MILLINOCKET – A fledgling Katahdin cycling group hopes to have the Golden Road’s first bicycle race and touring event in late May or early June – something that could draw bicyclists from around the region, organizers said Monday.

Organizers Stanley and Lisa McLaughlin are optimistic about Katahdin Trails Alliance’s as-yet-unnamed two-day cycling confab.

Hundreds of cyclists and their families might be lured by the Golden Road’s beauty and to participate in a significant event: the first cycling allowed on the road since at least 20 years ago, when the then-Great Northern Paper Co. opened portions of it a few weeks a year to bicyclists for training, she said.

“I really believe that this is going to be big,” Lisa McLaughlin said Monday. “When the word gets out that this road will be open for biking and hasn’t been for 20 years, if we can get the word out to the right people, especially with Stanley’s connection with USA Cycling, it could draw a lot of people.

“It can be very big right from the beginning,” she said.

A National Off-Road Biking Association racing official and member of USA Cycling, Stanley McLaughlin, will meet today with Marcia McKeague, president of Katahdin Timberlands LLC – the area’s largest landowner – to discuss the race.

They also will work on mapping as much as 20 miles of off-road mountain biking, hiking, cross country skiing and snowshoe trails on Katahdin Timberlands lands near Millinocket, she said.

“We are looking at some fairly limited trails at this point,” McKeague said Monday. “We are looking at some that are close to town that would link to places where people already ride. There’s really nothing further out that’s practical.

“The key would be whether they can keep up with a game plan to keep people on approved trails and off unapproved trails,” she added.

KTA is a 35-member bicycling and hiking club that, following in the footsteps of area ATV and snowmobile riders, wants to map trails, publish a trail guide, promote bicycle and hiking safety and education, establish bike lanes and signage on roads, create Katahdin racing and touring events and apply for private, state or federal grant money for those efforts.

The KTA’s longer term and most ambitious goal: to turn Katahdin into one of New England’s great bicycle and mountain-biking destinations, which the publication of bike trail maps could help.

Besides its health benefits, cycling can be a big tourist business and a boon to Katahdin businesses, said Lisa McLaughlin, an executive assistant at the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council, a public agency dedicated to improving business opportunities in East Millinocket, Medway and Millinocket.

“It could expand the season and provides some outlets for other things to do besides snowmobiling,” McKeague said.

USA Cycling is the official cycling organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and is responsible for identifying, training, and selecting cyclists to represent the United States in international competition, according to its Web site, usacycling.org.

The two-day event would occur on a weekend “when there is little to no logging truck traffic,” McKeague said.

Katahdin Timberlands officials would most emphatically not want cyclists to get the idea from the event that the Golden Road was open to bicyclists. Except for this event, it is not, she said.

Stanley McLaughlin and other KTA members are also working on creating and mapping cycling trails and routes around Millinocket, he said.

One proposed trail would link all town schools, athletic fields, and forest and picnic areas right up to Jerry Pond’s picnic area. Any biking trail networks could connect to trails in East Millinocket and Medway, eventually, McLaughlin said.

“What I am trying to do is put together a nice family trail with healthy family fun along the way, such as picnics and parks and swimming and whatever,” he said.

McLaughlin has met with several landowners, including Brookfield Power Co., which has tentatively agreed to help allow trail connections through power line rights of way, he said. Nature Conservancy officials are working with McLaughlin to map bike trails on conservancy lands through the Golden Road and Brownsville areas.

The first trail maps should be ready by June 1, he said.

For information, contact Katahdin Trails Alliance. People interested in assisting with trail creation and mapping efforts can contact Stanley McLaughlin at stan.extreme@gmail.com.