BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Today I tried to ride through the cemetery from Butler St. I know that bikes aren't allowed in, but I've never attempted to ride through to see what would happen since I don't use the cemetery to commute, ever.

I should add that I looked pretty commuter-style with panniers and regular clothing - def. not going to go for a race. Someone earlier in the thread speculated that the signs were merely to deter people from training, but weren't intended to keep the commuter out. Non-riders don't seem to be able to differentiate between different types of riders and what type of ride they are doing, so the sign really does mean "No bikes."

Guard: You can't bike in here.

Me: Ok. Is the motorcycle which just passed allowed through?

Guard: Yes. It's a motorized vehicle.

Me: What's the problem with bikes?

Guard: Well, this is private property, and if we had a 100 bikes in here, and then someone got hit...

Me: Are people allowed to run in here?

Guard: Yes.

Me: And what if a runner got hit?

Guard: Then it's on them.

Me: In that case, if I got hit, wouldn't it be on me?

And so I walked. Good thing it was a nice day!

Private property is private property. The conversation went as expected. Still a bummer, but what can you do? (and yeah, as I was walking away from the guard I had all kinds of fuck cars and fuck this cemetery thoughts but it still comes down to the whole private property thing).

"if we had 100 bikes in here" - so typical.

What would happen if there were 100 morotcycles? 100 runners? 100 cars? The argument is so invalid its rediculous, yeah.. it private property, its their rules, but they are silly.

@Rachel "if we had 100 bikes in here"

In that position, it would be hard for me to refrain from throwing my fist in the air in triumph:

"100 bikes? YEAH, DUDE!!!!"

Dogs are not allowed in Homewood, but I believe bicycles are acceptable.

Yeah... totally had that in my mind. We had a pretty calm conversation and I didn't wanna piss the dude off by being sassy.

@jeff - Yeah... I've biked through Homewood a bunch of times and no one's ever said anything (I've also never seen a guard there).

@rachel Me either. Except that there is someone who goes around and locks the gates in a car at closing time.

I'm going to say bicycles are allowed in the Homewood Cemetery, as I've locked my bike right outside the office steps and met with the caretakers...never a mention I couldn't cycle there.

Never really understood Allegheny Cemetery prohibiting bikes...yea go ahead and drive through but don't let us catch you on a bike though. What if I was there visiting a grave? Love to hear how that conversation would go.

Bicycles are toys. No playing in cemeteries!

I ride through the Allegheny cemetery quite a bit, and I recommend it to people looking for a very low-traffic route up the hill. If they don't like it, I'll take the trespassing rap.

@netviln, re "private property". There's a point at which silly rules become antisocial. I don't think we'd tolerate a sign that said "no Jews". (which segues into a different gripe about segregated cemeteries...)

Actually, I think it would be a good idea if someone talked to the trustees about why they put such a sign up in the first place, and why not take it down...

On a more positive note, the pond in the cemetery has turtles, purple and orange gold-fish, and ducks in it!

I don't get the whole no bike thing in Allegheny cemetery, I live right near there and it's a safe place to take the baby. Cars use it as a shortcut, I see commercial vehicles drive through all the time. Maybe I could put a motor on my bicycle, strap some ladders to it, then I guess it would be OK.

is skateboarding OK ?

do you really think you can out run a zombie on a bicycle?

zombies don't eat cyclists.

That's my new sticker slogan.

What they probably mean: "Homey doing tricks on a scraper bike, and dude going down the hill 35mph, are verboten, but someone dressed for a desk job and looking like s/he has a college degree, going barely faster than a walk, is OK, but we can't say that on a sign so we have to ban everyone."

don't worry about the zombies, at least at Homewood, they are on the case.

The bicycle is a major part of my Zombie Plan.

thanks stu, now i have "scraper bike" running through my head for the rest of the day.

...scrapin' on my scraper bike..

Has anyone tried _walking_ a bike thru Allegheny C.?

During one of the thaws in the recent Snowmaggedon, I rode along Butler Street to Allegheny Cemetery and dismounted at the gate. There were some people there--I don't know if they were cemetery staff or visitors--and I didn't feel like getting called out. I walked uphill to Penn Avenue, which felt like it took forever. It looks like it's just over a mile (assuming I took a mostly direct route) so at my normal urban walking pace, it would have been easily 20 minutes, and probably more, since I was going uphill. There were definitely stretches where I was pretty sure I was out of sight of any cemetery officials and I could have ridden the bike undetected, but I didn't get on again until I hit Penn Avenue.