“My story starts with me riding for my grandma or Obachan in Japanese. She suffered from advanced dementia but you would never know just looking at her. As time took its course, her look turned into a long stare as the lifetime of memories slowly left. It was up to me and my family to remind her with pictures and stories of past memories. Those were heartwarming times to see my grandma smile. My grandma was buddhist and when she passed the monk gave her a name which translated into ‘blossoming flower,’ kind of like a cherry blossom. I like to think that every year the blossoming flower is our motorcycle ride to renew my memories of her. That is why I ride.” – Christopher Yagi
How Christopher Yagi Joined Rides4ALZ
Christopher is one of the co-chairs for our annual motorcycle benefit event, Rides4ALZ – which is taking place this Saturday, June 28th, 2025! He’s been riding in the event for a handful of years now, originally as a participant with his company Cordoba Corporation. The VP at the time was a co-chair of the ride, and when she moved on, Christopher took it upon himself to fill the role he knew he could thrive in.
He originally got into motorcycles in the late 2000s, “I had not the best starter bike – not a beginner bike for sure. I ended up on that because my buddy was getting rid of it and gave me a good deal. And I didn’t know anything about riding.” Luckily he had a couple of friends that were passionate about bikes and gave Christopher advice on proper maintenance, safety, and more. Although soaring through San Diego is always a great time, he emphasizes that having dementia awareness as the backbone of the reason why they are riding makes it that much more personal.
Family Ties
When speaking about his grandmother living with dementia during her final years, Christopher mentions that at first his family had a hard time identifying the problem. He says, “I thought that she was just really unhappy. She was in a care facility and so forth and every night she would pack her bags and sit by the front door because she thought that someone was coming to pick her up and take her home. Every single night. And it broke my heart because I didn’t know what was going on.”
Even though Christopher did not become aware of this until recently, his family did receive support from Alzheimer’s San Diego while his grandmother was alive. One of the main things affecting her was sundowning, which is when irritability and other things are heightened during changes in sunlight, usually in the evening around sunset. Being the grandchild, he wasn’t in the loop at the time but he now knows what her diagnosis entailed.
Why People Should Ride
Christopher notes that often when he sees motorcyclists, he’ll go up to them to chat about Rides4ALZ: “… if they love to ride, why not ride for a cause and come help us… I guarantee if you ask somebody in your circle, they will have some sort of story or person that has been affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia. And you know this is the reason why we are riding…” You can check out this video to hear from Christopher Yagi and more participants on why they ride.
Register for the ride on June 28th before it’s too late – and non-riders can get tickets to join us at the after party! For any Rides4ALZ questions, visit our Rides website, call us at 858.966.3319, or email rides4ALZ@alzsd.org. For more information on dementia and personalized support, call us at 858.492.4400 to speak with one of our Dementia Care Coaches who are here to help San Diego County residents and/or those caring for someone living in San Diego County (Spanish speakers available).
By Braulio Ambriz & Heidi Emmenegger
RECOMMENDED: Rides4ALZ Throttle Thursday: Why We Ride
Posted on June 26th, 2025
