate for Christmas 1972. After escaping serious injury despite that model having a Hurst-inspired stick shift mounted on the top tube, he moved on to BMX bikes and racing. Discovering girls in his late teens, he abandoned his bike somewhere in the front yard, probably upside down by the rake.

It wasn’t until middle age and excessive weight began to creep when Dean returned to cycling, specifically off-road riding in South Florida. As the weight came off, his love of cycling took off and soon one bike became three, one-hour rides became four and leisurely solo rides became 26-person races through the woods until somebody puked.

Dean is a 30-year veteran of the Florida newspaper wars, most recently at the Miami Herald as an editor for 16 years, where he was privileged to rub elbows with some of the country’s finest writers and fellow editors. Dean began his career as a staff writer for The Palm Beach Post, covering sports.

He still enjoys racing, particularly 12-hour solo events on a singlespeed, and participating in gran fondos on his road bike.

Marc was in the second month of a four-month kayak trip exploring the nooks and crannies of Baja’s 800-mile coastline when he received a cryptic message from home. Call Bill Tanler. A quick phone call from Bahia de Los Angeles and the deal was struck. They would launch Bicycle Retailer & Industry News in January 1992. Tanler, who passed away from a heart attack in 1999, lived to see BRAIN become the dominant trade magazine in the industry. Sani helped steer the magazine over the years through several wrenching corporate transitions. Sani is a former wire service and newspaper reporter who thrives on news whether in print or on the web. He became interested in cycling and joined a local cycling club in the mid 1980s, but candidly admits that skiing is his first love and cycling was one way to stay in shape for backcountry powder. In 2013 Sani stepped into a new role as Staff Writer as Megan Tompkins took over as BRAIN's third publisher.

Since the age of 4, Karl Wiedemann has loved bicycles and the freedom they brought. Always a tinkerer, Karl grabbed a wrench and removed the training wheels from his first bike because he couldn't corner as well as he wanted to. Through the years, Karl has raced mountain bikes, worked in bike shops and managed the marketing and public relations for brands such as Pedro's, Thule, Chariot and Park Tool. Today, Karl is still an avid cyclist, hiker, paddle-boarder, runner and skier. Karl splits his time between Georgia and Vermont.

Sales territory: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and in Canada the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

Email: kwiedemann@bicycleretailer.com

Gary Newkirk’s introduction to the bicycle industry was in the 1970’s when his family bought a family shop in Anaheim. While in college at the University of California San Diego and later at UCLA, Gary managed the bicycle co-op at UCSD and worked at Bikeology while finishing his degree at UCLA. Following a brief diversion into the finance world after college, he found his way back to the industry with stints at Two Wheel Transit Authority, West Coast Cycles and Blackburn Designs. Sports photography was always a passion and while at Blackburn he began shooting events for Winning Magazine and its sister publication Triathlete Magazine. A desire to broaden his sports coverage led to a staff photographer position at Allsport Photography (now Getty Images). While at Allsport he began specializing in golf photography leading to a position with Golf World / Golf Digest. After covering more than 500 professional golf tournaments he found himself drawn back at his first love, cycling. Gary joined Bicycle Retailer and Industry News in September 2011 as the Director of Sales and Marketing.

Sales Territory: California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, British Columbia

Email: gnewkirk@bicycleretailer.com