The 19th Anniversary ride will honor its co-founder

It’s been a terribly tragic week for the Pittsburgh bicycling community as three bicyclists lost their lives. Mark Schneider, a visionary Pittsburgh developer and co-founder of PedalPGH was one of these cyclists.

PedalPGH was created in 1994 by Mark Schneider and Bill Joyce and a dedicated committee that included fellow cyclists Bill Barron, Chuck Shaw, Anthony Lucarelli and City of Pittsburgh and URA representatives. The purpose was to function as a fundraiser for the Design Center (formerly the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh), where Mark and Bill Joyce were founding board members. The initial goal of the ride was to provide participants with a unique perspective to experience the diversity of urban neighborhoods and historic architectural fabric Pittsburgh has to offer – by bike!

During the 18 years the Design Center produced the event, ridership more than doubled from 1,000 riders in 1994 for nearly 2,800 in 2011 making it Pennsylvania’s largest recreational cycling event.  After record breaking attendance in 2011, the Design Center decided it was time to hand off the event to Bike Pittsburgh so PedalPGH could continue to grow and evolve, and the Design Center could focus on programs which support its mission of advocating for the value of good design, planning, and public policy to support more livable and sustainable communities in the Pittsburgh region.

Proceeds from the ride will be put toward creating safer streets for bicyclists and pedestrians alike.