From April to July 2013, a team of British riders are cycling from Portland Oregon to Portland Place London - studying how cities are coping with the increasing interest in the bicycle as a credible form of urban transport.

All the riders are involved with architecture, property and planning and will call on the support of fellow professionals en route to help collect and verify data from the different cities they ride through. Riders in the USA, Ireland, Wales and England will have the opportunity to join the core group.

The riders will be making comparative analyses of the 12 major cities they ride through including how they are providing facilities and infrastructure for cycling. We will then be riding through the cities to experience cycling facilities directly and talking to local architects, cyclists and policy makers. On our return we will compare our findings with other expert groups, before publishing the research in print and digital formats.

We elected to start in Portland because it is a cycling city and voted America’s most liveable city. We will look at the cyclization of Portland, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Michigan City, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Dublin, Oxford and London. Training rides to Freiburg, Copenhagen and Rotterdam will provide base line experience against which the team can review the cities encountered en route.

Our research will provide comparative data and successful solutions which we hope will assist politicians and planners in instituting improved cycling conditions in cities around the world. We will also be raising money for three charities: Article 25, The Architects Benevolent Society and Architecture for Humanity. Research will be presented at the World Cycling Summit in London in August 2013.

A cyclized city is a civilized city; a cyclized city is a sustainable city.

-- Peter Murray, Founder of Portand to Portland