League Cycling Instructors are certified to teach the League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling curriculum

Over the weekend of April 12th, BikePGH hosted a League of American Bicyclists (LAB) League Cycling Instructor (LCI) Seminar. Eleven candidates were trained and certified to teach bicycle safety and skills to others.

What is a League Cycling Instructor?

League Cycling Instructors are certified to teach the League of American Bicyclists Smart Cycling curriculum to help people feel more secure riding a bike, to create a mindset that bikes should be treated as vehicles, and to ensure bicyclists know how to ride safely and legally. The LCI training seminar focuses on teaching and demonstration techniques used with future students both on the road and in the classroom. The seminar’s emphasis is on how to teach bicycle safety and skills so as to provide increased comfort and confidence for new and returning bicyclists of all ages. LCIs are ideally suited to teach cycling best practices and confidently lead group rides.

The League Cycling Instructor (LCI) Seminar

With the goal of training our own staff as well as educators and ride leaders from partner organizations and the general public, BikePGH hosted a now biannual LCI Training Seminar. (Read about our 2022 Seminar here.) This year’s cohort of eleven instructors represented BikePGH as well as POGOH bike share, Pitt Recreation/ The Bike Cave, Pitt Sustainability, Complete Streets at Pitt, Venture Outdoors and our WMNBikePGH program and was again led by master League Cycling Coach, Neil Walker. After a rainy night ride and visibility demonstration after Friday’s working dinner, we were fortunate to have sunny and mild, if windy, conditions for the weekend’s on-bike activities.

Presentations and Parking Lot Drills

The intensive twenty-hour seminar focused on mastering and teaching the concepts and skills of safe vehicular cycling. Each candidate presented and evaluated each other’s presentations on topics from The League’s Smart Cycling curriculum. Topics included principles of traffic law, signaling and lane positioning, gear and accessories for all-weather riding, proper helmet fit and usage, and many others. Every candidate also learned to set-up and teach The League’s Parking Lot Drills. The Parking Lot Drills teach basic riding skills as well as hazard avoidance maneuvers in a controlled environment. New for 2024 was a presentation on the new League of American Bicyclists adult and youth Learn to Ride curriculum as well as a presentation on the E-BikePGH guide by our education manager and seminar site facilitator, Ted King-Smith.

LCI Candidates Test Their Ride-Leading Skills in Traffic 

Our Saturday session also featured what Coach Neil referred to as “playing in traffic” where groups of cyclists negotiated a busy Lawrenceville intersection from different directions. The culmination of the three-day seminar was the road test where the LCI candidates rode in three groups demonstrating effective ride-leading skills such as navigation, communication, pacing, and lane positioning. Throughout this rigorous seminar, our LCI candidates demonstrated a wealth of knowledge, experience, creativity, and skill as educators and ride leaders, and we can’t wait to see all the great work they will do in Pittsburgh and beyond! 

Thanks to all our candidates as well as our League coach Neil Walker and assisting LCI’s: Fred Zelt, and Robin Woods!

Congratulations to the 2024 Class!

• Robert Abramson
• Mara Addison
• Seth Bush
• Jacob Evangelista
• Steve Harris
• Lucy Klug
• Nancy Latimer
• Dorian McKinley
• Tobias Raether
• Sarah Scherk
• Sarah Sleva