Stopped from riding in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery

[mstone]

@Raymo853 107907 wrote:

I also just deleted the one segment I had made in the cemetery.

facepalm

[dkel]

@CaseyKane50 107912 wrote:

On the other hand, the cemeteries could embrace bicyclists. In Portland, the River View Cemetery has gone out of their way to be accommodating to bike riders.

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As someone who works for a church, I can say that this kind of topic comes up a lot, particularly when organizations outside the church want to use the church facility. It’s not difficult to be accommodating in most places, and convey the sense that your community is welcoming. It’s also not difficult for groups that want to use the facility to be respectful of the character and values of the church while they are there. From what I can see of the website for Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, though, it’s a business and not a religious organization. They are probably less likely to view their facility as having intrinsic value as public space, and more likely to focus on it as having monetary value to their business. Can’t really blame them, I guess.

Also, as someone who works for a church, I will decide not to respond to this:
@Raymo853 107901 wrote:

…churches, mosques, temples, not really open museums, non-effective charities, …. hide behind tax exempt status stealing revenue from the municipalities they demand services from.

[Raymo853]

The signs are terse and clear. This one is from the lower Cedar Hill Gate. The Cedar Hill and Lincoln entrances all hd the same signs. The Washington Memorial entrances had no such signs.

I did not take a photo of the one by the Lincoln Memorial Gate as the Mercedes S Class of the Reverend was sitting there running with the lights on and I was afraid to go near her.

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[Raymo853]

@Greenbelt 107904 wrote:

We need you! To help with WABA/PG’s advocacy campaign for a safer Suitland Road!
http://www.waba.org/advocacy/campaigns/a-safer-suitland-road/

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WABA/PG meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Hyattsville Town Hall and adjourns to Franklin’s brewery after…

I will start attending, can you message me the actual dates? 2nd Tuesday will not be enough for me to figure out when to attend. I’ll also try to get some others from the Census, NOAA, etc to come along.

[Rod Smith]

@Greenbelt 107904 wrote:

We need you! To help with WABA/PG’s advocacy campaign for a safer Suitland Road!
http://www.waba.org/advocacy/campaigns/a-safer-suitland-road/

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7796[/ATTACH]

WABA/PG meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Hyattsville Town Hall and adjourns to Franklin’s brewery after…

So that would be tomorrow? What time?

[Rod Smith]

@Raymo853 107921 wrote:

The signs are terse and clear. This one is from the lower Cedar Hi Gate but all but the Washington Memorial entrances had the same sign.

I did not take a photo of the one by the Lincoln Memorial Gate as the Mercedes S Class of the Reverend was sitting there running with the lights on and honestly I was afraid to go near her.

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I enjoy the car-free roads, especially the one that goes to 17%, I never ‘cut through’ and I’m just ‘visiting’ but I guess we should stop riding there.

[Raymo853]

@Rod Smith 107924 wrote:

So that would be tomorrow? What time?

I cannot make it tomorrow as I need to go drinking at the Natural History Museum.

[ctankcycles]

@Rod Smith 107925 wrote:

I enjoy the car-free roads, especially the one that goes to 17%, I never ‘cut through’ and I’m just ‘visiting’ but I guess we should stop riding there.

Here’s a solution: buy yourself a plot at the top of the road and tell the Rev. you’re just “visiting.” And if anyone on here wants to do the same they can just say “I’m visiting my friend Rod’s plot.” I’m not exactly sure how it works but I don’t think you have to be dead to be a customer.

[Rod Smith]

No one buried there has ever complained. :rolleyes:

[dkel]

@Rod Smith 107928 wrote:

No one buried there has ever complained. :rolleyes:

I can see it now: St. Peter at the pearly gates is all, “Oh, shut up about the cyclists already! Do you want in here or not?”

It could happen.

[dasgeh]

This is an issue with Arlington National Cemetery too. People are allowed to ride bikes down the hill but not up. DoD has given some lame excuses but they don’t hold water. The best I can guess is they don’t want people working out in the cemetery (though big tour buses are fine).
At some point, the lives of the living are more important than the perfect silence for the dead. Where there are no other safe alternatives, we should be allowed to ride through. Reasonable restrictions make sense, which could include no “working out”. Be respectful or don’t use that route.

[brendan]

@dasgeh 107946 wrote:

This is an issue with Arlington National Cemetery too. People are allowed to ride bikes down the hill but not up. DoD has given some lame excuses but they don’t hold water. The best I can guess is they don’t want people working out in the cemetery (though big tour buses are fine).
At some point, the lives of the living are more important than the perfect silence for the dead. Where there are no other safe alternatives, we should be allowed to ride through. Reasonable restrictions make sense, which could include no “working out”. Be respectful or don’t use that route.

Which hill?

The last time I rode into Arlington Cemetery proper (vs. skirting the edge transiting Iwo Jima<->Memorial Bridge), I told a staff member I was visiting my grandfather. He said, “oh yes, feel free to bike to the site, but keep the bike on the pavement”, gave me a map and marked my grandfather’s spot on it for me.

B

[dasgeh]

@brendan 107949 wrote:

Which hill?

The last time I rode into Arlington Cemetery proper (vs. skirting the edge transiting Iwo Jima<->Memorial Bridge), I told a staff member I was visiting my grandfather. He said, “oh yes, feel free to bike to the site, but keep the bike on the pavement”, gave me a map and marked my grandfather’s spot on it for me.

B

Fair enough. If you’re visiting someone the rules must be different. If you’re just going to the bridge, there’s only one route that’s legal and only in one direction. It comes off of the gate beside the chapel in Fort Myer and ends up at the front entrance, so you have to turn left to go to memorial bridge. It feels like one roqd, but it changes names once or twice.

[Steve O]

@dasgeh 107946 wrote:

This is an issue with Arlington National Cemetery too. People are allowed to ride bikes down the hill but not up. DoD has given some lame excuses but they don’t hold water. The best I can guess is they don’t want people working out in the cemetery (though big tour buses are fine).
At some point, the lives of the living are more important than the perfect silence for the dead. Where there are no other safe alternatives, we should be allowed to ride through. Reasonable restrictions make sense, which could include no “working out”. Be respectful or don’t use that route.

The “down but not up” restriction, as I understand it, is because people riding bicycles have been ID’d at Ft. Myer before entering at the top. If you ride up the cemetery, then you can enter the Fort without being ID’d, which I guess is a no-no. I’m not sure what the difference is between people on bikes doing that and people on foot, though.

I did, however, skirt the law a bit during the Find the Founding Fathers side bet last year.

I used to ride up all the time–every day, in fact. The last day I did so was September 10, 2001. My best gate-to-gate time up the hill was 3:03. I don’t think it’s a Strava segment.

@brendan 107949 wrote:

Which hill?

There is a signed bike route from the top gate to the bottom. It’s a fun downhill ride.

[brendan]

@Steve O 107958 wrote:

I used to ride up all the time–every day, in fact. The last day I did so was September 10, 2001. My best gate-to-gate time up the hill was 3:03. I don’t think it’s a Strava segment.

I also haven’t ridden through the gate since before 9/11.

[Author]

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