British cyclists size up bike-friendly America | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, speaks at a meeting with Portland to Portland 2013 riders at Bike Pittsburgh's office in Lawrenceville on Saturday.

People don't often draw parallels between Pittsburgh and London, two cities that sit an ocean and 3,000 miles apart.
But when Peter Murray, the chairman of New London Architecture, saw the Steel City from his bicycle, its narrow streets -- built for a pre-automobile era -- instantly brought him back to London.
"There's quite a lot of similarities to London," he said. "We think there are quite a lot of similar problems."
Mr. Murray, 69, is the organizer of the Portland Oregon to Portland Place, London, Bike Ride, an endeavor that's part endurance challenge, part urban planning research project and part charitable fundraiser. A team of British cyclists -- many of whom are urban planners and architects interested in learning about bike infrastructure -- began their journey in Portland, Ore., in April. Averaging around 71 miles a day, they've made their way across the United States, stopping in cities to learn about their bike infrastructure.
With the assistance of air travel and a boat, they'll eventually make their way to Ireland, Wales and finally down to London, where they plan to end their journey on Portland Place, home to the Royal Institute of British Architects, in August.

[Keep reading at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog