# Disrepectful to ride through a cemetery?



## 60driver (Apr 26, 2011)

Didn't find anything in a search so here goes. I have no special story, just wondering the other day on a ride what the consensus was. Is it disrespectful to ride through a cemetery? I'm talking more about the big ones with a few miles of roads, not really the small rural ones.


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## 180 (Jan 10, 2009)

Not IMO. They are a nice safe place to ride if you ask me. Maybe avoid an area if there's a funeral going on but outside of that I see nothing wrong with visiting the dead peoples once in awhile.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

Nope...just stay on the roads, and treat the grounds with the reverence it deserves.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

I don't think it's a big deal if it's just you and you are just passing through. Don't bother anyone and don't turn it into a playground and do fast loops and hill repeats and so forth. And I wouldn't go through in a large group either. That's probably a bit much.


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## rward325 (Sep 22, 2008)

Heck in L.A we have guided tours and movie parties in them. Might as well ride through them also! I don't the dead people will mind at all. Like most have said be respectful and there shouldn't be any issues. Most of the big ones here have security guards and gates at the front entrance.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Why would it be? I used to ride through a cemetery to visit my grandfather's grave on occasion. Nobody ever said anything about it.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

I go through the oldest cemetery in town on one of my favorite commuting routes. 

I like it because it's a low-traffic bypass around some of the busiest road around, the hills were never graded so I can get some nice double-digit climbs in, and the newer section is broad and flat for higher speed and cadence work.

The one drawback is that it's full of joggers and dog walkers, so I have to careful of them. 

No, the other drawback is that I have to watch the time on my commute home so that I'm not locked in when they close the gates. The one time it happened, I fortunately was on my unpainted Ti bike, so there wasn't any damage from hanging it from the iron spikes on the top of the gate while I clamored over.

I particularly like the cobbles this time of year when I channel my inner hardman in anticipation of the spring cobbled classics. It's pavé, every day!









The old chapel and crematory, just inside the north gate.










One of my favorite cobbled climbs










More cobbles.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Which cemetery is that Bruce?


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## tystevens (Jul 10, 2008)

Wow, that is a cool place.

No, I don't think it is disrespectful to ride through a cemetery. I don't know about doing time-trial laps in one, though, mostly out of respect for others who may be in need of peace and quiet.


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## Gimme Shoulder (Feb 10, 2004)

Don't know why you would, unless you have someone to visit there. It's not a park or a bike trail. Certain cemetaries designated as historical sites might be an exception. But then, you'd probably be getting off to check it out stone by stone. In any case, you'd certainly want to keep your speed down. Somehow, hammering through a cemetary, 'cause it's a nice quiet safe place to train, doesn't seem like the right thing to do.


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## 60driver (Apr 26, 2011)

Nice bruce . . . another benefit for us Ti bike owners (someone can add to the thousands of carbon vs Ti threads). Thanks for the responses. Granted, we are all cyclists here. There may be some non-cyclists out there who disagree, but its not really their opinions that matter to me. I didn't want to be the guy giving us all a bad name.


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## Gimme Shoulder (Feb 10, 2004)

There's an example of a place that seems to have been embraced by the community as more park and historical site than cemetery. I can see myself riding through that one. Not so much our local "Forest Lawn".

On a side note...what do you do if you're riding through a cemetery and come on to a burial service in progress? Turn around? Cycle slowly past? Get off and walk past? Join the bereaved, while apologizing for all the bright colors and spandex.


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## redondoaveb (Jan 16, 2011)

I've used them as a short cut before but only if I'm "dead" tired and don't feel like going around.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

I use one nearby as a low-traffic bypass, quite frequently. Avoiding funerals, of course. I wave at the grounds crews, they wave back. Gates are open, visitors welcome, and I just pass through anyway.

Related topic: "back in the day" before public parks were common, cemeteries were the place that urban people went to enjoy the outdoors - because, they were the only open, green spaces around. I've read that funeral homes would have open houses, host festivals, all sorts of fun times (good for business, etc, too).

I've often thought that some cemeteries would make for really fun race courses... free publicity for the owners... but of course we have this social taboo to overcome.


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## gordy748 (Feb 11, 2007)

In st Paul's Cathedral, in London UK, there is a cafe in what's called the catacombs (it's not that hard to find, but sounds cool). I found out one day the cafe is built on the top of 4 or 5 layers of bodies that have been buried there since the Cathedral was first built (i.e. the first one, not the current one).

If the church can build a cafe on top of a bunch of graves, I'm not sure that cycling through a cemetery is such a big deal.


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## gtran1502 (Aug 20, 2008)

I've ridden to my dad's grave site before, I don't feel it's disrespectful at all as long as I'm not laying my bike on top of someone else's site. 

On the other hand, people with loud fart can subies and ridiculously loud harleys are pretty disrespectful in a cemetary (or anywhere for that matter).


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## WTFcyclist (Jan 17, 2012)

No, they're all dead. 

It's not disrespectful if you JRA.


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## 8toes (Feb 28, 2010)

MMinSC said:


> Nope...just stay on the roads, and treat the grounds with the reverence it deserves.


This^^^


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## 8toes (Feb 28, 2010)

Gimme Shoulder said:


> On a side note...what do you do if you're riding through a cemetery and come on to a burial service in progress? Turn around? Cycle slowly past? Get off and walk past? Join the bereaved, while apologizing for all the bright colors and spandex.


This, actually, is a pretty good question. I would dismount. walk to a discrete distance away from the ceremony and say a quiet prayer for the deceased....walk away to a point where I can no longer be seen, then continue my ride, all while being as quiet as i can.

Cheers,

Brian J.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

Gimme Shoulder said:


> There's an example of a place that seems to have been embraced by the community as more park and historical site than cemetery. I can see myself riding through that one. Not so much our local "Forest Lawn".
> 
> On a side note...what do you do if you're riding through a cemetery and come on to a burial service in progress? Turn around? Cycle slowly past? Get off and walk past? Join the bereaved, while apologizing for all the bright colors and spandex.


If you were in your car and there was room to drive around the service, would you drive around? If so, why not ride your bike around.


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## tuck (Oct 4, 2011)

Is the cemetary full of dead-dead people? Or undead-dead people?


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## Gimme Shoulder (Feb 10, 2004)

For me it's not about respect for the dead. Rather, respect for loved ones visiting. Regardless of what I may think or believe, I want to respect their beliefs, and their quiet time with their departed loved one. I'd rather not be a distraction. Cars are expected, and probably not noticed too much. Probably assumed to be other mourners/visitors. Unless the place is frequented by cyclists, I guess I would consider myself a distraction or intrusion. The question was sort of tongue in cheek, but I guess if I ran into a service, I'd discretely turn around.


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## ecub (Sep 2, 2011)

Don't disturb them to a point that the dead rise up and take revenge by eating your flesh.


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## OldZaskar (Jul 1, 2009)

Gimme Shoulder said:


> For me it's not about respect for the dead. Rather, respect for loved ones visiting. Regardless of what I may think or believe, I want to respect their beliefs, and their quiet time with their departed loved one. I'd rather not be a distraction. Cars are expected, and probably not noticed too much. Probably assumed to be other mourners/visitors. Unless the place is frequented by cyclists, I guess I would consider myself a distraction or intrusion.


^this^

I don't care about the dead - they're dead. As an atheist, I'm surprised I'm in the minority on this topic - I don't think a cemetery should be a place to go for a bike ride. Out of respect for the mourning, I'd rather take my chances out on the streets... even if means I could end up IN the cemetery sooner. The mourners didn't bury their loved ones in your playground. Don't play in their graveyard.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

tuck said:


> Is the cemetary full of dead-dead people? Or undead-dead people?


If they're the undead it'd probably be wise to be carrying a shovel or some such club-like implement.


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## nOOky (Mar 20, 2009)

The cemetery where I would like to be buried has some nice roads with some decent pitches to them. I often bike through it to visit my parents grave. Also the local mountain bike course runs right along the edge of it for quite a ways. I'd love to think of people biking right next to my grave, heck I'd be tickled if someone could bunny hop my grave site


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## tuck (Oct 4, 2011)

velodog said:


> If they're the undead it'd probably be wise to be carrying a shovel or some such club-like implement.


That's why I was asking. My tool bag isn't big enough for a shovel or anything heavy...and I don't think my tire tools will be heavy enough to do any damage to their already rotting heads. 

And for what it's worth, I voted "No" to it being disrespectful. A lot of people walk in the most well-known/historic cemeteries here in Chattanooga. So what's the difference in riding and walking? Again, as several others have already mentioned...just be mindful of where you are.


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## siclmn (Feb 7, 2004)

There used to be a yearly ride just before Halloween that went through some cemeteries in Seattle. A group of 20 to 30 cyclists, some in costumes. I did it twice and felt uncomfortable each time. People were there visiting their departed and we come through just having fun. To me it was as if we were riding through someones church. I think it's ok if you are by yourself though.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

robdamanii said:


> Which cemetery is that Bruce?


Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY

City of Rochester Cemeteries web site
Friends of Mt. Hope
Wikipedia

In short, it was opened in 1838, covers 196 acres, has 350,000 graves and 14 miles of roads. It borders the University of Rochester's River Campus on two sides, the University Medical Center on a third, and a city park on the fourth. I cut through the park, the cemetery, then through the campus on my way to work.

FWIW, I own a plot in the other city-owned cemetery, Riverside, but am thinking of trading it in for one in Mt. Hope. I'd be leaving the family, but it's a cemetery I like and that cyclists like.


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## krustyone (Apr 13, 2010)

tuck said:


> That's why I was asking. My tool bag isn't big enough for a shovel or anything heavy...and I don't think my tire tools will be heavy enough to do any damage to their already rotting heads.


Nunchucks fit nicely in jersey pocket!:blush2:

I occasionally ride the local cemeteries and look for the oldest date then try to find my way back there the next time


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## potholered70 (Feb 14, 2012)

No, I don't see riding through a cemetery when there are no funeral services being held as being disrespectful. Remember, a grave is not just a resting place it's also a memorial of someone's life.
There's nothing as sad as an old neglected, forgotten cemetery that's no longer being maintained or visited.


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## bob.satan (Jun 2, 2011)

another reason to where a helmet, to protect from Zombie attacks while riding through cemeteries!

but if I recall there was a crit series run in the Springvale cemetery in Melbourne, Australia a number of years ago. Nice ride quiet roads. I'm not sure how long it lasted or when they stopped

i have found a link to the results and a bit of a blurb on the race (sorry in advance if i brake the rules about links, I am not sure of them)

www.cyclingnews.com - the world centre of cycling


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## rose.johnp (Jul 20, 2011)

MMinSC said:


> Nope...just stay on the roads, and treat the grounds with the reverence it deserves.


Agree. Riding through is not an issue. Racing a crit through the grounds.. not so much.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

They're dead.. they don't care.
One thing to ride thought.. Another to be hucking tombstones on your mountain bike..
I don't think doing your interval training there is wise either... Someone might complain.


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## xxl (Mar 19, 2002)

This place is one of my favorite places to ride to:

Welcome to the Spring Grove Family

It's the second-largest cemetery in the nation, with an arboretum. By no means would I consider it disrespectful to ride through it; it was envisioned from the git-go as a place where people could go to spend a day, remembering their dead, but also picnicking, relaxing, etc., in a much less somber manner.

The local foot racers hold annual charity runs (e.g., "Run Like Hell," a run that occurs Halloween night) in it from time to time.



















Other nice shots here: Cemeteries

The cemetery dates to the 1840's, when Cincinnati suffered a cholera epidemic and needed a place to stash the bodies that were piling up. Then, the Civil War really ramped business up; there are forty Union generals buried there, including Fighting Joe Hooker, and one Confederate general, Phil Luckett, as well as regiments of regulars. From there, it became _the _place to be fashionably interred, its list of burials reading like the Cincinnati Social Register. A wealth of stonemason talent and available limestone and marble ensured that the monuments there would be, well, monumental:


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## tystevens (Jul 10, 2008)

ZoSoSwiM said:


> They're dead.. they don't care.


I don't think the dead care one bit. I would just be concerned about disturbing anyone who needs some peace and quiet. There are lots of places one can get their training ride done. There is only one place someone can visit a deceased relative or friend.

So I wouldn't have a problem riding through it at an easy pace if it was on my route or in my way, but I don't think I'd make it a destination or treat it like a park to get a workout done. Unless it were one of those cool old cemeteries like in some of the pictures, which look fun to explore on a bike.


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## Chuckroast (Nov 18, 2006)

I happened to ride through a cemetery today. I saw 4 people walking their dogs. I suspect the dogs did things to the graves that I didn't do.


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## hmto (Sep 26, 2007)

tuck said:


> Is the cemetary full of dead-dead people? Or undead-dead people?


uh both and we are the "walking dead"

Here in Toronto we have an uptown cemetery which gets treated a lot like a park.
When I visit there are usually riders and runners using the grounds. Mind you it is huge and stretches across a couple major streets both north and south.


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## 8toes (Feb 28, 2010)

brucew said:


> Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY
> 
> City of Rochester Cemeteries web site
> Friends of Mt. Hope
> ...


That looks like an awesome place to ride, and I love the photos Bruce!!!


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## bobvanjr (Aug 2, 2010)

I personally wouldn't. I don't really know why but it just doesn't seem right...TO ME. I don't have a problem with anyone else doing it. I wouldn't mind if someone rode through when I'm 6 feet under. I just wouldn't feel comfortable doing it.


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