April

Is it going to be "April Showers bring May Flowers"??

Our past April, click here  2025.  2024.  2023.  2022.

Entry#570. 4/14/2026.
Part 4. (The finale of the series)  
Meet 2026 Flying Pig Full marathon handcyclist. 
Yoshi Tomoyasu from Oxford, Ohio

Miami University of Ohio biology professor, Yoshi sustained a spinal cord injury (T9/T10) in July 2021. It was a rock climbing fall accident at Red River Gorge in KY.  

The handcycle races he finished so far are:  
The Cincinnati Flying Pig 10K (3 times)  
Air Force Marathon (3 times)  
Amway Riverbank Run 25K (1 time)  

Besides road races, he enjoys attending Grand Fondo (The Great Pumpkin Roll Ride in Brookville, IN) and Time Trial (TT) (Blue Streak Time Trial at Air Force Base).  
Yes, this is my husband!  

He is excited to challenge Flying Pig Full Marathon this year. Especially being at the starting line with 3 other handcyclists, Steve, Carly and Jason, would be so much joyful moment.  

Entry#569. 4/14/2026. 
Part 3.   
Meet 2026 Flying Pig Full marathon handcyclist. 
Jason Wilke from Lexinton, Kentucky   

He works as a Structural Analysis Engineer at Belcan Engineering.   Jason is a Cincinnati native now living in Lexington with his wife.   
A spinal cord injury (T1) left him paralyzed from the chest down.   
He competed at the Bluegrass 10000 for the first time since his injury in July 2024. He appeared at Flying Pig 10K handcycle division race in May 2025.  He finished Air Forth Marathon in Dayton in Sep 2025.   
He is very active in both road handcycling and mountain handcycling.   He enjoys kayaking with his wife as well. 

This photo was at Flying Pig 10K in 2025. 

We met him for the first time at the Flying Pig 10K 2025. Then we met again at the Air Force Marathon. After that, we did a group ride together once in November 2025. 

I really need to add and explain about Mr. Jason Wilke.  At the beginning of this series, I wrote “4 of them are SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) paraplegic athletes.”  That is true. Sometimes there are amputees or Spina bifida or people with other disabilities in handcycle races.  
This time, it’s all SCI.  However, we always remind people “each SCI condition is totally different.”  

Jason is paralyzed from chest down because his injury level is T1. On the other hand, my husband is paralyzed from waist down (T9-10).  Jason has limitations on mobility more than my husband. Including core strength. Even so, Jason has higher determination and higher enthusiasm for handcycling.  
He is a Cincinnati native and he knows the actual course structure more than other 3.  His willingness on “I want to finish Pig full marathon!” was so strong. So here he is.  
He has been training with his father (cyclist) and his wife. Sometimes he trains in Cincinnati for hill training.  I admire him (and his family) very much.  We both use Strava app and we see each other’s training logs. They definitely motivate us each single time. We see how much they work harder. 

Entry#568. 4/13/2026.  
Part 2.   
Meet 2026 Flying Pig Full marathon handcyclist.  
Carly Pearson from Knoxville, Tennessee 

First of all, you’d be surprised what she has done in Spain!  My eyes were wide open when I read this. 

https://blog.gogrit.us/uncategorized/carly-pearson-100-kilometers-of-spains-camino/

A former firefighter for the U.S. Forestry Service, Carly sustained a spinal cord injury (T12/L1) in 2002, when she fell while heroically fighting wildfires in Oregon as part of her work with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She was age 27.    

She works as an independent distributor for Advocare International and a motivational speaker.  
She is the ADA Coordinator for Knox County, Tennessee.  
In 2012, Pearson became involved with Catalyst Sports, a program in Atlanta aimed at providing adaptive adventure opportunities for disabled people.  
She is a mother of two.  

Carly has been awarded 9 national championships in 3 parasports: cycling, triathalons, and climbing.  
She also won silver medals abroad in the United Arab Emirates and Budapest, Hungary.

See my husband?  Ms. Carly Pearson is next to him on adaptive mountain handcycle. Yes, we all did ride together. It was July 2024. 

We met her at the first time in August 2023. It was my husband's very first try-it event for adaptive mountain handcycle.  Look back here  Entry#147. 8/12/2023.  
She came from Knoxville, Tennessee to help out for the tri-it event. I was excited to see her as one of the helpers (not a participant). I was even surprised. I awed a lot. (She is a part of Catalyst Sports.)
She is a legend to me, of course. I'm getting excited more and more imagining the race day. My husband will be with her at the start line!  This would be a dream race. 
That is another reason that this Handcycle Full marathon is special and meaningful to my husband (and to me). 

Entry#567. 4/13/2026.    
Here is a lineup. I’m going to make you excited more. 

Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon 2026. Handcycle Full Marathon (a pilot program) 26.2mi participants 

Mr. Steve Chapman (from Cedar Springs, Michigan)

Ms. Carly Pearson (from Knoxville, Tennessee)

Mr. Jason Wilke (from Lexington, Kentucky)

Dr. Yoshi Tomoyasu (from Oxford, Ohio) 

As you can notice, all four of them are coming to compete from outside of Cincinnati. How cool is that?  (Note: Mr. Jason Wilke is a Cincinnati native. Nice.) All of them are SCI (spinal cord injury) paraplegic athletes.   

Here goes “Meet the adaptive athlete Series”. 

Part 1.  
Meet 2026 Flying Pig Full marathon handcyclist.  
Steve Chapman from Cedar Springs, Michigan

This photo is from Air Force Marathon 2024.  He is the person at the right front in orange.  You see my husband is at the back? 

Mr. Steve Chapman is a Legend to me. We met him for the very first time when my husband tried AFM (Air Forth Marathon) in Dayton in 2023 as his first 26.2mi handcycle in his life.  Since then, he is my husband's mentor (I can say this).  

Do you remember when he visited us from Michigan to install a power meter into my husband's handcycle?  January 2025. Please look back at Entry#350. 1/18/2025.   He is that much generous and thoughtful. 

That is one of the reasons that this Handcycle Full marathon is special and meaningful to my husband (and to me). 

Entry#566. 4/13/2026.  
I have an announcement. I believe it’s okay that I write here about it. But it’s not an official release because it is a PILOT program this year in 2026. (My blog viewer number is still not many. So it should be okay.)
Since 2023, Cincinnati Flying Pig events has Handcycle 10K race (on the first Saturday of May, the day before the Full/Half marathon day). They will have Handcycle 10K this year, as well. (It is 4th year.)  You would be surprised because I’ve heard there were over 25 participants (handcyclists, recumbents and possibly racing-chair/pushrim). The biggest number ever.
Will my husband compete 10K race? No.
(Did your eyebrows rise?)

Thanks to the Bridge adaptive sports and recreation, Flying Pig officials (Pig Works) and the Bridge had some discussions and meetings. They decided that they created the new pilot program this year. Handcycle Full marathon and Handcycle Half marathon!
Because this is a pilot setting, they will have 4 handcycle athletes for each race. My husband will compete in Handcycle Full Marathon 26.2mi. with other 3 handcyclists. 
Yes, I am excited for my husband. However (yes, there is this phrase ‘however’ again) we should know the important fact about Flying Pig Marathon. Flying Pig Marathon is kind of special because it is Scenic & Challenging course.  The course crosses the Ohio River, passes through diverse, hilly neighborhoods, and offers great views, which has drawn praise from runners.It was named the best marathon in the US by USA Today in 2024 and ranked high again in 2025, praised for its organization and atmosphere.
There are many participants indeed. The course has a hilly section which lasts about 3 mile long (!) It’s gonna be a tough, hard and challenging race for sure. But I can tell my husband is excited to pedal harder for 26.2. He is excited more about his 3 competitors because he knows them very well. I’m going to break it down about that parts. I’m going to write “Meet Flying Pig Marathon Handcyclist” series (4 of them). Stay tuned. 

These are finishers medals for 10K races (2023, 2024, 2025). I need to compare this year's medal and these 3. 

Entry#565. 4/12/2026
Once I worked at the local public library as a shelver. Once I worked at the local middle/high school libraries as an assistant of the head librarian. I volunteered at elementary school libraries a long time ago. I saw many book lovers including tiny kindergartners in my USA life.  I love books and libraries. I did read books (both Japanese books and English books) to our son when he was little. I still can enjoy reading books to small kids. But I’m not comfortable to recite some paragraphs to middle school kids (or older). It’s the same feeling about public speech to myself.  Just because of my English pronunciation and different accents, I prefer avoid reciting my accent/ pronunciation in English. I’ve lived here in that way without any problems.   
On the other hand, I always hope that our son wouldn’t have any problem with doing public speech. Funny. (I hope he can do it whenever he needs it.).

How about “Book Club”???  Are you a member of several book clubs around you?  I know many of my friends have book clubs.  I am still not sure whether there are book clubs in Japan as well.  My husband said “yes, there were”. When I was in a college, I even didn’t think about it at all.  
My husband is a biology professor, a scientist. He has a book club with biology students.  He has been doing Book club stuffs since he was an undergrad student. (They call it “Journal club” sometimes.)  
I’ve been asked by my friends several times before to join their book clubs. I kept politely saying no.  

Several months ago, my biology professor friend shared details of her “Biologist’s Book Club”.  It got me curious this time. I decided to give it a try.  This was a big deal for me.  I had many questions about “how a book club works”.  My husband and son teased me because they had no problem with attending any book clubs.  
Yesterday was the day!!  I did it.  I showed up at their book club. I observed their discussion. I watched and learned from the ladies. I joined them in chatting. We laughed a lot. We enjoyed vegetable chili and some snacks.  
My brain worked harder to listen to them. You know me. It’s my usual process. My adrenaline level was high with excitement.  
After all it was a success.  My very first book club in my life (yes, in my life) was joyful indeed.  After I came back home, my husband laughed at me. You can imagine?  Because I talked and talked and talked to him about what happened there endlessly.  It was that much fun. 

4/10/2026.  
What kind of a Rear-view mirror do you have for your bicycle?  There are many kinds of them. My husband has one that is a little bit small size circle shape. I have a helmet mirror.  
Have you wondered what my husband’s view in a mirror looks like?  How about what my view in HIS mirror looks like?  

This is my view in his mirror. See? 

P.S. Tonight was such an exciting moment!! I'll remember this for years.  Then it made me think about comparison of "Aporo vs Artemis" also their module names. 

4/09/2026.  
Note to myself. I am a big fan of her since I discovered her after my husband's injury. She is like a movie star, a special paraplegic superstar, like a superhero, to me. This video makes me think a lot more. 
I know that able bodied people might not so interested in this type of video. But I wonder how you all feel about this documentary. My eyes keep wetting whole time....

And FINALLY those are UP.

Entry#564. 4/08/2026.
The Sun is shining. That means “Let’s go biking/pedaling” to us, my husband and me. He became a paraplegic (SCI Spinal Cord Injury) in July 2021.  This Summer will mark the 5th year of  new-normal life.
Did I tell you about how he purchased his very first handcycle?  Maybe not, not yet. So I’m going to tell you that this time.
It was December 2021. 5 months after his injury.  He was good at gathering information about used handcycles (SCI groups, market places, and so on).  Brand new handcycles are extremely expensive. Way too expensive. He found a used one. The seller was a paraplegic (SCI) who lived in a town far from us. He was very kind and generous because he agreed to drive up to the midpoint to meet up with us (and to deliver his handcycle).
When you purchase someone’s used handcycle, you need to think about several things carefully.
1. The place we need to go and pick it up.
2. How to carry it with ourselves.
3. Making sure about fittings. Size and gears/parts. Try-it (ride on it) is very necessary.

We didn’t have a minivan at that time. Our car was only a RAV4 (SUV).  That used handcycle couldn’t be fitted into our car at all.  So how did we do it?
We got our son’s friend’s help. His friend had a pickup truck. We asked him to drive up to the meeting place and take it and deliver it to our house, after our meeting time. I was very grateful. Without his help, entire process would haven’t happened at all.

We were very lucky, I have to say that as well. It was still in good condition. The size was surprisingly good for my husband. I was amazed the whole time. I saw how the seller guy mounted the handcycle on his pickup truck by himself.  I saw how he unloaded it from the truck by himself. I saw how he reassembled the handcycle by himself. I saw how he adjusted its parts all by himself.
He taught us several essential things as well. It was a really good meaningful meeting time.
You know?  I was a bit scared of the whole process, to be honest.  I was like “Are we driving to get it and carry it to our house? Are you sure about it?  Can we really do it?”
So I was so relieved after we drove back home. I was thankful after our son and friend delivered the handcycle to our house safely.
That was the very start of my husband’s handcycle journey after all. (= Learned how to find it, how to purchase it, how to manage it, how to maintain it.)

As you see below, our son also tried to ride it. 

As you notice, his very first machine (handcycle) was an upright style, not a racer type.  I had no idea about handcycles back then. We started pedaling around our house. Because we were not road cyclists at all and didn’t know any good routes for biking. We didn’t know where a good uphill training area was at all.  We were not so comfortable staying on public roads. We used sidewalks and tried on bike trails. That was Spring 2022. His very first 10K handcycle race happened in May 2023 (it was a pilot program at Flying Pig Marathon events.) Yes, he competed with his first handcycle!!
Reread the story about it here.  Do you remember? He got a flat-tire during the race. Yes, he did. 

Entry#563. 4/07/2026   
My husband drives Sienna 2019 which was installed Hand-controll system. Our minivan doesn’t have a ramp-system. Some of wheelchair users have. Those vans need extra spaces at the right or left side, or at the back side that depends on their installation.  There often are stickers on their vans windows, visibly. If their needed space is blocked after the person gets off the van and leaves, the person cannot ride back to the van.  
Have you ever thought about it?  
In my husband’s case, there is no difference. He also needs an extra space next to the driver side door. He needs to open the door all the way, then his wheelchair sets in the right position that he can jump up to the seat from a wheelchair.  
That’s why I’m grateful when I find a handicap  parking spot with striped line area (do you call it “crosshatch area” or “hatchmarks”?). See a photo below? 

When there are no handicap spots available, we park in the back of the lot (regular lot) and take up two spots. You might surprise about this fact, do you.
We just need extra room for my husband’s wheelchair, and to get him in and out of his wheelchair. There are parking lines in between, but that is not enough room. (That’s why those lines next to handicap parking spots serve a purpose.).
However every single time when we need to use 2 regular parking lots, I would feel “guilty” or “a bit fear” or “uneasiness”.  At the same time, I also need to think “We need to do this because of my husband’s wheelchair life.”  

Lastly I put a link here of the webpage that has all about handicap parking violators. You might be interested in these.   
https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/the-7-most-common-handicapped-parking-violators?hs_amp=true

I try to be careful with others in these days. I have both sides of perspective now, a “people with disabilities” side and an “able bodied” side.  There are many things that I’ve not realized before. 

4/06/2026.  
P.S.  How is your Bleeding-heart doing this spring? Mine was damaged by the severe freeze several weeks ago. It grows now. It's tiny. But its pink color caught my eyes. 

4/06/2026.  
I don't have a GoPro camera yet. I use my iPhone to take pictures all the time even during cycling. Sometimes it captures great blue sky with amazing clouds. It's a coincident result but I really love it. 

Entry#562. 4/05/2026. 
Sometimes my husband scares me telling me some facts about Spinal Cord Injury life. 

This video is very informative and you can understand “how paraplegic people do Pressure relief”.    
My husband does Pressure relief, of course. He has his own way of it. He likes the most efficient way. Using his armrests.  

You might wonder about wheelchair settings. Some have armrests. Some don’t. Wheelchair users could decide those optional parts. It’s their preference. Seems my husband prefers to keep armrests on his wheelchair.  When you purchase a new wheelchair, you can decide without armrests. As you can think, a wheelchair weight would be lighter without them.  That’s why some wheelchair users get wheelchairs without armrests. (Lighter = easier to move around).  
Every 30 minutes, my husband does push his body UP pushing down armrests. (It is exactly like doing pushups.) Hold for about 1 minute.  See?  I do admire him. I’m not sure if I can do it. (But, you know, I have to do it if I am a SCI paraplegic. I have to.). 

I took my husband and son with me to the Concert at the church the other day.  I was not sure about the seating spaces. When I found out there were 3 sections/spaces that staff people put a regular chairs (basically they have wooden benches in the Church), I felt grateful.  
They offered us to use those spaces for my husband in a wheelchair.
I made them sit with me in the front instead of in the back.  However I didn’t think deeply.  I didn’t think about his pressure relief at all.  (Bad wife).  
After the concert, my husband said he would pick a seat at the back next time.  
When he does pressure relief, his head height rises. He was hesitant because he felt he blocked people’s views behind him.  
As I wrote, pressure relief is a must-do action. He cannot skip the process. (There are other ways. He could switch if it’s really needed.)  
From all conditions, yes, we could just have seats at the back. Then all is good. I just need to remember about his pressure relief, that’s it.  It was a good lesson to myself after all.  
My husband always says to friends “I can challenge you to do push-ups (pressure relief movement) for 1 minute every 30 minutes. He always smiles. 

See my husband here?  This is his "pushups". 

Entry#561. 4/04/2026.
How much are you familiar with “Palindrome”?  This is a very interesting topic to myself. In Japan, in Japanese, we do have “Palindrome”. Here are good examples in videos.  You might not know meanings at all, but you can listen to the sounds at least.   
In Japanese, 1 character = 1 sound (basically in Hiragana ひらがな). It’s easier to see that characters order is the same backward and forward.    
かい　と　いか　(It means “a shell and a squid”.  Sounds funny.) 

Then I needed to look up examples of Palindrome in English.  I knew several. 

Yay.  Wow.  Mom. Hannah. Otto.  

My husband gave me a very famous phrases as well. I wasn’t familiar with them. Bad me.  
I found my favorite from them. 

No lemon, no melon. 

I like it. Now I remember this phrase forever.  Do you have your favorite Palindrome? Tell me. 

4/04/2026. 
As a cyclist, Wind is an important factor to bike/pedal outside.  In these days, I noticed that side-wind (wind from the right or left) scares me a lot. I love tailwind, I hate headwind. Sidewind is in a different category.  I want to know how to manage it. 
Besides the wind, in these days, temperatures rise = plants grow. It's really amazing to see the colors change quickly. We still try to bike outside as long as the weather cooperates. Fun.

4/03/2026.  
We met up, chatted, laughed, and caught up with each other's life updates. I was happy. She is my very favorite librarian (I still can say that, I guess.) Did you know we were same age? 

4/02/2026.  
I was astonished at watching live stream of Artemis II lunar fly-around launching. I need to follow any updates of this NASA mission. Are you following?

And it's really timely, I assume. My husband said we were going to the movie theater to watch this movie. You know, just because. Did you watch it? 

P.S. How about your garden flowers? How are they doing? Mines? Here.

Entry#560. 4/02/2026. 
I need to ask my husband again how many Europe counties he has traveled before. Spain, Portugal, Czechia, Sweden, England, Italy and German.  (France and Netherlands for only airports)  
Our son: Austria, Netherlands (airport  only) and Switzerland  
Myself: None. 

Entry#559. 4/01/2026.  
In these days, with online shopping and spreading information through social media, people can get anything. It’s convenient and amazing things, really.   
I sometime miss Japanese ingredients in the States. I go to Asian grocery stores sometime.  
Recently my Chinese professor friend introduced me this online store called “Weee!”

The social media effect is huge (always). Also the fact that oatmeal contains 20 times as much dietary fiber as white rice, and rich in vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and iron, changed Japanese people’s dietary habits (!).  According to this, nowadays oatmeal is popular in Japan?!  Is that true??? I need to ask my parents about it.    
Like I said before, Japan is quite an interesting country and Japanese people are even more interesting.  Don’t you agree? 

A photo below. They are the brave family that I talked about. Our son got to visit them right before his Mongolia trip in 2023.  If you are curious about his trip, go and check on  July 2023 page.

4/01/2026  
I’m a little bit behind on this big NASA news. But I have to post some info here to note to myself.  Have you followed this story? 
The livestreams are happening right now through many channels. How exciting.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-artemis-moon-launch-055040ce0579ec238d0ec9fcb0278ed3