Cyclists will conclude MADD tour today
By Tom Ayers
The Cape Breton Post
August 1, 2007

COXHEATH — Ian Chiasson will arrive in style today with a police escort and a public reception.

The 23-year-old cyclist is finishing a cross-country trek to raise awareness about drinking and driving, in honour of his boyhood friend Michael MacLean and MacLean’s girlfriend Angela Smits. The couple was killed by a drunk driver in May 2004.

Patricia Smits, Angela’s mother and an executive member and fundraiser for the Cape Breton chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the public is welcome to attend a reception and free barbecue at 3 p.m. today in the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre parking lot on Keltic Drive.

RCMP will escort Chiasson as he and Dana Hamm cycle from Baddeck to North Sydney and then on to the Sydney River bypass. From there, the Cape Breton Regional Police Service is expected to escort the cyclists to the arena in Coxheath, said Smits.

“We’re asking as many people as possible to come out and welcome Ian home,” she said.

Angela’s father, Jerry Smits, said he and Patricia were thrilled when Ian approached them with his concept for the bike trip.

“When he first mentioned it, he came to us first and said ‘I’d kind of like to do this, but I don’t know how I’d get across the country by myself,’” said Smits. “Well, we said: ‘If you’re willing to do that, we’ll give you whatever help we can.’

“For somebody that young to take that initiative and do something like that, I thought was fantastic. Most young people wouldn’t do that.”

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