Dear Lorenzo

(Blogger's note: Alan Snel will always be a bicycle guy and this blog will be devoted to the love of bicycling. But he made a living covering stadium subsidy and finance stories in several newspaper markets around the country, including Las Vegas. And with Las Vegas multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson asking his community to contribute $750 million in public money toward building a football stadium, Snel will occasionally write a blog post here on this highly-controversial and politically-volatile topic. Here is the first one,)


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Dear Lorenzo,

Congrats on selling UFC for a tidy sum of $4 billion.

That’s awesome!

I mean, you bought an MMA property for $2 million in 2001 and you unloaded it for $4 BILLION 15 years later.

You made Tony Hsieh’s sale of Zappos to Amazon in 2009 for $1.2 billion look like chump change.

So, since the Fertitta bank account has a few more zeroes at the end of the numbers now, I have a small request for you that would instantly make you a hero in Las Vegas and pretty much immortalize you in the annals of sports.

Now, we both know that you love Las Vegas and the NFL and that you never thought -- realistically -- that you’d sell UFC for $4 billion. Only three years ago we chatted in an interview and you were happy that UFC was valued at $2 billion at the time.

So, now that UFC sold for $4 billion, how about you do a small favor for the Las Vegas area and stroke a check for $750 million to cover the money that Sheldon Adelson wants the public to fork over for a football stadium?

I know, that’s a lot of dough.

Sheldon says he’s willing to contribute $650 million of his $30 billion personal fortune toward a stadium that he thinks can lure the Oakland Raiders to Sin City.

But you’re the man, Lorenzo.

You, like Sheldon, live in the area and you know the Las Vegas market sure has a lot of public needs that probably outweigh the need for a publicly-subsidized stadium that would soak up $750 million of resources that can go for other public needs like bolstering Las Vegas’ beleaguered education system.

Keep in mind I don’t have a dog in this fight.

I moved from Vegas (where I covered the business of stadiums for the Las Vegas Review-Journal) to Florida for a new writing job earlier this year.

But I lived there long enough to see that Las Vegas is still the entertainment hub of the world -- with or without a publicly-subsidized stadium.

Would a new palatial domed sports palace for 68,000 fans be nice for Las Vegas?

Of course it would.

But at the public expense of $750 million?

You’re a bright guy, Lorenzo, so you know the answer to that question.

So, what do you say Lorenzo?

I know you love the NFL and football. You made Gorman into a national high school football powerhouse and I know you modeled some of UFC’s business features after the National Football League.

I know you want a piece of the NFL.

So, what do you say? Be a hero for Las Vegas while also being the majority owner of the newest, coolest football stadium in the country and you will go down in Vegas history as the man who saved your people $750 million.

Even Sheldon with his bank account couldn’t say that.

Thanks for reading, Lorenzo, and good luck in what I hope will be your future NFL career. .

Yours truly,

Alan Snel.

Biking Way Off The Main Roads

Around noon, I braved the mid-day heat and drove with the Pugsley to a side road off State Road 16 about about 15 miles inland west of Vero Beach.

There, I parked my car near an informal parking area off County Road 512 and began pedaling on a paved service road behind a metal bar.

What a bird paradise!

I marveled at the soaring great blue herons that flapped its mighty huge wings along an adjacent waterway.

There were smaller herons and egrets. And of course, the ospreys. Nearby is Blue Cypress Lake, a gorgeous egg-shaped lake between SR 60, the Florida Turnpike and Fellsmere.

Take your bike off road . You won't be disappointed.

Sunday Is BicycleDay

Early Sunday morning is the bicyclist time.

This morning, I pedaled the Surly Pugsley out to the Atlantic Ocean, less than four miles from my house.

The rest of the week it's motorists on the road but on Sunday mornings bicyclists dominate the local pavement and it's a beautiful thing to see.

And with the Surly Pugsley, I can pedal on the beach at sunrise.

Richard Branson Says Bike Helmet Saved His Life

I have a handful of friends who don't wear bicycle helmets.

They feel they don't need one.

And they certainly don't want to be told that they are required to wear them to ride a bicycle.

In Florida, adults are not required by law to wear a bike helmet.

But Richard Branson, the big Virgin Airlines tycoon man-about-town, said a bike helmet saved his life when he crashed on his bicycle.

Here's Richard in his own words.

Oviedo Police Chief Breaks Out Common Refrain: You May Be Legally Correct But A Car Might Hit You Anyway

By now, you may have heard about the police officer in Oviedo, Fla. -- an Orlando area suburb -- who advised a bicyclist in the middle of a sub-standard lane to move over to the side or ride on the sidewalk.

Well, the bicyclist said, no way, and cited the statute that allowed him to be in the traffic lane when the lane is too narrow for a car and a bicycle to be side-by-side in the traffic lane. The Orlando Weekly did a nice job wrapping up the case.

There were other TV and news reports on the case and I contacted the police chief in that city to please advise his officers to know the latest in bicycle safety and to even check out CyclingSavvy for the best practices in vehicular bicycling.

Oviedo Police Chief Jeffrey Chudnow and I exchanged several polite emails and his last one included this particular line that I have heard from other police as well:

"I have seen too many bicyclist, who may be legally correct, end up on the worse end of a vehicle/bicycle crash."

He's basically saying, sure, follow the law, but I think you're going to get whacked by a car anyway.

How about educating motorists from the get-go about respecting the road rights of bicyclists and teaching drivers of motorized vehicles to slow down, not mess with cell phones and to be patient on the road and crack down on motorists who don't comply.

Again, A Police Officer Does Not Know That A Bicyclist Can Take A Narrow Traffic Lane

I cringe every time I hear a police officer tell a bicyclist who is lawfully pedaling in a lane to move to the side or bike on the sidewalk.

My major pet peeve about motorists in Florida is that many do not understand or the know the law that permits bicyclists to take the entire lane if that lane is too narrow for a car to safely pass the bicyclist within the width of that lane.

CyclingSavvy is an excellent bike education program that explains this concept.

This issue surfaced once again when a police officer in the city of Oviedo in Seminole County incorrectly told a bicyclist to move his position from the lane.

The bicyclist said he was lawfully in the lane and that he would not bike on the sidewalk.

This verbal exchange was the topic of a TV news report.

And here's another great news nugget too.

I wrote a letter to the city of Oviedo about the law and I hope you do too. Here are the email addresses to the police, mayor and other city officials.

ADD

The police chief responded promptly to me email and I'm sharing his response:

Mr. Snel:  I am in receipt of your e-mail regarding the officer/bicyclist encounter.  Yes, the officer could have handled this better, no debate on that.  However, the bicyclist was incorrect when he cited FSS about it is illegal for him to ride on the sidewalk.

FSS 316.2065 Bicycle regulations.— section 9 and 10 state:

(9) A person propelling a vehicle by human power upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, has all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.

(10) A person propelling a bicycle upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.

The officer’s approach may have been abrupt as he was on his way to a call for service, his request to have the bicyclist move out of the middle of the lane, although legal for the bicyclist to ride there under section  5 a.3 ” (5)(a) states ”Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride in the lane marked for bicycle use or, if no lane is marked for bicycle use, as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

3. When reasonably necessary to avoid any condition or potential conflict, including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, turn lane, or substandard-width lane, which makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge or within a bicycle lane. For the purposes of this subsection, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.”

The street the bicyclist was riding on is a very curvy street and vehicles often exceed the 30 mph speed limit.  The officer saw vehicles swerving around the bicycle and was concerned for his wellbeing as he was in the middle of the lane.   His request for the bicyclist to move closer to the curb or onto the sidewalk was for safety reasons.  Since Florida has one of the highest rates of vehicle vs. bicycle crashes the safety of bicyclist is always our concern.

Jeffrey Chudnow

Chief of Police

Oviedo Police Department

300 Alexandria Blvd.

Oviedo, Florida 32765

407-971-5731 (office)

407-971-5816 (fax)

NFL Writer Brags About His Driver Using Bike Lane; Thinks It's A Big Joke

Yesterday, I suggested that bicyclists thank courteous motorists for great passes and their patience.

But when a selfish moron pulls a bullshit move like this, you have to call him out..

NFL writer Peter King posted this photo on Twitter, bragging that he was able to get his driver to drive in the bike lane to get to the San Diego Chargers' football stadium.

Well, Deadspin wrote all about the fallout here -- and the Twitter responses were not pretty.

Just so you understand -- never drive a motorized vehicle in a bike lane.

Even the San Diego Police weighed in with a Twitter post to advise King that it's not a good idea.