Mamachari Bike

I got a new bike!  After two years of free and rusty bikes I broke down and spent a good amount of money on a fancy Japanese mamachari bike.

Out with the old.  I was riding this bike around with Calista on the back and Beatrix was strapped to me in a baby carrier.  It really wasn't so bad, but it was hot to ride around with a baby on my back.

And in with the new.

 This bike is electric and so easy to pedal uphill.  It's pretty cool and super common here in Japan.  I probably couldn't drive to base one time without seeing ten people riding these bikes on the sidewalk.  I think some people get one of these instead of a car. 

One funny thing was when we were looking for a bike at the store they were being advertised as the safest mode of transportation during covid-19.

We took our bikes and rode to base on Wednesday to celebrate the end of the school year.  We basically just rode to McDonalds, got everyone large milkshakes, ran around in the grass, then bought food and ate until everyone felt sick, and lastly rode bikes back home.  It was fun family bonding time.

I'm happy I got the bike.  I've wanted one for a couple years, but always debated because I'm just not sure if I will use it enough to justify the price.  But so far it has been worth it.  Time will tell.

Bike Park With Bob

We went to Alaska, and it was amazing!  But more about that tomorrow.  Before we made it to Alaska we had three days where we thought we were getting up early the next morning, and heading to the airport to catch our flight, only to find out around 8pm that our flight changed and we weren't going the next day.  So we had a few days to hang around our house with Bob.  One of those days was Saturday so It wasn't like Bob took time off, and we never get to spend time with Bob.  So even though we weren't on a plane like we wanted we were excited to be with Bob.

First we took him to the bike park.  It is only about a mile from our house and Bob still hadn't been.  It is pretty cool and we had the place to ourselves.

 There were some pretty epic races that went on that day.

 We also randomly happened to show up when the actual police came to do a bicycle training class.  I think they did some scrambling on who was going to teach based on who could speak English the best.  It was pretty awesome.  Japanese people are really accommodating in that way.  They always apologize to us because they don't think they speak English well enough and we just stand there not speaking a lick of Japanese while living in Japan.

I had a couple questions and we all learned a few things.  Like baby wearing is allowed while riding, but only on your back.  Also, only 13 and under should ride on the sidewalk, but they should be on the roadside of the sidewalk. 

Then the training went outside to their fake roads.  It is a pretty neat area with lights and everything, but made just for this park.  Only bicycles are allowed, and they are not joking.  I took Calista on there with a tricycle and was told she had to be on the sidewalk.

One rule is you must walk across the road unless it has a specific riding crosswalk, and you must look over your right shoulder before walking across.  Oh and don't forget you must stand to the left of your bike while doing it.  It took the kids three light cycles for them to get this down and all make it across before the light turned red. One funny note about this was that even though the Japanese lady was very good at English she kept saying that the light was blue and they can't cross.  It was super confusing to Leon, and funny to me.

Look at these two cuties.  This wasn't at the bike park but just a little foot bath at Godzilla park.

Two Wheels!

Leon and Scarlett can now both ride two wheeler bikes without training wheels!  We taught Scarlett about a month ago and she was pretty resistant.  She liked using the training wheels but she was really getting too big for her bike and I thought she was old enough to take the plunge.  We made her learn without the training wheels.  She did get the hang of it pretty quickly but for a couple weeks after she knew how to ride the bike she still kept trying to ride her training wheels bike.  I think she just thought it was easier.

Leon on the other hand was a whole different story.  The kids called me into the backyard randomly the other day telling me that Leon could ride a bike.  I stepped out and sure enough Leon was riding a two wheeler around the yard.  Tucker was helping him get started and off he went.  I was pretty surprised and I told them to stop so Bob could "teach" him how to ride a bike.  A couple days later when we had time we went out for Bob to teach Leon how to ride.  Bob didn't know about the earlier rides so he was pretty surprised when Leon got it just fine after Bob holding the back for about a second.

Since that first day Leon has been wanting to ride every day.  Even on that very first day he learned to start all by himself, a skill which has been difficult for my other children.  And on the next day he showed me that he could stand up and ride.  I really think he is probably better than both the girls.  He really took to riding the bike!

Bob stayed home with Calista the other day and I went on a bike ride with the kids.  It was pretty cool just watching all of them ride.  Scarlett seemed to get tired really fast though, I think she needs a bigger bike.

NYC 4

New York already seems like so long ago and I'm not done posting about it yet.

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of art.  Did you know you can pay what you want?  I felt weird not paying the full $25 each (I'm not sure if that was the price but it was close) but I really didn't want to pay $50 so we didn't.  I'm glad too because we didn't end up staying very long.  It was gigantic and Bob and I just weren't that into it so we walked around, looked at art, got lost, used their bathrooms, asked for help finding the entrance, asked for help again, and left.

I did want to get a picture with one famous painting though.

After that we headed over to central park.  We rented bikes so we could see the whole thing.  It was the perfect size for us to ride around.  We would haven't been able to see very much of it if we walked.

Bob really enjoys biking but I haven't ridden a bicycle since we dated and I was getting pretty tired going up the hills.  Luckily Bob was patient with me and I made it ok.  As you can tell it was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Next we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge.  I really wanted to walk across it. So that is what we did.  They are replacing all the metal one piece at a time without shutting the bridge down.  We could see where they were at.

The view of the city was great and I wanted to see it at night so we hung out on the bridge for about an hour.  This next picture is of the other bridge next to the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was late by the time we got home.  It seemed like our nights kept getting later and our mornings kept getting earlier.  There was just so much to do I didn't want to waste any time sleeping.

Bike Expo 2014

Last Saturday we made the hour and a half drive to Seattle for the annual Bike expo.  Tucker was way to excited for it.  Last year Bob and the kids went without me.  I stayed in town and went to a Women's Conference.  It was also the day Leon was almost born.  Because I missed it before I was just a little bit curious.

It was basically tons of vendors selling various bike stuff.  I don't think Bob ended up buying anything but he did enjoy looking.  And we got more then our fare share of flyers and pieces of candy from the booths.  In fact Cliff was handing out granola bars and we made sure to stop by their both several times.  It kept the kids happy.

I'm not sure what this particular booth was for.  I took Penelope to the bathroom and when we came back Tucker was time traveling.

They even had a fog machine going.  They told him he traveled one minute into the future.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever.

This was like my fifth attempt to get a picture of all the kids looking.

Bob really liked these wood bikes.  I guess they sell for about 4 thousand dollars.

I didn't get a picture of it but they did have some really neat bikes for families.  I saw this one with a cool bench on the back of it meant to hold three kids.  Then there was a baby seat on the front.  It was perfect for us... minus the price tag.

There was one booth I was interested in.  A bike lawyer had a booth set up.  He represents bicycle riders after they get hit by cars.  I kind of have a love hate thing going on with Bob riding his bike to work every day.  I want to support him because he loves it and it is a really healthy thing to do.  But on the other hand I just get scared that one day he isn't going to come home and I'm going to get a call about how he got hit by a car.  It just happened to someone in our ward a couple months ago.  He is ok now but he was in the hospital for a couple of days.  I hope Bob never gets hurt, but our town is not the most bike friendly.  So there will always be that possibility.  At least now I will be prepared with a lawyer to call if something happens.

My favorite part was watching the bike artistry.  Three people came out on bikes and did some really crazy cool tricks.

The video is of their intro.  I kinda wish we got a video later because their tricks got way more spectacular toward the end of the performance.  Check it out.


After the expo we drove over to the Freemont Troll  under the bridge.  It is always a fun stop for the kids, although this time we were freezing.  Tucker kept telling everyone not to look into the eye.  Apparently if you look into the trolls eye you will have bad dreams.  it was funny watching him walk around making sure not to turn his head toward the eye.

I love little day trips with my family!

Bob's New Bike!!!

So, this is bob hijacking the wife's blog. ;-)

As some of you know, I do not drive a car to work. I ride my bike. I bought a bike just over 2 years ago and put over 7,000 miles on it since then. It is almost 7 miles to the gym at work, and then 6.5 miles home after work. I love riding my bike to work. It is a really nice break between home and work. during the 20-25 minute bike ride I can purge my mind of almost all the worries of work, so when I get home I can focus on the family, and not stress about work.
Like I said, I have been riding my bike to work for 2 years, since we went to Japan. That seems like so long ago. So, like any other avid cyclist, I have spent more than my far share online looking at cool bikes, wishing I had the cool new stuff. Now that I know I plan on riding my bike to work as long as our home is within a 10 mile radius, I decided it was about time to upgrade. And man did I upgrade.
I was a little scared at first to spend all my "Savings" and "Christmas Money" (thanks mom dad and grandma). But I believe it was worth it.

So here it is, my new bike!!!

Now why is it so cool? And why did it cost more money than bob feels comfortable posting on the blog? And is it worth more than our 95 honda accord?
Well, let me spell it out. ULTEGRA Di2!!!

A couple years ago Shimano came out with electronic shifting. It is like clicking a mouse button and your bike shifts perfect every time forever. I have spent a long time adjusting cables and such on my bike in the past. But with the Ultegra Di2 components it is super low maintenance.

Yes, that is a battery under the bottle cage, and it only needs charged every 2-3 thousand miles!

Oh, and did I mention it has disc brakes. Which are needed for all the rain we get out here.

I don't think I have ever been so excited to go to work!!!

Bob
ps. Maria, I installed the cyclometer after I took the pics. thanks again for the christmas gift. I love it!!

1000+ miles

This is Bob. So, we all know Doranda loves to post on her blog. But I am taking over the post for today to let everyone know that I hit the 1000+ mile mark on my bike.
I have had my bike since February, and ave been riding it the 6+ mile to work, and the 6+ miles back. I really enjoy riding my bike to and from work. It helps me wind down before I get home, and wakes me up on my ride in. I would recommend that everyone who lives within a couple miles of work should consider riding there bike. It is fun and invigorating, good for the environment, and for your own health. You can burn from 700 to 1000 calories.

Here is a new picture of my bike. I have a spot for it on wall in the garage, with all my tools. :-)