I only heard of John Forester recently and read about VC, but I realize that its how I've been riding a bike since I was 10 years old. It seems a perfectly sensible, safe and natural way to ride. Maybe that's because in 1970 I took the UK's Cycling Proficiency Test which emphasized following the Highway Code as a bike is a vehicle on the road and lane positioning strategies similar to VC.
When I made my first bike trip downtown at age 10 or 11 I was on a one-speed kids' bike from Sears and using the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles. I may have arrived at that technique of my own accord but I also vaguely remember being told that cyclists should ride like that in some sort of school program. That was certainly the law at the time. It certainly wasn't a 'club cyclist' who taught me, because I didn't know any club cyclists nor any Europeans at the time. I don't recall anybody ever telling us we needed to get out of the way of cars, ride on the sidewalk, or any other sort of 'childish cycling.'
Robert