League Cycling Coaches play a key role in the League’s Smart Cycling program, training and certifying the next generation of League Cycling Instructors (LCIs). Becoming a Coach isn’t easy: it requires years of experience teaching as an LCI, proven bike maintenance skills, active community involvement, and recommendations from experienced Coaches and League staff. In this spotlight, we’re celebrating the newest names in our small but mighty network of certified League Cycling Coaches.
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC) has long invested in bike education as a tool for making biking better in San Diego County. Recently, the organization has leveled up its efforts with two newly certified League Cycling Coaches on its team: Kevin Baross and Randy Torres-Van Vleck.
For bike advocacy organizations like SDCBC, having an in-house Coach can be a game-changer. As Coaches, Kevin and Randy can now officially lead LCI seminars to train, mentor, and certify the next generation of cycling instructors in their community.
We spoke with Kevin and Randy about their path to becoming Coaches, what they learned during the certification process, and how they hope their new roles will help grow bike education in the region.
Can you share a bit about your roles at San Diego County Bike Coalition (SDCBC) and what led you to pursue becoming a League Cycling Coach?
Kevin: I am the Education Manager here at the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, where I’ve worked for almost 11 years now. I work with a team of 40+ LCIs to put on hundreds of bike education events for thousands of adults and children every year, across the 18 cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
I’ve been attending Smart Cycling classes since they were put on in my backyard as a child, so achieving Coach status is a natural next step in my life, and also will be hugely beneficial to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition in the future. We’re very excited to increase the number of LCI seminars we put on, and customize the format a bit as well.
Randy: Since becoming an LCI in 2008, I’ve led over 200 classes and community bike rides for the San Diego County Bike Coalition. As a community organizer working in the urban planning advocacy space professionally, I bring a popular education approach to bike education. I pursued Coach status to recruit and train the next generation of LCIs.
What was the most valuable thing you took away from the Coach training process?
Kevin: I think anyone who’s an LCI already knows this, but the best way to learn something is to teach it. And it turns out teaching teachers to teach is even better! Becoming a Coach is not a quick process, nor should it be. The standards are high, the oversight is very hands-on, and it truly feels like an accomplishment by the end. Even though the journey hasn’t actually been unusually long, I feel like in some ways I’ve been working towards this for decades.
Randy: The Coach training process was fun. I appreciated the opportunity to enhance my bike education skills and the feedback from experienced educators Coach Rio Oxas and Coach Ron Durgin.
What difference do you hope having two new League Cycling Coaches will make for SDCBC?
Kevin: LCI Seminars are almost defined by their very quick and intense pace. Coaches fly in to the area, have limited time to share knowledge, and then need to get on to the next seminar. As organizational coaches, we’re here for the long haul! This means we can make the class more accessible. It can be a big ask to demand the full attention of students for as many hours of the day as a traditional seminar does. Being able to spread things out a bit more will mean someone who wants to become an LCI but doesn’t have the ability to devote a full weekend to the class will feel more welcome. I want more neurodivergent LCIs. I want more instructors who require learning accommodations. There is no shortage of opportunities to teach in San Diego County, and we need more instructors! Being organizational coaches will help us get a more diverse population on board.
Randy: Kevin and I have been co-teaching Smart Cycling courses together since 2009. I’m a collaborative person and enjoy working with others to co-design proposals, programs, events, campaigns, etc. I’m looking forward to co-designing the LCI seminars in San Diego with Kevin. We have ideas on how to make the seminar more accessible such as spreading out the three days over a few different weekends rather than three straight days.
What do you hope this growing network of LCIs will mean for people in San Diego County?
Kevin: San Diego County is nearly twice as large as Delaware, with a population greater than the entire state of Nevada. And I always say even if you never ride a bike, you’ll be using the road alongside people that do, so there’s something at our classes for everyone. More LCIs means more classes. And more education means things are better for everyone, bicyclists and otherwise.
Randy: We plan to provide a local LCI seminar every March. The consistency will make planning and recruitment easier which we hope will lead to more folks participating.
Do you have a favorite local bike route or hidden gem in the region?
Kevin: Well, if I gave up all the best hidden spots, they wouldn’t be hidden anymore! That said, the Bayshore Bikeway is the first place I send new visitors to San Diego. This 24-mile loop around the whole of San Diego Bay did not come into existence on its own, and is the proud result of many Bike Coalition advocates across decades. And there’s still more work to be done!
The San Diego River Path which runs through Mission Valley is also an excellent resource and a bit of a hidden gem. “I never knew you could ride your bike to the beach!” is a real phrase I’ve heard from (slightly out of breath) friends who have lived here their entire lives.
Randy: We have so many incredible bike routes in San Diego. My favorite routes are the Los Cruzadores group rides my friends and I lead from Barrio Logan through the South Bay where I grew up, across the border, and into Tijuana. We have lots of new protected bikeways such as the SR-15 Commuter Bikeway in the urban core communities. As advocates, we spent over 10 years organizing and building support for them. It feels amazing to ride bikeways you helped advocate for.
Anything you’d like other advocacy organizations to know about the value of having their own in-house Organizational Coaches?
Kevin: I frankly don’t think every bike advocacy and bike education organization should have their own organizational coach. It’s a big investment of time and energy and money. But if your organization is big enough and active enough, the ability to have LCI seminars available essentially on-demand would be extremely helpful.
This field has traditionally been monochromatic and male-dominated. My number one goal as an organizational coach is to recruit more instructors in traditionally underserved areas of the county. More seminars put on in more accessible ways means we can diversify our pool of teachers. That means more bilingual classes, more classes taught by people who live and work in the areas they teach, and a better education for all.
Randy: It’s a bit early to tell because we just became Organizational Coaches last month. But the hope is that by having Organizational Coaches, orgs can take their bike education services to the next level by planning seminars more frequently, recruit more folks and add more seminars if needed to meet demand, and design the courses around the needs of local communities.