Cycling to a Funeral

[Shoogle]

Has anyone here been to a funeral on their bike? I have. Thought I would get some funny looks but nobody said anything. I don't wear lycra but I didn't wear a suit either.

[robgul]

Sadly yes - several ... at one the star attraction had specifically requested that the club members turn up on bikes with club jerseys etc ....

Rob

[LollyKat]

Several times. They've been fairly local so I ride in normal clothes (as I do for local riding anyway) and swap my hi-vis jacket for a sober dark one on arrival.

[loch eck steve]

Yes, thankfully it was both local and nice weather so just cycled there in my suit , no strange looks at the funeral , but a few later on leaving the wake !

[tatanab]

Certainly.
If it is local I wear a suit. If it is a cyclist's funeral I go in club kit.

[eileithyia]

Definitely and wear either club kit or a fairly plain top, most of the recent funerals i have been to have been cyclists and am sure they would expect their cycling friends to represent their lifestyle. I certainly would.

And if it is of any use to anyone to be aware of; Co-op funeral services have a 'tandem-hearse' basically a tandem with a side car base on which the coffin is carried... last summer a cycling friend was carried on his final earthly cycle ride this way while we cycled alongside.

[rjb]

Like this one.

[TrevA]

Twice. A local CTC man's funeral. The legendary Sid Standard. He used to run the Junior section for about 30 years and all his old junior riders and their parents and partners turned up on bikes to accompany the coffin. There must have been 300 of us. They had to stop the traffic on the A52 to let us go past. A similar affair when our club chairman died suddenly. We accompanied the coffin on bikes dressed in full club kit.

Another funeral of a young rider (34 years old) died of a heart problem. The request was to wear something colourful to his funeral. I wore my club top (green and yellow) as did several others. Much appreciated by friends and family.

[eileithyia]

Like this one.

Funeral.jpg

yes that one. Not easy to pedal, so it was fortunate the funeral I was at, was on roads around Cleveleys Lancs where they are flat.....

Apparently the Co has a lot of inventive / different types of coffin transportation, usually stored at Wigan as it is fairly central for them move them around the country where they are required.

[hondated]

Yes I have very recently sadly. Our friend Sally had been suffering from cancer and even then she still wanted to cycle so one of our colleagues fitted an electrical motor to her bike so she could.
Cycling was a big part of her life so it seemed appropriate to cycle to her funeral.
As there were only a few of us that did we were concerned initially that her family may think we were being disrespectful wearing cycling clothing but our fears were allayed once we spoke to her family, especially her mom sister and husband as they were pleased we had because cycling had been such a big part of her life.
So please have no fear of doing the same because you will be representing a big part of the deceased life.

[Rich_Clements]

I had a friend whom sadly died whilst out on a club ride from a heart attack, cycling was his world as he had never got married or had children so his coffin was carried by people in cycling kit it was a very special send off. I look back now and think I wonder what he would have made of it, his family were the ones who had the idea of the coffin being carried by people in cycling kit.

[axel_knutt]

Apparently the Co has a lot of inventive / different types of coffin transportation

Whenever I walk past Co-Operative Funeral Services it always makes me wonder what the uncooperative ones do. Drive a hearse with 'Socket' and 'Odd-Bod' on the sunstrip, perhaps.

[ambodach]

Conventions have changed over the last few years. At one time a dark suit with black tie and white shirt was expected for men and a suitable equivalent for women complete with hat.
Nowadays anything respectable is accepted and restrained club kit would I think be ok. At the Calliach's funeral recently some of those attending wore clothing with particular reference to her business and this attention to detail was appreciated by the family.
Cycling around where I live could be a problem due to a combination of hills,high winds and possibly torrential rain. I have been at funerals on an exposed hillside with horizontal sleet. The drams which followed were welcome.

[mjr]

Apparently the Co has a lot of inventive / different types of coffin transportation, usually stored at Wigan as it is fairly central for them move them around the country where they are required.

Some are actually owned by regional member co-ops and so stored in various locations around the country (I think Central England Co-operative has the famous motorcycle hearse).

I think the co-operative group has a number of high-platform two and four-wheel coffin trailers as well as the tandem(s), but I don't have a picture of one in use.

One problem with cycling to funerals can be the lack of cycle parking at suburban churches and crematoria. Town centres fine, there are cycle parks. Villages fine, no-one minds if you lock to the church sign or inside of the gate wall and it's fairly low-risk anyway. But suburbia seems to expect/accommodate/encourage cars.

[JohnW]

I've only twice been to funerals on my bike - several local CTC members went on their bikes - they were separate funerals of two of our members who'd been killed by motorists....................