Bill Wade/Post-Gazette

By Rob Wennemer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Offering relaxed rides of old and a grueling test of new, this is a dream weekend for cyclists of all skill and interest levels, as PedalPGH 2012 and the Mount Davis Challenge roll in for back-to-back days of biking action.

This year Bike Pittsburgh takes over Pennsylvania’s largest ride from the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, which established the annual event in 1994 to showcase the city and to support the nonprofit organization. Through the years, the Community Design Center has raised more than $675,000 to assist in neighborhood redevelopment.

The ride will be dedicated to the memory of co-founder Mark Schneider, 55, who died Sunday after a bicycle crash in the Catoctin Challenge, a two-day charity fundraiser in the mountainous terrain north of Frederick, Md.

Mr. Schneider served as chairman of the Sports & Exhibition Authority and the Stadium Authority, through which he played a key role in the development of Heniz Field, PNC Park and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Bike Pittsburgh, a 10-year-old grassroots organization that’s dedicated to making Pittsburgh a bicycle-friendly city, has streamlined the “at your pace cruise” to make the event one to remember, said Scott Bricker, Bike Pittsburgh’s executive director.

Read the full article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Get ready for BikeFest, a fifteen-day celebration of bicycling, August 5th-19th. The activities kick off with Pedal Pittsburgh on August 5th’ which includes a car-free section and a finish line festival. On August 10th the Bike Fest Party returns to the Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District.