Community Rolls Through Bar Harbor on Final Bike Bus Ride This School Year. Growing weekly event draws more than 100 participants, including Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner.
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Community Rolls Through Bar Harbor on Final Bike Bus Ride This School Year.

Growing weekly event draws more than 100 participants, including Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner.

Carrie Jones

Jun 10, 2026

A group of cyclists riding in a park with colorful bubbles floating around them. One cyclist is wearing a yellow raincoat and a helmet, with tattoos visible on her arm.

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop.

Promotional banner for Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop, highlighting rentals, sales, and services. Includes contact information and encouragement to visit for bike rentals.

BAR HARBOR—Jeremy Dougherty lives his life knowing that work means effort, that community is shaped, and that when people do something together and if you add bubbles and music and kids and exercise?

Well, if you do all that, then something special is going to happen.

That something special in Bar Harbor, June 10, the day after the primary and where the town voted in its elected officials was the Bar Harbor Bike Bus.

“I am so ready for this,” one enthusiastic middle schooler said before zooming across the edge of the ball field parking lot and across the sidewalk chalk messages and art that kids had decorated the asphalt with.

A mom fastened a helmet more tightly. A dad hoisted an American flag on his shoulder. Another hoisted a child.

One little boy who has been working to get his training wheels off this spring so he could ride before school was out, did it.

“He came with his super proud dad,” Dougherty said.

A man wearing a green shirt and a red helmet rides a bicycle with a young child in a black helmet, who is smiling. The background features other children and bicycles.
A group of cyclists riding on a path, with one man in the foreground wearing a blue sweatshirt and red helmet. In the background, a white truck is parked on the side.
A group of children and adults riding bicycles on a tree-lined street, with some wearing helmets and a white vehicle parked alongside.

The Bar Harbor Bike Bus, a community bike ride that happens on Wednesdays during the school year. People meet with their bikes at the town’s athletic fields on Park Street. Then they all ride in a big group through the back residential streets of Bar Harbor proper to the Conners Emerson School.

“Community is only what you make of it. What you put into it. What you choose to be a part of and make yourself,” Dougherty said last week. “Nobody is going to do it for you. Unless its a bike bus, in which case we created this and all you have to do is show up and have fun. So disregard that first part, sometimes all it takes is showing up. That’s community too.”

Community makes it happen. Bar Harbor Police Department’s Sgt. Soren Sundberg and Officer Liam Harrington escorted the group along the route through residential neighborhoods.

Jen Dougherty, Todd Stanley and Rebecca and Dylan Brann have performed crossing guard duty every week. Wes York from Bar Harbor Bike Shop has come every week.

”They have been awesome supporters,” Jeremy Dougherty said.

A man wearing a bicycle helmet smiles as he holds a small child, who is also wearing a red helmet and a black cape. They are outdoors in a green, sunny environment.
A man wearing a yellow rain jacket and a bicycle helmet stands outdoors, raising his hand as he gestures. He holds a phone in his other hand, with greenery and colorful tents in the background.
Two people wearing bicycle helmets, one red and one gray, both clapping and smiling outdoors.

It was the last morning ride of the school year. And it brought out police officers, school staff, coaches, general managers, moms, dads, aunties, and one Senate candidate. Graham Platner attended with his wife, Amy, rode quietly and without much hoopla at all for a candidate who packed the Criterion Theatre in a rally this weekend. Platner received well over 72% of the vote and the Democratic party vote to run against incumbent Senator Susan Collins.

On Wednesday morning, heading toward the school with a bunch of kids and their families and volunteers for the final Bike Bus of the season, Platner was one of the crowd, part of the community.

After the event, his campaign posted a video on its Facebook page where Platner said, “It’s exactly the thing that we need a lot more of in this country, which is people coming together and realizing that their neighbors are good people and that everyone wants to help each other out.”

For the younger bike riders, the biggest community celebrities might have been Ms. Ginn, Mrs. Hanna, Mr. Newman, Ms. Bender, and Mr. Dionne, their teachers who came out to ride with them to school.

Everyone who came, Jeremy Dougherty said, came for a reason.

“They came because they cared and wanted to be a part of something,” he said. “What a difference from 40 to 100+ in one week.”

They are so grateful, he said, that all those people got to experience something as wonderful as Bike Bus.

A girl with braids adjusts her helmet while preparing for a biking activity, wearing a tie-dye shirt and a focused expression.
A man in a yellow rain jacket and a bicycle helmet stands outdoors. He is wearing sunglasses and has a slight smile, with a blurred green background.
A group of young cyclists wearing helmets, with one girl in the foreground looking thoughtful. She has long hair and is dressed in a black shirt, with a pink backpack visible.

Last week, the ride through town to school had 40 riders. This week, there were a lot more than that.

Headlines about Bar Harbor focus on the tensions of being a town of approximately 5,000 or so that expands each summer with an influx of summer residents and visitors to Acadia National Park. People read those stories. They choose sides.

That’s not what Bar Harbor Bike Bus is about.

The Wednesday morning event is brand-new, started just about a year ago, but it almost feels like a relic of a distant past. What the Bar Harbor Bike Bus is about is simple. It’s about friends and family and community coming together. It’s about a quick 15-minute ride full of laughter, bubbles, music, and encouragement. It’s a place where if you take off your training wheels for the first time and wobble a bit? Well, that’s okay, too.

A large group of cyclists riding on a path, with a woman in the foreground wearing a navy floral dress and sunglasses. Various riders in helmets and colorful attire are visible in the background.
A young boy in a helmet and backpack smiles while riding a bicycle, accompanied by two other cyclists, one wearing an orange safety vest and the other adjusting their helmet.
A group of people wearing bicycle helmets, including children and adults, gathered outdoors, with a focus on a young boy wearing a grey shirt and a backpack. One adult is wearing sunglasses and a red helmet, while another adult is seen in an orange vest.

As one little boy watched the crowd of bigger kids and grown-ups, you could see the longing in his eyes. One day, he’ll likely be a part of the Bar Harbor Bike Bus too, one of the big kids and then one of the adults, joining together for the simply joy of just being together.

Bar Harbor is a small town really. You can feel that in bad moments, moments of grief and political tension about the lack of parking spots at the grocery store. But you can truly feel it in moments like Jeremy Dougherty has created with a band of volunteers and friends and kids.

“Morning!” Edith Dubois yelled from her driveway, calling out names of students. “Morning! Oh my gosh, look at them all!”

They called back hello to her, one after another. “Ms. Edie!”

Earlier in the ride someone shouted, “You’re doing so good!”

“Look at you!”

“I’m riding in bubbles,” one kid laughed.

Some definitely were riding in bubbles, but they were also riding in community.

A group of cyclists riding on a tree-lined path, with a variety of bikes and helmets, and a few children in the mix. An American flag can be seen in the background.
A group of people riding bicycles down a street, with one person holding an American flag. The scene is set among trees and a wooden fence.
A group of cyclists riding together on a tree-lined path, with some children and adults wearing helmets. One adult is carrying an American flag on a pole.

All photos and video: Carrie Jones/Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story

LINKS TO KNOW MORE

Bar Harbor Bike Bus Facebook page.

There are a lot more photos (far too many) on our Facebook page.

A Weekly Ride Through Town Is Bringing Bar Harbor Together.

Carrie Jones

Jun 4

Read full story

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