April
Entry#578. 4/30/2026.
My mother would definitely roll her eyes if I show these photos to her in person. Because these “selfie” photos look terrible, not so cool like young generation takes. Funny.
I often tell my mother “Please try taking selfies using your phone, you and dad together.” I do ask her repeatedly many times. Just because I want to see photos of both my parents together.
Then here I am, age 52. I’m not good at managing “selfie” functions. Sigh. I wanted to take photos just like my young friends usually do. So I tried.
Key method:
Using 0.5x mode. = Using a camera lens on the back of the phone. Not the front one.
Using a button on the side of the phone.
Need to adjust the angle because you cannot see your faces on screen. Tricky.
Do you do this selfie???
4/30/2026.
Thanks to Facebook reminder system, some old photos I posted just popped up. Then it made me feel "I need to dig them up from old photo albums." It will take some time to find original high resolution photos. So I just put low resolution ones here. Did I make you curious? Yes, it's me drumming Japanese Taiko.
(No, I'm not a percussionist at all, never. It was one time only experience ever in my life. I was lucky.)
4/30/2026.
I think I get impressed several times a year by a video of Lion King Broadway musical. I posted one before. It was a Cheetah. This time, Giraffe!!! It says 14 feet tall. Can you imagine?? Have you watched Lion King the Musical before?? If so, I am jealous. I do love the Musical shows.
Entry#577. 4/29/2026.
In honor of Flying Pig Handcycle full marathon race, I can keep chatting about Handcycle forever. Funny. I wrote something about “Handcycle vs Racing Wheelchair” before.
I had no idea about these topics before my husband’s injury. In these days, I feel that “people in the world should know both sides.”
Handcycle
and
Racing wheelchair (Push-rim, or Rim-pusher)
Just in case you wonder “In general, how long do they take to finish 26.2 mi?”.
So do you ever wonder about Full Marathoners’ time? World record time? Olympic time? I still don’t know exactly about it. But to me personally, I usually calculate like these.
If I run 5km for 30min, that means I could run 40km for 4hours (only if I keep exact same pace). This sounds very realistic to me and imaginable (even though I’ve never done full marathon).
Well, the world level is way too high, of course. I saw the news about London marathon. It says “The top runner made history at the London Marathon by becoming the first person to officially break the two-hour marathon barrier in a competitive, record-eligible race.”
See? He ran less than 2 hours (sub-2)!! for 26.2 mi. Unbelievable.
That is the world level. (I got the idea.)
So how about adaptive athletes? Racing wheelchair athletes? Handcycle athletes?
Can you guess what time their goal time would be for full marathon?
Here is an example. Boston marathon wheelchair race 2026.
Can you believe it? 1 hour 16 minutes for 26.2 mi, pushing wheelchair's rim all the way.
Here is another format for Handcycle result.
See now? Handcycle can be faster than racing wheelchair (of course it is cycling, not running to be exact). 1 hour 4 minutes!!
Sometimes I feel a bit sad for Handcycle community because their results are not announced openly/ widely/ publicly compared to Racing Wheelchair. You even don’t notice it.
Well, that’s the way that I understand.
Anyway, each races, each locations, each cities, each courses are different and difficulty is totally different. We cannot estimate our own run time. We just go for it with the maximum effort. That’s the spirit, I assume.
But my husband, of course, sets his goal time for the Flying Pig full marathon.
And I will wait for him at the finish line based on his estimate time. Are you curious?
Entry#576. 4/29/2026.
I love some fragrant plants. I have several kinds in my garden.
Lily of the valley
Lilac tree (I have a lilac bush, too. But I like lilac tree better.)
Bee balm
Geranium (I think mine is Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill.)
This year, my lily of the valley bloomed very early. It’s all done by now. Even it’s not May yet. I’m a bit surprised. May 1st is “May day” and also “Lily of the valley day”. So that I remember. I love walking through Lily of the valley garden very much.
Lilac tree! I love the smell of lilac flowers. However I am very lazy (yes, I am) that I’ve never done pruning Lilac. Bad me and poor my Lilac. I need to force me to prune them this season, really.
Bee balm is growing pretty well for now. They have fragrance in their leaves (stalks), not flowers. Interesting.
Geranium!!! I need to write about it more later because it got me curious more. The name!! There are many different kinds of Geranium, I guess. I like mine. Deer don’t eat them at all. However once Deer ate up all flower clusters when I bought a pot of Red Geranium (are they called Bullseye Red Geranium??). I won’t buy any Red Geranium since then.
I’m interested in deer’s appetite difference between red one and pink one. Do you know?
4/29/2026.
Sometimes, tiny decorations in a household give you cheer and smiles. Yes?
Funny. I kept "eggs" in my sight because we will have our tradition, lab gathering soon.
That crochet cat was made about 25 years ago by me. Can you believe it?
That bookend is my very favorite. It always reminds me of my old good time as an assistant librarian = a shelver.
Entry#575. 4/29/2026.
Do you run 5K races? Do you run Marathon? Half marathon?
Do you bike? Do you compete in cycling?
Well, I used to jog, preferably trail running. I started with my husband and son. Our son joined Cross Country team at the middle school. That was the reason and start. I was not so competitive. I had my goal pace anyway. 5K running was my comfortable longest distance races. I ran twice in Eaton (at the Fort Saint Clair Park!). It was my favorite course. It’s not easy course at all. But I loved the place.
If you prepare for a running race, do you usually go to the actual course to check it beforehand? Do you?
I was a person who wanted to check it beforehand just in case. Then it would make me feel calmer.
I asked my husband and son “Let’s go to check the course. Shall we go together? Will you jog with me there?” So we did. They were really good sports.
Nowadays, my husband has several handcycle races. Knowing the actual course conditions beforehand would be very helpful for him, mentally and physically.
This NEW race “Flying Pig 26.2 for handcycle” looks very hard because of the elevation gain.
I’m not sure about marathoners’ world. But my husband wanted to try/pedal for some hilly section with his handcycle beforehand. So we did. He needed to find an acceptable parking lot and needed to think “where he starts how he returns”. It’s always tricky because he (his handcycle) cannot be on sidewalks all the way. You could imagine that a runner could try running on some course sections using sidewalks, I guess so.
It was a good try-riding. If we could bike through entire full marathon course, that’d be so perfect. However that’s impossible. Did you know the course has a highway section as well? That’d be a kind of “highlights” of Road races. Is that right?
The race day is this Sunday!
P.S. We parked at the parking lot of Art museum. It was a bonus to me. Biking through Art museum area was fun more than I expected.
4/28/2026.
How are your Irises doing right now? Weather people says April is the warmest month ever this year. Plus April is the windiest month ever also. We thought so because we felt that wind during cycling.
When I see several colors together in my Iris garden area, I smile more.
4/26/2026.
Our son randomly gives us a fun (+ educational) moment when he sees us. Providing (chatting) some fun facts from his work. I’m grateful that he works for something related to wildlife, conservation, nature, and more. You’d love to hear his stories, I guarantee.
One night, he talked about Okapi. He showed us photos and explained about Okapi’s behavior. It sounded so interesting. I had to google about it afterwards.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/okapi
You need to see closely its face. See its eyebrows?? It looks really unique to me. I like the part Okapi is related to Giraffe. (It is the giraffe’s only living relative.) I really like that fact.
Entry#574. 4/26/2026.
In honor of the Flying Pig marathon 2026, there are some notes (to remember for myself).
1. Finisher’s medal
Sometimes there is a quote on it. It looks a bit pun-quote, but it is fun.
See? One says “Going a little extra makes a pig difference!”
One says “Go big at the Pig!”
I like both. Do you?
2. Number of runners. (roughly)
It is very interesting to compare each running events. I didn’t notice any differences before.
As of Flying Pig events, Half marathon is the most popular and most participants attended event. Can you guess how much the difference is? According to the past data, participants numbers are:
5K. 4000
10K. 4000
Full Marathon. 4000
Half Marathon 10500 (!)
Especially on the main race day on Sunday, both Full and Half Marathon start at the same time. That means about 15000 runners will be at the starting line all together. Wow. I might be scared of a crowd of runners.
My husband will be ready at the very front with other handcyclists and push-rim (racing chair) athletes (wheeled athletes will start 5 min before runners’ official start).
Are you excited? Are you ready? T minus 7 days.
Entry#573. 4/25/2026.
I love visiting Undergrad Research Forum at Miami University. I’m not a real scientist but I still could enjoy watching undergrad students’ poster presentations.
I started fully-attending in 2024 (it was our son’s final presentation, too).
I wrote about URF before at two sections. Entry#247 (4/26/2024) andEntry#397 (4/27/2025).
This year, it looked more active and crowded. My husband had 5 students in the poster session. Even I found several Talawanda grads presenting. It’s always eye opening moments to myself that some of them have done in totally different field than biology. It’s great to know what they are into.
I’m also grateful that Miami University gives this kind of opportunity to public (just like me) to observe and watch them.
She (left side below) is a Talawanda grad. I was so pleased to know she studies for becoming a speech therapist (or related field) which sounds so meaningful.
4/22/2026
I started being interested in Full Marathon stuff after I got into cycling world with my handcyclist-husband. It’s funny because I’ve never been curious this much before.
Then my runner-author friend ran Tokyo marathon (she lives in Wyoming, Ohio) this year. That made me excited more.
I wrote about Tokyo marathon finisher’s medal. Check here Entry#548. 3/09/2026.
Boston Marathon was just ended. London Marathon is coming up this weekend.
This photo caught my eyes.
Then I needed to look up about Boston Marathon finisher’s medal. I wanted to know whether it has Braille words or not. Can you guess? Boston Marathon medal does not have Braille.
So London Marathon medal has!! Now you need to decode this word (one word) using an attached photo. Can you?
Do you remember what Tokyo Marathon medal says???
4/22/2026.
Guess where my husband is visiting?
4/19/2026.
Sometimes our son does his things before we notice it. He surprises me often. This time, he built a wooden table in our garage. He said "I want to try using a wheel to throw a pot in standing position." He makes me curious all the time. How do you think about this?
Entry#572. 4/19/2026.
I am a fan of Miami University Men’s Glee Club. There were several Talawanda high grads in this club in the past. There is one still.
You might laugh. I asked this question directly to the accompanist. Here is a behind the scenes story.
———————-
It took about 8 guys to carry the piano along the trail to the creek.
The assistant director picked it out on Facebook marketplace. He took as much of the inside out as possible to make it as light as possible while still having the keys look like they function. They recorded all the audio indoors, so when they shot the video, they had to replicate the exact notes from the audio even though the piano didn’t make any sound.
———————-
This is so awesome. I’m amazed. Can you imagine that?
See a photo below? I know them very well. I used to dance "Contra dance" with their music!
Entry#571. 4/18/2026.
Miami University had a "Make it Miami Day" today. There were many sessions in campus. My husband was a panelist in a session. It was a bit interesting to me because of the stage setting for a panel session.
There is only one way to be ready for being on a stage for a wheelchair user. My husband figured it out and it was just fine. It was a nice to know the system. To me, it was a bit funny moment when the big screen was moving up. My husband tried to squeeze himself to be in front of the screen from the side of it. After he appeared, the screen moved up. Well, I was glad that everything went well.
4/18/2026.
My first Iris of the season!! How's yours?
4/16/2026.
This is my favorite photo from May 2023. The first time I noticed this street mural ever. Funny because I never looked at it even I've lived in Oxford since 2008. So I was grateful that my husband had a great experience to attend Pig 10K as a handcyclist in 2023.
It was even funnier because I thought this mural was put up there every year, every May. I thought it was taken down after the Flying Pig races every year. Then I thought "Wow, it must be a big job every year, for a long time." I really thought so. (I was wrong.)
4/15/2026.
If you are not a person who rides a bicycle to commute or to go grocery shopping, you might not be interested in any bicycle at all.
Well, how many types of bikes do you know or are you familiar with?
After my husband introduced me a Road bike, I learned a lot of things about bicycles. Once you see a real TimeTrial Bike (TT bike) with your own eyes, you'd be amazed. I was.
Also 2 wheels recumbent bike is something! I cannot imagine how you ride on it without falling sideways. It looks impossible.
And a Tandem bike!! That mechanism looks complicated to me.
Learning about bicycles is deep, but really fun.
Even you don't ride a bicycle at all, you might want to watch these videos about Japan. You'd be very curious.
4/15/2026.
Sometimes I appreciate Facebook system that reminds me of old fun times showing me my own old posts. This photo is from 14 years ago. Surprisingly I still can tell most of kids' names. My Talawanda teacher friends, maybe you still remember them?
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
He is Director of CAS (Creative Ability Solutions, LCC. Est. 2024)
He has competed in handcycling, tennis, and basketball across the country, earning national championships in basketball and handcycling.
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.
You know what? You cannot see it if you don’t focus on looking at it. How my husband does Pressure relief. Every 30 minutes while sitting in a wheelchair.
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!”
Around 2020-2023, a family of four (they have 2 young kids, they are American) who are our close good friends, they had a great opportunity to live in Japan for 3-4 years. (He was assigned by the company.)
So it was true that Japan doesn’t sell oatmeal much around 2020. Interesting?
Then guess what? I searched about the same topic of oatmeal recently. Then I was surprised. The situation has changed around 2021. The data below is about Japan's numbers.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/features/delicious/20211123-5335/
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
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