Biking for Life with Fleet Week & Toyota

Fellow IMPA members in front of all the bikes we assembled

Biking has been part of my life forever; my mother rode me on the back of her bicycle and when I got my first 10 speed, my father gave it to me in a box and told me I could ride it when I could put it together.

Coast Guard ship, in for FleetWeek

That was the year I turned 15, and my father died. I had already signed up for an American Youth Hostels bike trip that summer, and my mother insisted I go.

I've always had at least one bicycle (until it was stolen, I had a folding commuter bike that was great for zipping around NYC in a dress) and I often include biking in a vacation. In fact, last month I spent a week cycling through Tuscany and Umbria.

So when Toyota asked me to help with a project assembling bicycles for the children of military, I jumped at the chance. As part of #FleetWeekNYC, volunteers spent a day with Coast Guard members putting together hundred of children's bikes.

I can't think of any better way to spend the time leading up to Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks to Toyota for the opportunity.