Bike I Road Course in Bloomington

[Mr. Bloom]

Silver is starting the journey toward an LCI certification.

So, we've arranged a Bike I road course in Bloomington, In. on March 8 from 8AM to 6PM.

It will be limited to 10 participants and it seems to be a rare occurrence in the mid-west.

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/courses.php#road1

Spread the word and come join us

[Geonz]

I took the course with half a dozen other rather experienced riders. It's very good to get together and learn. If I were closer I'd join you!

[Melalvai]

My sister& her bf live in Bloomington!!! I sent them the Effective Cycling video. She's in law school and he's in grad school. (They're both older than me; "non-traditional" students.) Last year, they lived very close to campus and walked everywhere, but too much college student shenanigans persuaded them to move further away. Now they bike. He had a wreck recently when a pedestrian ran in front of him. He was riding as a vehicle--but without a helmet.

I know they'll take the class if their schedules allow. Is there a fee? Mine was $20. Being students, they live on a meager budget, but if they can't pay the whole thing I'll contribute.

When & where is Silver taking the LCI? I've looked into it. Because of the alternative transportation grant, Columbia has several LCIs, and offers Road I, Bike Pro, and Commuter Cycling several times a year. There will be another LCI class in March, but the cost may be prohibitive, I don't know. (The grant might subsidize our fee.) Also-the former biking buddy I've mentioned is in charge of all this, and my husband is not so keen on me taking the LCI class here, so I'm inclined to pass up this opportunity.

[Mr. Bloom]

My sister& her bf live in Bloomington!!!
When & where is Silver taking the LCI? .

We are coming to Columbia for the next course in March!

Mel, I've PM'd our contact info...and some thoughts.

[PscyclePath]

I know they'll take the class if their schedules allow. Is there a fee? Mine was $20. Being students, they live on a meager budget, but if they can't pay the whole thing I'll contribute.

When & where is Silver taking the LCI? I've looked into it. Because of the alternative transportation grant, Columbia has several LCIs, and offers Road I, Bike Pro, and Commuter Cycling several times a year. There will be another LCI class in March, but the cost may be prohibitive, I don't know. (The grant might subsidize our fee.) Also-the former biking buddy I've mentioned is in charge of all this, and my husband is not so keen on me taking the LCI class here, so I'm inclined to pass up this opportunity.

The LCI Seminar is $200, plus whatever you may spend on travel, meals, and lodging to get there and stay there over the weekend. The fee covers the seminar, your instructors' packet, and your first year's liability insurance as an LCI. You also need to have an individual membership in the League, which is $35 aside from the seminar fee.

It is a fantastic experience. The seminar is wholly about teaching cycling and cyclists, not a refresher on what's in the course curriculum. You will work hard before you show up for the seminar (pre-seminar exam, plus you will have to present to your peers a 10-minute block of instruction out of the Road I curriculum, plus every student must successfully teach and demonstrate all the parking lot drills), because you hit the road sprinting the first afternoon of the course, and expect to work as hard or harder in the course. Finishing the seminar Sunday afternoon is a good lesson in how much you still have to learn ;-)

As for what the individual Bike Ed courses cost, that's up to the individual LCI teaching it, and what he or she figures his or her time is worth. They do strongly encourage that we charge something for the training classes, a rule of thumb being $10 per student per hour. That would make Road I something like $100. In many cases, local bike clubs or advocacy groups will sponsor a student's attendance at the LCI seminar, and in turn he or she pays back by teaching the classes at lower (or no) cost for the club.

The going rate here is usually $50 for Road I, and $30 for Group Riding or Commuting. However if there's a student who needs the training but can't afford the fee, I'll offer what I call a "scholarship," where he gets the class he needs, and maybe does some volunteer work for the bike advocacy group or something. I certainly didn't become an LCI for the monetary aspects, and if I can help somebody make cycling a bigger or better part of their life, I've met my goal.

If y'all need any help, just holler.

Tom

[silver]

thanks Tom, if mr. would let me drive that far I would have come and taken your class. In fact, if the guys in Bloomington had not put this together for us, we were going to contact you to see if we could work something out.

I am so anxious to get become an LCI. I have many plans concerning coaching and advocacy that will be facilitated by this, both the knowledge and the qualification.

I'm sure that I will be nagging you with questions.

Hopefully, I'll be able to actually register for the seminar and get my materials on the way on Monday. Somehow, the league has lost my membership number. :confused: seems to be a problem with registering as a family. Mr. actually has little personal desire for the LCI, but is doing it to be with me and support me.

Our son will take the Road I with us.

[mupedalpusher]

Melalvai I would encourage you to take the class! I'll be helping with the class. Assure hubby it won't matter that our other friend is in charge. He's not the teacher, they bring in an LCI teacher. I hope you can work things out to take it, we need more LCI's in Columbia.:)

[Technotart]

Yay!!! More LCI's! I just got mine TODAY!

We will be offering a Women's only Road I in the next couple of months in Dallas!

[susan.wells]

Mr. S can you send me registration information for this course? I highly doubt that I can make this one since I return from a weeklong business trip to Germany on Friday at 6 PM ... however it could help clear the cobwebs!

[Mr. Bloom]

Mr. S can you send me registration information for this course? I highly doubt that I can make this one since I return from a weeklong business trip to Germany on Friday at 6 PM ... however it could help clear the cobwebs!

If you don't mind futons, you can stay with us...I'm trying to get stuff for mel's sister, I should have something later today.

[PscyclePath]

thanks Tom, if mr. would let me drive that far I would have come and taken your class. In fact, if the guys in Bloomington had not put this together for us, we were going to contact you to see if we could work something out.

I am so anxious to get become an LCI. I have many plans concerning coaching and advocacy that will be facilitated by this, both the knowledge and the qualification.

I'm sure that I will be nagging you with questions.

Hopefully, I'll be able to actually register for the seminar and get my materials on the way on Monday. Somehow, the league has lost my membership number. :confused: seems to be a problem with registering as a family. Mr. actually has little personal desire for the LCI, but is doing it to be with me and support me.

Our son will take the Road I with us.

Ray Hess, the LCI who will be teaching the Bloomingdale course, was in my LCI seminar in Louisville last year. He's good folks, and will take good care of ya'll.

And it looks like Arkansas will be represented in the Columbia seminar as well... Jenn Shaw from here in Little Rock and Mitch Durham from Greenwood will be students there.

Have y'all gotten your instructor manual and pre-seminar packet/exam yet?
Time to start studying hard!

Tom

[Mr. Bloom]

We're hoping to get all the materials this week. There was a problem with our League membership #...but we finally got it fixed.

[Melalvai]

Silver, how was the class? All I know is that Mr. Silver didn't make it, it rained, and it was brutally cold all Saturday. I saw a group of you downtown when I took my daughter to the post office that morning (in a car) (with a heater) (in a heated car) (did I mention the car was heated?)!

I also heard there was a fierce argument between the St. Louis cyclists and the Columbia cyclists about whether "taking the lane" means you ride in the right tire track, or smack between the right & left tire tracks of where a car would be. Personally my vote is (usually) for the middle (depending on circumstance), but I also don't think it is worth getting my panties in a wad over, and I know if I had been there I would have been very irritated at those involved in the argument for wasting my time.

(I heard that from my bike-shop friend, Todd, who helped me put together my bike yesterday, he took the course with you.)

So, are you ready to go out and teach Road I and Bike Pro to everyone? I'll tell my sister to keep an eye out for classes scheduled during her breaks!

[PscyclePath]

I also heard there was a fierce argument between the St. Louis cyclists and the Columbia cyclists about whether "taking the lane" means you ride in the right tire track, or smack between the right & left tire tracks of where a car would be. Personally my vote is (usually) for the middle (depending on circumstance), but I also don't think it is worth getting my panties in a wad over, and I know if I had been there I would have been very irritated at those involved in the argument for wasting my time.

(I heard that from my bike-shop friend, Todd, who helped me put together my bike yesterday, he took the course with you.)


"Taking the lane" means riding far enough to the left that you are clearly visible to motorists behind you, and that it requires them to change lanes or cross the center line to get around you with safe passing distances. Just where that is on the street depends on the size of the lanes/roads. Me, I tend to take the center as well. Riding too far to the right, whether that be in the tire track or closer to the lane striping just temps a motorist to try and squeeze by you in the same lane, regardless of whether he's supposed to stop at that red light just 60 feet ahead ;-)

Also anxious for news from the Columbia course...

Tom

[Melalvai]

"Taking the lane" means riding far enough to the left that you are clearly visible to motorists behind you, and that it requires them to change lanes or cross the center line to get around you with safe passing distances. Just where that is on the street depends on the size of the lanes/roads. Me, I tend to take the center as well. Riding too far to the right, whether that be in the tire track or closer to the lane striping just temps a motorist to try and squeeze by you in the same lane, regardless of whether he's supposed to stop at that red light just 60 feet ahead ;-)
Yeah, seemed like a silly thing to argue heatedly about. Then again, as cold as it was, I suppose they had to have something to heat them up, poor things!

Also anxious for news from the Columbia course...
I heard 15/16 were present, which is (I guess) an awfully large class. (The 16th being Mr. Silver, presumably.) :)

[Mr. Bloom]

Although I passed Road I, my "points off" were for not being aggressive enough in "taking the lane". I was very comfortable with my position...but after having my perspective changed, I see the virtue.

I'll let Silver respond with detail, but she was exhausted. On Saturday, it was 8AM to 10PM. She wound up having to put on jeans and a down coat to stay warm. She doesn't have much "insulation".

Here's a picture of their group:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa201/MrSilver1963/LCIGroup-ColumbiaMO--March2008.jpg

I'm sad that I couldn't make the glass...but I have to admit that I may not have had the stamina to survive the 38 degree, windy, rainy rides on Saturday. I may have been Private Benjamin in boot camp!

[Melalvai]

Which one is she?
I recognize a lot of the faces!
Eric is the guy who rides in the gorilla suit on the tandem behind the mayor, unless the mayor's wife is riding with him.
Eric works in a bike shop.
So does Todd (in a different shop). He helped me put my bike together yesterday. And many other times.
No sign of MUPedalPusher, guess she wasn't around for the picture.

[silver]

Hi, just checking in quickly! I'm still exhausted! I'm in pink next to Todd. He was great and helped calm me down on our rides. I was so nervous about not knowing the course.

I think that MU pedal pusher took the picture. She was the LCI that graded my road test.

It was great and awesome and very exhausting. I didn't find the "argument" too tedious. There is a bit of variation in just exactly how taking the road is defined. And there are some things that appear to be different based on local custom.

I can't wait to get my number and know that everything is official!


It was so cold on the first ride that I thought I was going to hae to go home and not complete the course. on the the second outing, I got so cold that the instructor was concerned that I was hypothermic.