Yes, Forester was more brazen than many of his fans. His use of anecdata is the sort of argument that gets dismantled on social media and bike forums. It’s amazing he got away with it for so long, with his books being re-printed and updated. Maybe highways designers who didn’t want to bother with cyclists were happy that an ‘avid cyclist’ gave them a reason not to, so ignored the silly footnotes and bad references.