Finally. Last year a group of us planned and planned and all we got was rain and cold weather. This year, the weather was beautiful and the ride in and around Hakone was fantastic.
We did 200km of nothing but curves up and down mountains. We didn't ride the same curve twice. This island is full of prime roads!
Here are some pics. Look for Mt. Fuji in the background. It looks like a cloud if your not paying attention.
The Beak/Mt. Fuji pic is poster material. Increase your contrast a bit, adjust your color curves to richen up the red and the green (may add a wee bit of saturation in the sky) and frame that baby.
Are helmets mandatory in Japan, or are Japanese riders just very clued in? OTOH, yours seemed the only armored riding pants?
Saw a couple of Japanese movies this weekend. Returner was good campy fun; Kaneshiro Takeshi is putting together an admirable pan-Asian resume.
Saw Casshern. Must be a Japanese thing. I can't afford the quality or volume of drugs required to enjoy that flick. Longer than dental school and wierder than Al Jancovic.
Anywho, glad to see you getting to stretch the Roadster a bit. Any moments to relate from the ride?
In a Japanese interlude on my own ride in Wisconsin yesterday, the ABS came to the rescue when Turkeyzilla came bumbling out of the tall grass and hippity hopping across the road. Are there supposed to be 60lb turkeys? I don't know know if the pioneers would have leapt on this beast or fled from it.
Looking at your photos brought back many memories. I was born in Sendai many, many years ago when it was just a small town. I probably wouldn't even recognize it now.
Thanks guys, it was a great day.
It was one of those days where you can't go without your jacket, but you could strip down to a tee shirt and open all the vents.
RK;
I am no photographer. I'll have to settle for the pics my Sony DSC-W1 produce in the automatic settings. It is worth saying though that the real thing wasw pretty close to the photo. If you didn't look at Fuji on purpose, you would think it is a cloud..
Yes, helmets are required in japan. However, in the city you will see a lot of Tokyo Giants batting helmets, construction hard hats and bicycle helmets. I don't think the police care much as long as you have something on your head.
DJ:
I wondered if anyone would notice the white Blackbird. It is a home made custom job (actually "work made"). The paint is All Nippon Airways 747 white with aircraft Info ID silk screen black graphics.
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
