Funerals can truly be augmented by a poem that is apt and fitting for the person you have just lost. The following list of funeral poems about cycling are perfect for those who shared a passion for travel on two pedalled wheels.
The Cyclist
by Joyce Elliot
Wheeling through the beautiful countryside
Far from the city’s commotion
Alone, just me, my bike, my thoughts
The joy of quiet motion.
The birds and the nearby bubbling brook
Are the only sounds that I hear
The click of the freewheel of course
And the wind whistling by my ear.
The beauty and peace it brings my way
Is difficult to describe
For we who bike for pleasure
Belong to a different tribe.
Some travel afar, others stay nearby
Some pedal fast, some slow
But in common with the lot of us
Is the desire to just go.
Oh! Bury Me In Lycra!
Author Unknown
Oh! Bury Me In Lycra
With a bike-shaped brooch above my heart
Take me not by motor-hearse
But pulled by trike, upon a cart.
Give my spare parts so some young buck
May make a start upon the road
Take the pannier of life
And balance carefully his load.
Clean your rims, my friend! For you may find
When you clear the hilly top
That the brakes of life may seize
And take you to a messy stop.
Oh! Bury me in Lycra!
So when I get to heaven’s gate
St. Peter in his wisdom
Can take the mick out of my weight.
Take my ash, and let it fly,
O’er the land of Shimano
But save some for Italia fair
And the fields of Campagno(lo).
So take this Cat eye, let it shine
In the dark, where’er ‘tis found
And fettle not my bottom bracket
Afore ye lay me in the ground.
O Magic Wheel
by N. P. Tyler
O Magic wheel
of burnished steel
How part of myself thou art.
As we roll along
Mid the hurrying throng
That peoples the busy mart.
Let’s haste away
From the heart of the day
To the woods’ refreshing shade
Where the babbling brook
In some sheltered nook
Is gurgling a-down the glade.
Where the Oriole swells
His throat as he tells
Of his flight through ethereal space
And his music flows
While the earth’s repose
Is deeper because of his grace.
I can talk as we roll
And I know that a soul
Must lurk in thy wonderful frame
A spiritual essence
Some far hidden presence
Some genius of magical fame.
I know well they power
In each trying hour
Thou servant so faithful and true
When the swift rushing wind
Is left muttering behind
As thou sippest the sweet morning dew.
Or when Sol dips his crest
‘Neath the glorious west
And the sunlight congeals into dark
We will skim by the sea
We will shoot o’er the lea
We will follow the meteor’s mark.
Thou life giving wheel
Whose sinews are steel
My veins imbibe life from thine own
And I sink to my rest
With true loyal zest
While my dreams are my cycle’s alone.
Rest there on the moss
Where the soft zephyrs toss
Though circlet of beauty and pride
With thy invisible wings
Attached to thy strings
Are folded in peace at thy side.
Passion For Cycling
by Sidney Beck
Coast to coast across England in one day;
A hundred miles in one trip.
Bike like a rocket
each sprocket fits its socket
with well oiled smoothness of clockwork.
Feels good as chain clunks
from one socket to the next
and the ticking whirring of freewheel
and zipping noise of fast tires on flat asphalt.
Hum a song to me
as I lean over into the bend
and the bike leans with me.
Smooth road; never mind the few bumps;
and air so fresh you could eat it in lumps.
Aroma of York’s chocolate ten miles away,
bread-baking and brewing downwind of Carlisle
make me ready for dinner.
And the strong odour of fish in North Shields,
stink of cattle feed outside Goole,
sickly smell of plastics factory, oil newly-refined,
makes you see even if you’re blind.
Makes me want to pedal for home.
To access our full list of funeral poems, click here.
All poems featured on this website are free to use during any ceremony, although it is good practice to make sure the author is mentioned, if known. Should you require a celebrant for your ceremony, be it a funeral, a wedding, a naming ceremony or something else, feel free to get in touch. I am a double award-nominated Family and Funeral Celebrant covering the entire UK, and would be happy to help you commemorate in a meaningful and personal way.
