Cyclists creating nuisance, safety concerns

Just food for thought. I received an e-mail from Mrs. Schram stating her opinion on the upcoming bike race and I have to agree with her.

I'm all for Brooksville getting healthy and trying to uplift the Hernando County economy, but I am tired of the bikes in my neighborhood. I live in a rural, quiet (or so it use to be) deed-restricted "Equine" community for the purpose of having horses. Now just what do the 20-plus cyclists who flew into my subdivision last weekend (every weekend we have cyclists) in a cluster altogether coming around blind corners going faster than the speed limit would do when they run into two horseback riders, or for that matter, kids out playing or neighbors walking with their dogs on the road? Just what do you think would happen? Somebody would get hurt!

Not only is it a safety issue, as Mrs. Schram stated, it's an inconvenience to the people who pay the taxes out here and moved here for a peaceful rural lifestyle. Doesn't anyone see how it has affected St. Pete? The mayor is now imposing fines on bike riders. There have been seven cyclist deaths in the last three months. I wonder why?

They ride more than two deep, they don't stop at stop signs, they don't care what cars or anyone else on the road thinks; they have their own set of rules. This is especially frequent down Batten Road and try driving down Bellamy Brothers Road. Good luck if you are behind bikes.

Can't everyone just have some consideration for others? I always slow down and am very cautious so they know I am there when I try to pass them. Shouldn't the respect work both ways? I'm getting tired of no consideration for anyone else who has a right to be on the road or enjoy their neighborhood.

At one point, we were approached, which by the way was extremely nice, and asked if we would mind an organized bike ride in our neighborhood for about six hours, basically the whole day on a long weekend. There is a foreclosure property this particular group was planning on using for cars, parking and I would venture to say for outdoor bathrooms? Where else would they go? And what about food?

You know, I will state again: Enjoy your bike riding but have some consideration for the residents who live in particular subdivisions and don't appreciate the same things bikers do. We all should be able to enjoy the beautiful hills out here, but there are enough roads with hills that are not a subdivision and someone's home street that can be used.

We also get the SFU runners out here every Tuesday morning, and I have heard some neighbors complain they run in the dark (and not as a group) when people are trying to get to work or their children to the bus stop in the early morning. Coming around a blind corner, they are very hard to see and is not very safe.

On another note, it must be nice they have all that money to bus them out to Brooksville. Let's just raise the tuition fees again to cover gas for 15-20 runners. The taxpayers won't mind.

Marnie Watt

Brooksville