It's as Easy as...

...riding a bike.  So we have been doing the Walk and Roll Wednesdays since last year.  I've been volunteering to help with the kids walking to school, once a month.  But, Maiya hadn't been able to ride her bike without training wheels because we really just hadn't spent much time on the bike.  Maiya had gotten pretty good at riding her Razor scooter.  Anyways in April (yes I know that was 7 months ago), Tony took the training wheels and the pedals off the bike and let Maiya go on it.  I saw online that it said to let them go for about half an hour, and once they got the hang of it, it's time to take off the training wheels.  Well, they remained off for several weeks, or even a month.

She got pretty good at it.

Here she is practicing still... and sporting a skirt on her
shoulders like a shawl, for some reason.

Finally, after CicLAvia in April where Maiya took her scooter, we went home and I figured out how to put the pedals back on.  Much easier than I thought it would be, and immediately she was off!  That's my girl.  Peace. Ride. Out.

NaBloPoMo12 #9
(Backblogging April 2012 posted on 11/10 catching up on 11/9)

CicLAvia @ MacArthur Park - April 2012

For our 3rd CicLAvia in April 2012, Maiya and I drove down to MacArthur Park and again brought our scooters.  Maiya had just learned how to ride a bike that week, and I was concerned that she would be a little unsteady with all the thousands of bike riders en the route.  We joined Great Leap, for their performance of "Cycles of Change," bicycle stories directed by Dan Kwong and based on peoples personal stories created in Collaboratory workshops.

 The performance, "Cycles of Change" with George and Danny on taiko and percussion.

These photos tell a story all by themselves.  

I'm going to call it a blog and sign off NaBloPoMo12 #8!  Peace. Out.

Spring CicLAvia with the KOs

On a Sunday morning in April, they shut down about 7 1/2 miles of LA streets for people to walk, ride, scoot, push a stroller, or whatever at the 2nd CicLAvia.  What a great sense of community.  So of course, we went to J-town.  I realized though, that it was Maiya's first bike ride not around the block, so the going was slow.  I had thoughts we might go across the 1st Street Bridge, but with me on Tony's folding bike, possibly the first time since I did the 20+ mile Bike Marathon a few years ago, and Maiya on training wheels, it wasn't going to happen.  We only went a few blocks, but we made a lot of stops. What a fun day it was.  I loved being able to ride bikes down First Street in Little Tokyo with my family.

Love this picture.  Corner of 3rd & San Pedro St.

Tony and Maiya at the J-town Mural

Thousands passed Tony's mural "Home is Little Tokyo" 

Bumped into Mike in front of Far East Cafe

DREAM ACTivists getting the message out & representing.

Community, exercise and family time, love it.

Community, exercise, family time & JA history.

Toyo Miyatake plaque at the Sakura Crossing in Jtown

"so this kind of injustice never happens again!" - Toyo Miyatake

This was our first of hopefully many CicLAvia's.  Somehow I just deleted a few photos I wanted to share, one of us in Fugetsu-do ordering manjuu for the road.  Well, there's NaBloPoMo#8.  Peace. Cycle. Out.

(Newer) Biker Babe in Training

Goodbye $5 thrift store bike, Maiya has moved up to a newish bike Tony found on Craigslist this summer. Since she still primarily only wears skirts with very few exceptions, we use the you-don't-want-to-hurt-your-knee-excuses to get her to wear pants or legggings every once and awhile. Here she is with leg warmers instead of pants.

New training wheels

Visitors and Playtime

A few weeks ago, Lianne came over with Baby Alia. She's a cutie, huh?

Later that afternoon, Lauren came over for a playdate.
Maiya and Lauren have been friends since they were 9 months old.

Lauren and Maiya talking into the cassette recorder.

Lauren and Maiya kicking it at the park.

Helping daddy change bike tires in the backyard.

Did I mention we got a new card reader? Lots of back(b)log on the photos.

Jenni's Journey on the Bike Marathon 2009

We did it! I can't believe I was able to complete the LA Bike Tour/Marathon on Monday, Memorial Day. The last two years I participated in the 5K Walk/Run with Maiya. Last year she was happily riding in the stroller for the first mile, but then got hungry, bored, cranky and vascillating between wanting to push the stroller, but not being able to push it straight, but being too tired to walk. On top of that, I had the flu, and turned out to have a high fever later that day.

This year I wanted to try the Bike Marathon. Having spent much of my 20s mountain biking, I wondered if I could do it, considering I hadn't been on my bike in over 15 years. My mountain bike was in too poor a condition to ride, but my husband Tony offered to give me his dad Larry's comfort bike--Larry passed away in February, so wouldn't be needing his bike anymore. Only problem is that it was up at his house in Crestline near Lake Arrowhead, and we hadn't had time to pick it up.

In the meantime, Nobuko began calling me urging me to begin training. My "training" consisted of inconsistent stretching, and 3 trips to to the gym to ride the stationary bike for 15 minutes each. During those gym practice rides, my knees and hip would hurt and I would never even break a sweat. My friend Lily joked that I would do anything to help raise money for Great Leap. She's right.

Then, on Saturday, 2 days before the ride, we woke up early and drove up to the mountains to pick up Larry's bike. On Sunday, the day before the ride, Tony pumped up the tires and set the bike out for me to take a test run. I took off down the street, going 3 long blocks, and back home... maybe 15 minutes. When I came back, I was wheezing and tired. I wondered out loud how many miles it was to the end of the block and back. Tony groaned. He had promised to ride with me, but I could see him dreading the ride.

Anyways, come Monday morning, Memorial Day, Tony and I woke up at 3:30 am, a mere 3 1/2 hours after going to sleep. As I got dressed in the middle of the night, I was a little bit excited, but pretty nervous. We left the house about 4:15 am, Tony had a tunafish sandwich, but I couldn't even think about food.

We arrived at Senshin Buddhist Temple, meeting 8 others from Great Leap who would be riding with us. We rode quietly and slowly in the dark from Senshin over to Exposition Park. When we arrived, I couldn't believe it. With bright lights blaring, we watched as 10,000 riders were lining up to start. We started about 5:10 am.
The first 2 miles down Exposition Park were crowded, with bike traffic causing us to ride slowly, although it seemed like it was downhill. Not expending much energy, I felt pretty good. As we weaved through Leimert Park, it started getting light out. We went through several residential areas, and I said a silent good morning to Ayako, Reverend Mas and Victor, who live in the neighborhood.

Heading North on Crenshaw, the bikers were thinning out. We hit our first big hill at the freeway overpass. As many times as I've been on Crenshaw, I never realized what a big hill it was. We actually went as far as Fairfax and La Cienega, and passed the Kidney Dialysis Center and one of the many hospitals that Larry was at last year. I got a little emotional thinking about how I was riding on his bike and dedicated the ride in his memory.

We did stop once, I think it was Olympic or Third, about halfway through the ride. Shortly after, we headed back, up through Hancock Park and then Koreatown. We rode past Tony's old school where he taught 3rd and 4th grade for several years, and then rode through the area where I lived until I was 3 months old.

Unfortunately, we got misrouted for a few blocks when a man was painting the LA Marathon logo on the street and was sending everyone down an unpaved street and into traffic. After a few blocks, we got back on the right path. Finally, as we headed south on Vermont Avenue and back to USC, I felt the cool air rushing through my shoes, and I realized we were almost there.

22 miles, in about 2 1/2 hours and we finished just after 7:30 am. Aside from a pretty sore butt, I felt pretty good. Tony had been joking that we would be on a date... but it was really nice to spend time with my hubby on the ride. Afterwards we went to breakfast near our house, and then went home to take a bubble bath and a nap.

Thank you to all who generously sponsored us, made pledges and gave moral support. I hope to do it again next year!

Jenni

P.S. It's not too late to sponsor us with a check payable to Great Leap. Email me or leave a comment and I'll give you details.

Sponsor KuidaoOsumi @ the LA Bike Marathon

Dear Friends & Family~

This Memorial Day on May 25th at 5am, I am dusting off my bike after about 15 years, and endeavoring to ride 26 miles with Tony and other Great Leapers in the LA Acura Bike Marathon to raise money for Great Leap, a nonprofit multicultural performing arts organization I've been involved with for the last 12 years. And if we can't find a babysitter, Maiya may well be riding on the back of Tony's bike, too!

It will be my 3rd time to participate in this annual fundraiser for Great Leap, an official charity of the LA Marathon, our only fundraiser event this year. The last two years Maiya did the 5K Run/Walk with me, but this year I'm planning to push it to the next level.

I would be thrilled if you would sponsor me. I don't have to tell you how the arts struggle during tough economic times. Often it is the first thing to be cut. But know that 100% of your contribution will go to supporting Great Leap's programs such as Collaboratory, Leaps of Faith, or Nobuko's new touring work, "What Can a Song Do?"

If you would like to sponsor me or Tony, please reply to this email and let me know how much you'd like to pledge. I'll send you an email and photos confirming our completion of the event. You can send your check (payable to Great Leap) to me (email or FB msg me for the address).

Also, if you 'd like to join us on the walk, run or ride, go to the Great leap Marathon webpage (http://www.greatleap.org/marathon) to sign up. Thanks for supporting Great Leap on its 31st anniversary~using the arts for social change in our community.

Love and Peace,

Jenni

Trike-A-Thon

Maiya's preschool held a Trike-A-Thon last week. The kids learned about bike safety and charity, while having fun. The $45 we raised goes to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. It's great that even at 3 years old, Maiya can help sick children by raising money for them.

Next month, me & Maiya will be joining some of my co-workers in HomeWalk, raising money for United Way to support homeless families in LA County.

Twice around the block

In addition to going to the Dodger game last Sunday afternoon, we had an even busier evening. After the Dodger game, we went to Devin's 3rd bday party at the airport park for dinner. Maiya had an angry meltdown because we had to leave just before the cake part, and she was screaming about the injustice of having to leave without the cake. So, to somewhat calm her down before leaving her with Uncle Bill all evening, Tony took her for a ride on their new vintage bike. She was so happy, I dare you to find the dried saltiness around her red puffy eyes.

After the bike ride, we left her with Uncle Bill, who had rented a Dora DVD for her. That kept her going for 6 hours while we went out to the Ford Amphitheater for the Tia Chucha Cultural Center fundraiser. Nobuko performed, as well as Charles Wright (Express Yourself), and we also got to see Olmeca and Upground. It was a pretty awesome night of performances. I think my favorite was Upground, a bunch of young guys from East Los, as they called it. I think someone told me that they all went to Roosevelt, where my mom went to high school in Boyle Heights. When we got back at 11:30 pm, Maiya and Uncle Bill were on the couch, still watching Dora, for the 3rd time that night. Say "Adios, Dora!"

How Daddy Spent His $66

Maiya: Daddy, mommy said no more buying bikes!
Daddy: But it's for us!
Maiya: Ohhhh. (Big smile.)
A few days later, here is Tony's latest ebay purchase. $66 plus $47 shipping.
Tony & Maiya spent the day getting new tires for this bike while I stayed home and cleaned house, did dishes, cleaned the floors, laundry, watered the garden, cleaned off the table, went through old tax papers, organized stuff and filed paperwork the entire day. Right now, they're at Uncle Bill's, having ridden the bike around together. I think we now have 6 bikes, not counting Maiya's 2 little bikes. I hope this is the last bike. This afternoon Tony was on ebay looking at tandem bikes. Oy vey.

Biker Babe

Tony finally sold his '71 BMW motorcycle after sitting in the garage the last several years. Tony cleaned it up and took some pictures of Maiya on it before shipping it to his friend Bill in Delaware. Years ago, Tony rode the motorcycle a lot when we were a one-car family. We're going to be able to fit a car in the garage very soon, I can't wait!

Biking on Sunday

Tony took Maiya for a long bike ride Sunday. I caught the tail end of it.

She can move pretty quick for a girl on a rickety little $5 bike.
I was hoping for a little post-ride interview, but as you can see, she wasn't so interested. Next time I'll try not to shadow the subject when filming. D'oh!

Visiting Grandpa

After the Rally in Little Tokyo on Saturday, we drove up to the mountains near Lake Arrowhead to visit Tony's dad Larry and for Tony to help around the house. We went to dinner at a small cafe with Tony's dad and his friend. Afterwards, during that time when one parent excuses themself from the table to walk around with the preschooler, Maiya and I went outside and I spied a little bike in a thrift shop window. Tony has been looking for an old Schwinn on Craigslist for Maiya for the last few months. I told Tony, and he said we should come back the next day to take a look. The next morning, we went to breakfast at another cute little cafe where Larry and his friend knew the guys who run the place, plus every customer who came in.

The cook (owner?) made special Mickey Mouse pancakes for Maiya.
There was a picture on the wall of the famous kiddie pancakes.

After breakfast, we went to check out the thrift shop.
The price was right. $5.

After we came back to the house, Maiya & I went for a nature walk.

Back home at Uncle Bill's with Grandpa.
I know, I know, we need to get a helmet.