Advocacy & Safety - Have you taken a VC course?

In the Why Vehicular Cycling is Cycling Advocacy poll we've established that 42% of respondents (as of tonight) believe VC advocacy and/or VC ed should be the highest priority of cycling advocacy. Well, there is no better way to bring about change than to lead by example.

Have you taken a Vehicular Cycling course, like Effective Cycling, LAB's Road 1, or a CAN-BIKE course?

We've got a certified instructor in my club, but most courses cover two days, which are almost impossible for me to get off together. I foresee the opportunity presenting itself sometime in the next year, though.

Two days? Road 1 is normally 3 or 4 (I forget) 4 hour Saturday morning sessions.

I guess you could cram it all into two contiguous days, but I would think absorption is better if you have a week to practice and review between each 4 hour session.

Two days? Road 1 is normally 3 or 4 (I forget) 4 hour Saturday morning sessions.

I guess you could cram it all into two contiguous days, but I would think absorption is better if you have a week to practice and review between each 4 hour session.

I couldn't remember exactly. Someone in the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition has been doing them in this area. I think they offered the classroom work in the evenings, followed by the road sessions on Saturday. Since I used to be on the "Overtime Desired List", I used to work every day but Sunday, without being able to get any days off.
I'll try to get in a class this year.

I'd like to take a course, but none is offered in my area (Antelope Valley in California). I'll need to find an instructor either in the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles area.

No option for those of us who live in a country without VC training then.

Sure I've taken Road I and Road II and both read Hurst and Forester... yet oddly enough I still have to deal with less then accommodating motorists... unlike others, apparently.

Now on the flip side I have also been complimented for the way I signal and position myself... by other motorists.

What that tells me is that I am doing it right, but there are still motorists out there that either don't give a sh*t about cyclists or don't know that cyclists have the same rights to the road as motorists.

I have also spoken to a number of motorists that have yelled at me... I don't yell back, I approach and talk. I have found out that many of them simply believe that cyclists should not be on the road... they simply don't know.

So beyond cycle training for myself, I firmly believe motorists need to be informed that cyclists have rights to the road and that we should all co-operate.

It's like a dance where one partner doesn't know the steps... and unfortunately that partner happens to be the size of an elephant.

No option for those of us who live in a country without VC training then.
Sure there is: Fuggedaboutit, just like almost everybody else does where VC training IS available.

I learned VC in elementary school.

I learned VC in elementary school.
What did the instructor have to say about dynamic lane positioning and the risks of the "Danger Zone" and "inadvertent drift"?

If nothing, as I suspect, are you sure it was real VC training?

Nah, they just taught us the rules of the road and said: "be careful".

Sure there is: Fuggedaboutit, just like almost everybody else does where VC training IS available.

Do you mean chain it up and leave it in the knowledge that no one will nick it whilst your off drinking coffee? :D

Nah, they just taught us the rules of the road and said: "be careful".
That's a long ways from the VC education curriculum being promoted/dreamed up by the LCI-to-be zealot and the Forester acolyte gang.

I have no doubt that what you were taught was far more effective/useful in teaching children than the theories bandied about on this forum.

I am accumulating a fairly decent library of cycling materials and have studied extensively in these fora and other cycling related websites. I enjoy conversation with other cyclists, especially at the LBS. I have also worked out my cycling habits, including routes, to reach an acceptable accommodation with other users of the roadways. I probably will not devote the time to an actual class.

I voted no and never will take a bike course. I garnered all of my cycling knowledge through 20 years of urban and rural commuting and seven years of bicycle messengering. If folks want to take some course to improve their cycling ability more power to them, but my fear is that folks like Serge will head us down the slippery slope of requiring these courses to bike on the public roadways. And I know legislators would just love the idea of more bureaucracy and licensing requirements for cyclists. I personally like the way things are and see any further legislation likely limiting my rights instead of enhancing them.

I like the school that I've been attending all these years - RWU (Real World University).

Can these courses be taken online?

I voted no and never will take a bike course. I garnered all of my cycling knowledge through 20 years of urban and rural commuting and seven years of bicycle messengering. If folks want to take some course to improve their cycling ability more power to them, but my fear is that folks like Serge will head us down the slippery slope of requiring these courses to bike on the public roadways. And I know legislators would just love the idea of more bureaucracy and licensing requirements for cyclists. I personally like the way things are and see any further legislation likely limiting my rights instead of enhancing them.
Agree 100%!

Can these courses be taken online?
There would be zero, rather than near zero, demand for the services of LCI's if that were to happen.

The idea of an on-line VC course has some merit, but it could never equal an on-road training session.

It's like trying to learn a foreign language. You need someone to hear you to let you know if you're pronouncing correctly. Can't get that online. Though you could over the phone, but you can't phone in cycling...

For the record, I and all LCIs that I know are opposed to licensing and/or legally mandated training for cyclists.

For the record, I and all LCIs that I know are opposed to licensing and/or legally mandated training for cyclists.

HH. my apologies for that assumption. The idea gets booted around every now and then so I'll try and remember your position.
-Marcus

For the record, I and all LCIs that I know are opposed to licensing and/or legally mandated training for cyclists.

Seconded.
LCI 1126

I find VC pretty common sence, why waste my time in a class? Just follow the laws, stay in the lane and respect the other vehicles (if they deserve it)

No, but I might in the future.

I chose this option after talking to an instructor that I know personally, this past July.

Knowing she rides, but not knowing she was an instructor, I asked if she knew of an instructor or a course coming up. She looked at me a little funny, informed me she is an instructor and asked why I wanted to know. When I told her I was interested in taking her course, she said something to the effect of, "Why? You already know everything I do, more about mechanics, you do your own research and you ride better than me." "For you to sit through my course would be a waste of both our time."

That's not to say I don't think I could learn from such a course. Which is why I might take one in the future.

I find VC pretty common sence, why waste my time in a class? Just follow the laws, stay in the lane and respect the other vehicles (if they deserve it)
Hey, if you can easily get to any place you want without any issues, more power to ya.

What got me into VC was one particular left turn on my commute along a narrow 4 lane road with regular high volume 35-40 mph traffic. I would often get "stuck" on the right side waiting for all the traffic to clear before I could get across. The lanes were so narrow I ended up waiting on the sidewalk.

I sought help. No one gave me specific advice, but several recommended reading "Effective Cycling".

Not only did I learn how to effectively manage this one situation, I learned how to make my entire commute, and all my rides, much smoother and more pleasant. In particular, while I used to have unpleasant encounters and "close calls" from time to time, those were all but eliminated after I studied and practiced the techniques described in EC.

But if had never stumbled on to it, I would never had realized what I didn't know. In fact, even when I read EC I remember thinking it was all common sense and I already did everything it said. What was the big deal? Turned out, for me at least, it was more about a change in attitude than anything else. A change in attitude that came about by doing things only slightly differently.

I agree with what HH said about change in attitude. I feel like I've learned a lot about VC riding through reading, and my cycling has become more enjoyable and "practicable." Still, I would love to take a course, as I think there is more to be learned. So far I have been unable to find certified courses in my area.