Mike Smith, director of the Maine Winter Sports Center’s Healthy Hometowns program in Aroostook County, was recently honored with an award from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s board of directors.
Smith received the coalition’s Next Generation Award for Outstanding Efforts to Engender a Love of Bicycling in Maine Children.
Smith, of Presque Isle, is a driving force behind the growth of mountain biking in northern Maine, especially among young people. As event director for the annual Fat Tire Festival in Presque Isle, he helps coordinate a slate of youth-oriented activities.
He also helps community outing clubs start weekly youth mountain bike rides.
The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been working since 1992 to make Maine a better place to bicycle. The coalition advocates for Maine cyclists at the Legislature and in Washington, D.C., teaches bicycle safety to thousands of Maine schoolchildren each year, partners with state agencies on a Share the Road media campaign and serves as a resource on local bicycling issues.
