Different passions.
One Maine gathering.

More than a ride.
A reason to make the trip.

A great destination gathering does not end when the engines stop or the last rider finishes. It continues in a conversation with a builder, an artist’s studio, a meal made nearby, or an evening spent with people you might never otherwise meet. That is the experience we want to create in western Maine.

Picture a cyclist and a motorcycle owner discovering the same photographer’s work. A classic-car restorer talking craft with a painter. A traveling companion finding a gallery or a good meal while someone else takes on a ride. ArtRide is being imagined around those connections, not around the expectation that everyone does the same thing.

Two ways in. A shared sense of discovery.

Compete is for people drawn to a serious athletic challenge. A road-cycling event is being investigated, with the final format to follow feasibility work. A separate ATV competition is also under consideration, conditional on lawful access, landowner and agency permissions, environmental review, and a workable safety plan. These are distinct proposals, not a shared course.

Explore is the unhurried side: leisure cycling, all-makes motorcycle touring, classic-car club cruises, and scenic driving, with room to stop for the region’s art, food, and landscape. Harley riders, vintage and custom-bike owners, car enthusiasts, and people who simply enjoy a day out all have a place in the concept.

Connecting those outings would be a cultural and social program: original art, parked vehicle displays, builder conversations, maker demonstrations, films, music, and a possible vintage-parts and makers market. The proposed village would give people a place to meet again. You would not need to race, ride, or own a special vehicle to belong.

Three towns. Time to look around.

Farmington, Kingfield, and the Rangeley region are the anchors, rather than scenery to pass through. The aim is to connect their creative communities, automotive heritage, independent businesses, and mountain-and-lake setting through separately planned experiences. A day might be enough to get a taste; a longer stay could leave room for another town, another meal, or another conversation.

This is an invitation to discover western Maine, not a promise of one continuous route or a fixed itinerary. Each activity needs its own travel, access, and operating arrangements.

Inspired by France.
Imagined for Maine.

France’s Wheels & Waves, in Biarritz, is a useful point of comparison. Its published program brings motorcycle culture, riding and competition together with art, surfing, skateboarding, and a social village. Its ARTRIDE exhibition connects artists, custom work, photography, and exceptional vehicles. The appeal is not just a single activity: it is the creative world people enter when they arrive.

Our ambition is a distinctly American counterpart in spirit: a gathering where the ride, the people, the work on display, and the destination matter together. ArtRide Maine is an independent proposal, not the official U.S. edition of Wheels & Waves, and no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

The same big idea. A different local story.

Where the French model draws on a coastal setting and surf-and-motor culture, our starting point is western Maine’s mountains, lakes, small towns, and creative communities. Serious road cycling sits alongside American motorcycle and classic-car culture. Regional artists and makers help tell the story; local food and hospitality give visitors reasons to linger.

We are not proposing to reproduce the French lineup or import its race formats. Maine’s automotive and artistic heritage offers its own possibilities, including the connections between steam cars, photography, painting, and instrument making documented at Stanley Museum in Kingfield. That is a research lead, not an announced host. The conditional ATV concept, too, must begin with Maine’s landowners and trail stewards, not with an assumption of access.

Built from a local creative foundation.

ArtRide Maine is an FCCW Production by Franklin County Co-Working (FCCW), also the producer of ArtWalk Farmington. The ambition grows from that same belief in bringing artists, local businesses, neighbors, and visitors together, extended into a regional experience of riding, making, and discovery.

An open invitation. An honest starting point.

We welcome the interest of residents, visiting riders, artists, builders, clubs, hosts, food businesses, and companions. Right now, this is a concept in development: no event date, approved routes, booked venues, confirmed lineup, or support services are announced, and registration is not open. Artist inquiries are expressions of interest, not exhibition offers. The next step is to listen, assess feasibility, and build agreements before making commitments.