To teach a recognized BikeEd course, League Cycling Instructors are required to use the instructional materials the League provides. Here are some examples which are all too typical of the quality of the 2002 Manual. We deserve better than this. If you elect me, I will work relentlessly to fix these problems!

These are quotes for LCIs either to laugh or cry over. So, excuse me if the tone of the following presentation isn't always exactly totally, deadly serious. I'd rather laugh than cry.

The first-prize winner!

First, the winner among the examples I have found so far.

The following sentences appear in material to be distributed to students, on page 6-15 of the manual.

A bicycle helmet, like any piece of protective equipment, is designed to be worn a certain way. When it is not, it will do what it's supposed to do: protect your head.

The boldface is mine, but the words are those of the Manual -- the helmet only protects you head if you do not wear it correctly. What kind of credibility does this give you with your students? Really --

helmetright7.gif (7210 bytes)

I composed this picture when I was in a mischievous mood. I debated whether to include this picture on the page. Well, here it is. Am I wrong for making the point that this is what the League's BikeEd program recommends after spending $100,000 on the manual? And yes, even though this is just an editing error, I am very troubled about the carelessness that let this error through, along with many others.

Additional examples

The following examples are presented in the order in which they appear in the Manual. I'm sure that there are many other equally compelling examples. I only skimmed through the manual when preparing this page.

Signal, swerve and crash.

From material to be distributed to Kids I students, page 4-8

Signal and scan

When you wish to turn right or left, or to stop, use arm signals standard for motor vehicles. All 50 states recognize arm signals performed with the left arm. The hand pointing straight left indicates a left turn. The hand pointing down indicates a stop. The hand pointing up indicates a right turn.

[end of section]

There are several problems with this statement.

Despite the heading, only signaling is described, not scanning. Turning without scanning is one of the most common mistakes that get children into car-bike collisions.
Arm signals are standard for vehicle operators without electrical turn signals. Turn signals have been standard equipment on motor vehicles for nearly 50 years, and so the reference to motor vehicles is obsolete and confusing.
No mention is made of the right-handed right turn signal, which is more easily performed, more easily understood, strictly legal in many states and produces no legal problems where the law specifies a left-handed signal.

What is "plastic in"?

In advice for instructors, page 5-11

Saddles are made of plastic in with varying amounts of padding.

"In", the latest miracle of modern chemistry?

Return to starting position...

in advice for instructors, page 5-17

Stopping

(Explain the process, and then demonstrate slowly.)

It is advisable to put your right foot down on the ground first when stopping as it leans you and the bike away from the flow of traffic. If you should lose your balance you will not fall into the path of traffic. Try to dismount away from traffic. When preparing to make a stop, be alert to the terrain, etc. that you will encounter when re-starting and shift accordingly.

Shift your weight to the left pedal, sliding your body forward off the saddle and slow to a stop. Immediately before you stop, turn the handlebars slightly to the left. This leans the bike toward your right foot and prevents you from falling to your left.

Dismounting

Once your bike is stopped, remove your left foot from the toe clip. Both feet are now on the ground and you are straddling the bike. Swing one leg backward over the saddle so that both feet are on the same side of the bike, preferably away from traffic.

Instructors in the thick of teaching a class need a complete, step-by-step, accurate guide to the material. This example is anything but that:

The instruction to place a foot on the ground is out of sequence. It is missing from the step-by-step description of how to stop.
Only dismounting is described. Stopping to wait for cross traffic, as cyclists do much more often, is not described properly. There is no mention that the bicyclist should remain astride the bicycle with one foot in the toeclip, or return a pedal to starting position. Quite the contrary, the instruction to put the right foot down first implies that the other foot also should be put down.
The instruction to "dismount away from traffic" is correct as it applies to actual dismounting. But then, it could be taken to mean that the cyclist should pull over to the curb when waiting for cross traffic, encouraging motorists to turn right from the cyclist's left side and placing the cyclist in an incorrect and illegal position when going straight or turning left.
When the right foot is down, there is a greater likelihood of falling toward the left, because there is nothing to arrest a fall to the left.
Nonetheless, it's better for people to stay with the habit they have already developed. Switching to the other foot is awkward and confusing.
There is no mention of click-in pedals, which are now very common.

Imitation is the sincerest...

In material to be distributed to students, page 5-21

We've all seen bicyclists who wander from left side to right, who go from the sidewalk to the street and who weave in and out of [sic] parked cars. From moment to moment, nobody can tell what these bicyclists are about to do. Pedestrians jump back and car brakes squeal as such bicyclists approach.

On the other hand, we've seen bicyclists who seem to blend into the traffic flow smoothly and effortlessly. You always know where they are headed and what to do around them, whether you're on a bicycle, in a car or on foot. They make bicycling look easy - but aren't they taking a risk? Isn't it safer to avoid the traffic as much as possible?

Here's what it advises. Really!

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The two paragraphs are plagiarized word for word, without any attribution, from my own Bicycling Street Smarts, chapter 2. Just one word has been changed. I advised bicyclists not to weave in and out between parked cars.

More about signaling

In material to be distributed to students, page 6-18

Hand signals

A large part of being predictable in your actions on the highway is letting others know what you plan to do before you do it - hand signals are a vital communication tool...

[Discussion of arm positions for hand signals, which this time does mention the right-handed right-turn signal, though an illustration with this section does not show it.]

Be sure to stop signaling immediately before entering the intersection. At this point, it is more important for you to have both hands on the handlebar for maximum control and maneuverability.

This section entirely misses the point about how a cyclist properly uses signals: not to "be predictable" but to make a request of a driver to let the cyclist into line. Once the driver following the cyclist has allowed the cyclist to merge, there is no need to continue signaling. The advice to stop signaling immediately before entering the intersection is often impossible to follow, because the hands must operate the brake levers before the cyclist reaches the intersection.

No turn?

In material to be distributed to students, page 6-23 (bottom two illustrations)

The word "LANE" got forced off the end of a line, and so it appears in the wrong caption. Use of frames or table cells to keep each illustration with its caption would have avoided this problem. Whoever formatted this page had no idea about how to use page layout features of the software; the page clearly was not proofread. Also, the bicycle in the illustration on the left is larger, though the lanes are narrower.

Rubber chains, chainwheels and sprockets?...

In material to be distributed to students, page 7-21

As your chain stretches, so does the distance between teeth on your cassette and chainrings.

Chains don't stretch. Sprockets and chainrings don't stretch either. They are made of metal, not rubber. Chains wear. The pivots loosen, the distance between links becomes longer, and the chain rides higher on the teeth. Understanding this simple fact makes it possible quickly to identify a worn chain by examining the gap between the teeth and a chainring.

Vacuum

In material to be distributed to students, page 8-28

The passing truck...creates a partial vacuum behind it, as it moves past you. This will first push the cyclist to the right, and then pull them to the left. Be prepared to counteract these forces by adjusting your lean.

The statement that the truck creates a partial vacuum behind it is misleading and largely irrelevant. The main hazard to the cyclist is from buffeting by wind when next to a truck, not when the truck has already passed.

"You." " The cyclist." "Them." "You," again -- three changes of voice in two sentences. (Boldface is mine.)

First Language?

In advice for instructors, page 9-4

Allow about 2 hour for your actual on-road time for night ride.

Was English the first language of the person who wrote this?

Some quotes from the 2002 LCI manual