Long day, good day

As I may have mentioned here, I have a certificate as a League Cycling Instructor (LCI), through the League of American Bicyclists. I do some bike-ed teaching through the LBC (Louisville Bicycle Club), and some through Bicycling for Louisville.

Much of the focus of earning the LCI is learning to teach the Cycling Skills 101 course, as it is the backbone of the education programs for the League. It is typically taught in four meetings of roughly three hours each.

Barry at Bicycling for Louisville asked me to help teach a one-day class covering the Cycling Skills 101 curriculum for a group of upcoming LCI candidates. One-day, since these folks were already fairly skilled riders, and would be able to both deal with the longer day and absorb the information we were there to impart.

The worst part was that I didn't get a ton of riding in today--and it's been a beautiful day for riding. The best part was that despite their experience, each attendee felt like he or she learned something new about cycling, and learned some things about their own opportunities to teach others in turn.

As it happened, there were several points on which my involvement made things go better. One was that the venue chosen is the main office for my employer, and as I already have keys and an alarm code, other arrangements did not have to be made for this class. I already knew some of the attendees through my involvement in the cycling community (indeed, two of the folks there were Greg and Marty Scheller, for whom I used to work as a bike shop guy). It was kind of weird being the one teaching a former boss, but all were quite professional about the day. It was clear that they respected what I was there to do, and it seemed they learned more than they expected to learn.

One thing I keep finding is that I, too, learn from the students when I teach these classes.

And the teaching fee won't hurt my wallet a bit.

When I got home, BOTH of Jenn's daughters were at the house. It can be a lot of fun watching the two of them together. The older one had ridden her bike to the house. She doesn't have a helmet at this time, but will soon. I asked her about a helmet, and she says she'd wear one. Jenn and I offered to help her get one, and I added that I would help her get lights so that she could be safer on the roads. I encouraged her to look into one or another of the cycling classes available as well. She seemed to take the advice in the spirit intended, which does not surprise me with her. She's a sharp one.