Josie Briggs, Dean Read, Eleanor Andrews, Lisa Horsch Clark, Gerald Collins, Jared Erskine, Robert Graham, and Rick Smith all currently serve on the MDI Wheelers board of directors. They’ve benefited from support from Portland Wheelers, an organization with a similar mission in southern Maine. Started in 2015, the group has been generous with sharing their expertise. Five years ago, MDI Wheelers purchased its first OPair electric- assist wheelchair tricycle, or e-trike, at a discounted rate from Portland Wheelers. It purchased a second and third trike in successive years, thanks to an anonymous donation. The e-trikes have three wheels for stability (one in the back, two in the front) and feature a wheelchair-like seat in the front for a rider. The “pilot” pedals from the back seat and has an overview of the road and the rider. The bikes are Class 1 trikes, which means they are ‘pedal assist’ with the least powerful electric motor, and are the only kind allowed on Acadia’s carriage roads. The park has also granted MDI Wheelers a special-use permit for the rides. Friends of Acadia donated funds to purchase a trailer to haul the trikes.
Pedal Power
Volunteers Are a Key Component
Photo: Sue Ferrante-Collier in yellow vest, 2026.
MDI Wheelers has also been training additional volunteers to serve as pilots and safeties. Safeties ride alongside the e-trikes. They team up on the carriage roads in a “pod” consisting of two riders and two pilots on the three e-trikes, along with two safeties who ride their own bikes. Rides are slow and gentle and mostly take place on the carriage roads around Eagle Lake and Paradise Hill, although routes vary to help ensure riders and volunteers maintain enthusiasm. Rides are also always free.
For more information or to schedule a ride, visit mdiwheelers.org. SHANNON BRYAN is Friends of Acadia’s Content and Website Manager. The full article can be found with Friends of Acadia. wonderful. They’ll say, ‘I could do this every day!’ Many of them used to ski or bike on the carriage roads and hike in the park but it may have been 30 years since they were last able to get out onto the trails like this. And Park visitors when they see us…the smiles on their faces are priceless!” Susan Ferrante-Collier, an Associated Broker with The Knowles Company, has been volunteering with the MDI Wheelers for several years after hearing about the organization from a friend. “I absolutely love this!” says Ferrante- Collier. “It makes my day, my week, my year. I can’t wait to get started again every spring! The joy it brings the riders, many who are from here, is
“We want not only riders but volunteers to benefit from this,” said Edson. “They will get as much out of this as the riders.”
This season, MDI Wheelers is offering rides twice a week on Thursday and Friday mornings to people in the community and park visitors. “It’s important how vital public space is. Nature brings people together,’ said Smith. He adds that it’s vital that public spaces be accessible to everyone, and that’s a driving force for MDI Wheelers and the program’s potential. Perhaps MDI Wheelers could help lead the way for other national parks; that’d be icing on the cake. This collaborative effort has already brought the magic of Acadia’s carriage roads back to the lives of Ed Wood and others who treasure it. “It’s been a great feeling,” Wood said. He describes riding on the carriage roads as a “return to childhood. I’m very grateful to my friends.”
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