— This guest article comes from Lois Leveen — an author, activist, bicyclist, and ukulele player in Portland.
If you are one of the many bicyclists who enjoys pedaling through River View Cemetery for your commute or your recreational rides, you may already have seen the signs notifying cyclists that the Cemetery will be closed to bicyclists from Saturday 5/23 through Monday 5/25. This annual observance of Memorial Day weekend maximizes access for those mourning and remembering loved ones.
It is also a good reminder that River View Cemetery is a private entity that kindly allows bicyclists and pedestrians to pass through their property. For those of you who make this ride regularly, you know it is a beautiful route, and the only safe way to get to/from/through much of Southwest Portland. Please comply fully with this closure, and always be respectful whenever passing through River View Cemetery during the rest of the year.
Although many of us treat Memorial Day as we do other holidays and long weekends, and particularly as a kickoff to summer fun, it’s worth pausing for some Memorial Day-specific reflection. So as you read this and as you bike and walk your way around this coming weekend, it’s a good opportunity to remember the many Portlanders, Oregonians, and United Statesians we lose to vehicular violence each year (as well as the countless others whose lives are shortened/worsened by pollution, the climate crisis, and other aspects of unfettered car culture). May their memories be an inspiration as we work to make the places we live and ride safer for all our community members.
Thanks for reading.
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Also Taylor’s Ferry Road is closed to cars that weekend.
I’d love to push up that hill without cars present, but I’m not finding any communication from PBOT/portland.gov etc stating that it is. Can you share a link?
I think ol’ Freddy was being sarcastic.
Out of respect for the visitors to the cemetery. It will be nice to visit without hearing the roar of gasoline engines.
Electric vehicles only?
Thank you for the reminder on this annual closure Lois.
I would also like to remind people that Memorial Day has a specific purpose which is to honor and remember our fallen who have die fighting overseas and here at home due to wounds, sometimes unseen, suffered overseas. Oregon Guard soldiers were heavily deployed during the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars and their sacrificess hould not be forgotten or glossed over.
Here are the raw numbers of fellow Oregonians who have died in war so we can do what we do.
Civil War: 48 deaths
Philippine-American War: 63 deaths
World War I: 1,030 deaths
World War II: 3,832 deaths
Korean War: 283 deaths
Vietnam War: 777 deaths
Persian Gulf War (1990-1991): 4 deaths
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars (Post-9/11): 108 deaths combined (74 in Iraq, 34 in Afghanistan)
IN FLANDERS FIELD
John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
As a Canadian who was exposed to those verses every November 11th, that last stanza transforms what is honestly a below-average poem into a militaristic call-to-arms.
If we want to ride a bike to visit the cemetery, rather than riding through it, is that allowed?
Nope. You can’t bring a bike onto the property at all, since bikes are inherently disrespectful to the dead – esp to the men and women who fought and died for our country.
No, nice try.
If you look at past discussions this is because of a few bad behaving cyclists who thought they didn’t have to follow the rules on private property and could be, by their behavior, disrespect the cemetery and those families and friends who were visiting.
So, take your angst out on them, not cyclists as a whole.
That’s a good question!
I rode my bike to Mt Scott to visit my father’s grave on memorial day. Apologies if that was offensive