Funeral Procession
 

So tonight I go out to Winfield Prairie Path Cycle to do the group ride with ABD. Man, I was in the zone tonight, no falling off, stayed up front the entire time. I fell back to help another rider catch back up, which is odd for me seeing as I am such a newb. So we get caught back up almost and get nailed by a red light. We make sure it is clear and then go across, great descent, 3 of us in the slipstream at about 30 mph. Once we finish the descent, we have a small, but constant ascent for about a mile, so I go ahead, do a shift, coast for a few feet, and go to hammer a bit to start the ascent, and boom, there goes the chain. So I fall off the back to stop and get the chain back on. Then I get going again and the group had gotten about a half mile ahead of me. I was making good time, climbing the hill pretty good considering the end of the ride was getting closer and closer. I can see the group ahead of me about 1/4 mile ahead. Good, I will catch up with them at the light and we will be back together again. Then it happens.

A funeral procession coming out of the private golf course. They had a car blocking the road so the cars could make it out. I could have still made it through, but I am one of those emotional types who thought it would be better if I stopped, dismounted, and paid a little respect to the person and the family. I could see the line was long as hell, and if I waited for the whole thing I would have been there for probably 5 minutes or longer. So I waited for 10 cars to go, as that is typically the immediate family, and seeing that they are coming out of a private, expensive, golf course, the rest are just people who shared the same interest and knew the person. So I get back to going, and just miss the light to catch up with the group. Now I have to wait and there was no catching back up.

Anyways, is there a proper thing to do in this instance? Do you just say forget it and ride through? Do you stop and be a bit respectful? When I was in the military, it was customary to get out of the car and pop a salute.

Best thing to do is make sure your derailleurs are adjusted properly.

Failing that, try to learn to do a rolling chain pickup.

Ya, the chain was my fault, I did a super newb move not paying attention.

I think you did the wait thing waiting for the procession. Rushing past them would be kind of unseemly. Just wait it out or go another way.

I've only had a procession come up behind me once. I curb hopped to the sidewalk and rode very slowly there until the coast was clear. Then I pulled a draft off of the funeral home's car on the back of the procession.

Waiting for the procession is the right thing to do.

I'd wait. Imagine if you were in the procession -- probably be pissed off if some cyclist blew by you, right?

Crossing through a funeral procession is a traffic offense that could earn a motorist/bicyclist a ticket. Regardless, out of respect I'd wait for the entire procession to pass.

There's a safety consideration too - there's normally more than 1 escort vehicle (car or motorcycle) and you never know when one will be speeding alongside the procession to leapfrog to the next intersection. A motorcycle escort was killed in Indy not long ago when someone in the procession waived a vehicle through the line - right into the path of the motorcycle escort.

I was in my car headed to work on a 4 lane 55 MPH country highway (US 40 for those who know) when a funeral procession pulled out in front of me. They proceded to go 35 miles an hour for the next 20 miles before they turned off. I had left early for work so I had plenty of time and stayed behind them, but come on.. there should be a limit on that.

I wouldn't cross through or impede a procession, but on a highway with a passing lane available I'd definitely go around one.