BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Yay! But, I caution all riders that this is likely to be a priviledge that has been earned through responsible behavior, and most likely to be retained through responsible behavior. Let's all remember to take the extra step to be respectful of others as we ride through the beautiful grounds.

yes, this is in the blog post:

An important thing to remember when using these roads is that the cemetery is private property, not City of Pittsburgh property. The Allegheny Cemetery has been very generous to allow bike riders on their property, and we owe it to them to ride with caution, respect, and consideration.

Please follow these simple rules:

* Ride safely. The speed limit inside the cemetery is 20 mph.

* Ride only on paved roads. Please do not ride on the grass.

* Respect funeral processions. Allow them to pass and do not cut through the middle of them.

* Don’t ride when the cemetery is closed. You can see their hours HERE.

So was Lester eaten by a shark? Or did he just like sharks?

apparently really into jaws

+1 on respect.

I'd guess bike riding through there is likely to be allowed until the first idiot on a bike meets a funeral.

That is so cool, I have walked thru there at times and photographed some of the more interesting sites. does anyone know of a google map that has some of the points of interest already mapped out? if not im sure we could make on (by we i mean you guys, I cant seem to get it to work that way for me)

Hours:

Monday through Saturday:

June 1st through August 31st

7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Regular Sunday Gate Opening at 10:00 am

this is the greatest news. If only I still desperately needed this cemetery as part of my commute.... oh well now i can enjoy it without that pesky work part getting in the way.

FYI don't go all the way down to butler from penn at night and expect to get out. Gate gets locked.. I thought it locked at 5 or 6!

i like this pic from the cemetery. looks like jesus is in quicksand

Looks like touchdown jesus from that angle.

Stupid bird, get offa my lawn!

Jesus, FROM DOWNTOWN! And it's a three!

That bird is disrupting the immaculate reception.

The take-away thought I got from the "ride with caution, respect, and consideration" part of the announcement is that I would not ride (much) faster down through the cemetery than I would going up through it. Not even sure about the "much" part.

What the flock!

Actually, it looks like Jesus is about to 'punt' the bird! haha - Cool

I wonder if pigeons ever land on the Jesus with Bird statue....

Rode thru tonight on the way home. Nice & mellow.

You, or the ride?

Both if you're lucky

No traffic mellow. I had to get through there pretty quick tho before closing time.

erok pushed this through just to make his ride to spak shorter and i respect that... because it makes mine shorter too

I don't care who or why was this made happened: personally I love it! It is so nice and peaceful at the Cemetery! Refreshing after a hectic ride through Butler St.

Thank you!

i will never ride butler street during daylight again.

This thread provides inspiration for a "Cemetery Ride." Could hit all of the city cemeteries that allow bikes. I think I'll start mapping.

Would it be too creepy or disrespectful to call it something like "Ride of the Dead" or "Killer Ride?" Any other good names?

Brave the Graves

I rode through yesterday on my way from L-ville to Squi'll. Liked it until that hill, then decided to make some calls on the cell phone, so I had to get off the bike, finished the calls at the top of the hill, what a shame It's not a bad hill, but I'm in that bad shape.

There is still a sign up that says no bicycles n near the entrance on Butler street. One of those signs like a front yard political poster thing. Also says a lot of other no's. Might want to double check that the signs are updated.

Brave the Graves

zoom by the tombs?

Rider Mortis

Marble, Granite and Gears

Cemetery Saunter

Bones and Chains

Slow Spokes and Dead Folks

Stu wins.Haha.I lived near a cemetery before i moved to PGH, i think i may need to take a ride out there, judging by some of these photos, i should bring my camera too.

Congratulations to everyone who replied to this thread: go to the head of the class for spelling 'cemetery' correctly!

At the moment, I like Zoom by the Tombs and Slow Spokes and Dead Folks. Great suggestions, thanks.

I did 22 miles today, twice through Allegheny (hilly, yes) and once each through Smithfield and Homewood cemeteries before the rain came down.

we spelled cemetery wrong on the first printing of the map

there is talk of a bike tour of the cemetery during bike fest.

@Erok - Tour of the cemetery sounds good! It should be mentioned that the AC was designed as a "Garden" or "Rural" Cemetery.... as the Industrial Revolution intensified conglomerations in cities due to heavier machines, factories, cars, people, etc; there was a fear by urban planners that pretty soon, open/green spaces would dissapear from cities.... to make a long story short, cemeteries, a necesity of 'life', were seen as an opportunity to maximize open space by making them both places for burial, and as 'city gardens' with paved pathways, fountains, sculpture, and planned landscape; where green space would be kept for city dwellers where one could go for a stroll and leave the 'polluted, noisy, industrialized' city behind. To add to it, gravestones and mausoleums took a more artistic turn, usually changing as the 'funeral' fashion changed (ergo the Egyptian, Roman, Greek-influenced mausoleums), etc...

Sorry if this is all convoluted! But yeah, Allegheny Cemetry has a very neat history on why it 'came' to be as it is -which is also tied to the Steel Industry that emerged here in Pittsburgh.

Btw.... The first well known 'example-experiemnt' of this was Mount Auburn in Boston.

(sorry for the geekiness!)

no, thanks that's awesome. sounds like you'd be a good one to help with the ride!

Haha! Well... it would definitely be cool to put my Architectural History Minor on use!

Let me know what you guys have in mind

if you need someone to show you where the burr oak that produces acorns as big as your fist is, I can help with the part of the tour.

actually i know a stupid amount about the cemetery trees and we have a cool book about it here. did you know its over 300 acres?!

@caitlin.... wow! that is cool! I would love to see that book!

I think this ride could be quite-something! I'm a big believer that by knowing the background & history behind people and places, one learns to appreciate them more -specially in this case since it it a cemetery.

I bet it is at the library. It looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Allegheny-Cemetery-Romantic-Landscape-Pittsburgh/dp/0916670147

Also check out doodah days on July10th, where you can take tours, etc of the cemetery and people are dressed in victorian clothes!

intend to attend that.

Doodah days? I've been wondering when the summer version of a Tweed Ride, or "seersucker saunter" might be coming along.

I've been wondering when the summer version of a Tweed Ride, or "seersucker saunter" might be coming along.

Given recent weather conditions, I'm thinking that a "Gauze Gallivant" may be more in order.

tweed ride to do dah days seems like a jolly good time

This thread provides inspiration for a "Cemetery Ride." Could hit all of the city cemeteries that allow bikes. I think I'll start mapping.

I don't think this is a good idea.

I visit my grandmother's grave in Hazelwood. When I do, I travel by bike. I've never been bothered.

Now, if some flock of cycles (or bevy of bicyclist, or pack of peddlers) came though? They might make a restrictive policy.

actually, it was the cemetery people's idea

a big part of them allowing bikes is that they want to increase the tourism options of people visiting the famous sites

we need to do a seersucker cycle to doodah days. clearly. or a tweed ride. or something.

am I the only one pondering the sanity of tweed in July heat on a bicycle? Or is there Performance Tweed out there somewhere that's got seersucker moisture wicking capabilities?

I've got some tweed 3" high stilettos I could try to bike in.

here's a picture of a tweed ride in los angeles

they seem to be enjoying themselves

i passed two bicycles on the way home today, and i think i cut a good two minutes off my commute despite getting lost and stopping and staring a couple times.

Rather, check this out, Wash DC, Seersucker social:

http://vimeo.com/12662337

Watch for the hula hooping.

hmm... tweed stilettos, while technically conforming, do not appear to be in the spirit of the ride... It'll take some figuring to pull together something that will withstand july heat for me. Though I suppose a good fainting spell would be quite the Victorian fashion?

Though I suppose a good fainting spell would be quite the Victorian fashion?

I believe 'swooning' is the technical term.

so what route are people taking from top to bottom? something like the light green route? seems like the blue route might also be promising... i don't wanna get lost anymore!

Mmm.... here I found/made some maps....

The first map is an original map from the pamphlets at the Cemetery, with descriptions/lot numbers, etc.

The second map I made myself with what I think are 'easy' and 'harder' routes for anyone both in difficulty and length.

If you're not on a rush, just meander around and don't get too lost

Enjoy!

And any comments appreciated

Original Map

click link for larger map

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx55/laguirre_2010/alleghene-cemetry-original.jpg

Route Map

click link for larger map

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx55/laguirre_2010/ac-map-route.jpg

also, there is still a no bikes sign at the butler entrance, FYI

@Mark: I usually go in through Butler everytime -no problem.

Steampunk Critical Mass.

ain't sayin anybodies gunna stop ya... jussayin take the damn sign down.

while that map is helpful kind of, I have no idea what those routes correspond to in the maze of roads inside the walls of the cemetery. i can't really tell whats a turn, whats a merge, whats a straight... not that any map could really help with this... maybe something like "take the green route till you see the blue route or the big angel on the right, then take the blue route till it meets the pink route and stay on that till you see a hedge shaped like a bear."

maybe i should just figure it out on my own though!

Rolled through there today, Penn->Butler. Saw a wild turkey! (At [40.474301° N 79.949226° W].)

I originally thought that I would breeze through, on my way to other places. But after a couple of sections I found myself slowing down and wanting to look around. Eventually I turned off the main road and just followed the alleys. Blue? Green? It all became vaguely irrelevant...

This is maybe not a place to rush through but a place to slow down, and allow yourself to wonder about all the lives that (literally) went into this place.

i swear i saw a porcupine today. it crawled into a drain grate

@Mark Good points... There are really no good 'markers' to go left from right, but as Ahlir said, just go, experience & fund out.

Most definately, the 'green' route takes you to the top (or the bottom) more directly. That's pretty much the 'red' route I made. This one has all sorts of historical makers and is harder to 'point out'.. The 'white' route is the orange one I made... that one starts very flat from Butler and then becomes a continuous climb up to Penn Avenue.

I'll have access to the maps I made tomorrow at work, and will try to add more relevant information.

@Ahlir Yeap, good point... the cemetery is not a place to run through with so much to see! In terms of animals, I've ran into a family of (4) deers, (2) gophers, (1) wild turkey, (1) falcon, and tons of squirrels !!!!

The cemetery is a couple of blocks from where I live, so lately on my way back home from work, I've been riding there to 'slow down' after the gruesome Butler St

think i might do the up and over black st to mossfield to the cemetery to butler to the strip today for a change of pace.

my cousin is a security guard at the cemetery and has been telling me its cool for me and my "biker buddies" to ride through every time he gets a few beers in him for the last few years. now that it really IS ok, i'm gonna take him up on it.

love the vid, edmonds

i take the white route. you won't get lost if you stick to it, although the white lines do disappear for a minute.

The Second Sunday Seersucker Saunter Spectacular is currently being planned, so have no fear on that!

We are fine tuning the leisurely route, and already have an excellent stop or two and refreshments lined up. Trying to figure out a few prizes right now, and then we will get the ball rolling. The poster should be up soon too!

I just wanted to get that out of the way, now back to the brainzzzzzzzz

B

Doubtful it was a porcupine- possibly a woodchuck (or groundhog) Marmota monax.

we should reintroduce the panther to panther hollow

i used to get surrounded by raccoons in the cemetery. they also go into the drain grates. they hiss at you!

Yeah, not porcupine for sure, possibly oppossum?

Or ghost?

YES!!!!!!! i get very upset whenever i see/read/hear "news" stories about how awful it is that native apex predators have dared to be seen near people. it boggles my mind that people can not realize that moving out to (what used to be) the country to enjoy the nature and open space means that you SHARE that space with the animals THAT WERE ALREADY THERE. every time they shoot a coyote, trap a black bear, etc, we lose a little more of what makes this region special. when they finally managed to start repopulating the lynx in the adirondacks it was a huge victory, and widely hailed. if only we could learn from the past and "preemptively repopulate" our native apex predators around here, instead of freaking out when we see them.

in response to that, there are also beavers on the south side trail

How sure are you that they are beavers caitlin? I have heard other reports of beaver sightings along our rivers and I know that they do often live on riverbanks but have never seen them or any evidence of them myself. Pics of beavers or gnawed up saplings?

i have pics of gnawed saplings!

awesome, pleeeeease post them sometime

my grandmother (raised on Missouri farm during the depression) used to laugh at the silly people who moved out to the "country" only to complain about all the animals and bugs invading "their" land. Rather than fight the hissing coons over garbage, she just put table scraps on a windowsill for them after dinner. We oggled, they ate, everybody wins.

In late fall, deer drunk on fermented apples stumble down my street, occasionally knocking over a mailbox.

I like nature, but some people just find it too itchy.

!!!

we had just planted trees and then the beavers came. I think Friends of the Riverfront trapped one but I am sure it wasn't the only one!

why trap them? They are the O.G. friends of the riverfront if you ask me

hahaha i know! its hilarious if you think about it. I dont think anyone ever really gave thought to beavers in the Mon. But there you have it! They totally belong there. What if they built a dam? That would be awesome. I mean its a clear indication of riverfront success!

Some of the wildlife from the AC

A family of deers grazing....

Mr Deer and Mr Gopher...

that theres a groundhog not a gopher dagnabbit

Really???? Ok.. my bad! That might explain why when I said 'Hi Mr Gopher' he didn't look at me.... haha (sorry).

Now... that is a deer, right? And not a chupacabras

beware of the sharks too

i want to die just to have his tombstone. that is solid granite awesomeness right there.

Here, an updated-map....

Use the 'Section Numbers' to orient yourself!

LINK :

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx55/laguirre_2010/alleghene-cemetry-original-rev.jpg

Legend has it that a Bigfoot lives in Stanton Heights and has been sighted several times in Alleghany Cemetery.

http://www.pabigfootsociety.com/sightingsallegheny.html

A few years ago (6?) beavers cut down a few ornamental trees next to Carnegie Science Center.

I regularly see recent evidence both up and downstream from there, but have never been able to locate their den, which probably is an underwater hole in the bank rather than a large lodge.

I used to see beavers at the Millvale riverfront park when I lived over that way. They would got out into the water and smack their tails at us if we got too close.