Friday's Local Hero: Brian Smith can barely suppress his suspicion when the concept of being a local hero is explained. The initial silence at the other end of the telephone suggest that his candidature should perhaps be revised.

Brian Smith can barely suppress his suspicion when the concept of being a local hero is explained. The initial silence at the other end of the telephone, followed by the brusque remnants of Paisley patois, suggest that his candidature should perhaps be revised. Mention the Braveheart Cycling Fund, though, and the reticence immediately dissipates.

It is around five years since Smith rekindled his relationship with a sport that is as much a part of him as his Renfrewshire roots. He was a rider of worldwide repute, but months of musing led to a divorce from cycling at the age of 32, problems with tendinitis in his knees and the diminishing financial rewards to be had in Britain influencing his decision. Being involved in a lesser capacity would have been too painful, mentally and physically.

Exiled in the south of England, the passage of time heightened his sense of debt to Scotland and its cycling community. Smith wanted to give something back and used his contacts in the sport to help ease the route for some younger compatriots, an involvement which ultimately led to the foundation of the Braveheart Fund.

"It's just like when I was riding," admits Smith, opening up from the comfort of his Kent home. "When I get the bit between my teeth I take it the whole way. Once you've got cycling in your blood you never lose it so it's about channelling your energies and ambitions to help others achieve."

Alongside Alan Miller - "he's my right and left hand" - Smith has aided a plethora of young Scottish cyclists in various disciplines with small but significant donations.

The fund's independence allows it to help in areas that Scottish Cycling cannot because of public funding bureaucracy but, while the financial support oils the gears, it is the reputation of the man at the helm that keeps the wheels turning.

A protege of Robert Millar, who encouraged him to relocate from Paisley to Paris aged 19, Smith found success on his travels. A professional rider in Europe and the USA, he competed in the Giro d'Italia - the sport's second biggest event behind the Tour de France - and was a team-mate of Lance Armstrong with Motorola.

"People didn't think I'd last two weeks in France, never mind two years," recalls Smith, who is mentoring Evan Oliphant in the same way Millar did him.

"It opened my eyes to what is out there and that's what I want to do for these kids - give them that opportunity. Some will sink, some will swim, but if they get a fire in their bellies they can achieve.

"They are wrapped in cotton wool here when they are younger and are not being exposed to the levels that they need to be to compete on a wider stage."

At the core of the fund's ethos is the idea of desire. The riders with the most talent are not necessarily the ones who get support. Smith and sidekick Millar are more interested in those youngsters who want push themselves the extra inch every time in a quest for improvement, those who want more than a couple of wins at a junior level to boast of as middle-age spread develops.

Smith had that inner drive.

So did Jason McIntyre, the Scottish rider who lost his life last month and for whom the Braveheart Fund have set up a memorial trust. The incident that claimed his friend's life caused him to wonder, as he did after the death of his father Donald in 1996, if what he was doing was worth it.

"Although I carried on riding into 1999, it was never the same once my dad passed away after the Olympics in 1996," Smith says of the man who introduced him to the sport. "He was the driving factor in my career but it was not until he passed away that I realised.

"I tried to win races for him after he died and although I did alright the motivation had gone, so I decided to walk away. I had reached 32 and had to think about getting into the real world and earning a crust. As difficult as it is to admit to yourself, there comes a point where you have to stop delaying the life you're going to lead afterwards."

The separation led to a sojourn into sales and marketing and the accumulation of skills that have served him well with the fund.

His gradual reintroduction to cycling led to media work and now Smith is a pundit on website cycling.tv and is involved in various other aspects of the sport's infrastructure.

"To be honest, people don't know me so much now," is his diffident response to suggestions of his prominence. "It's a generational thing, people move on. I was riding down here last weekend and I joined a group and they knew who I was but people forget about you. It's like everyone beginning to forget about Ally McCoist as a footballer."

He may be ensconced in the green and pleasant lands, but Smith's Scottishness continues to shine through.