Gaijin Bikers in Japan http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp The continuing adventures of a couple of American bikers in the Land of the Rising Sun Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:40:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 en Izu Touring 2008 http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/04/19/izu-touring-2008/ http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/04/19/izu-touring-2008/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:08:48 +0000 Big Ben biker stuff Touring reports SPLENDOR videos http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/04/19/izu-touring-2008/

The muse isn’t moving me to write a real touring report, but we had another great ride, mostly along the same route as last year.
This time, my old friend Kaze joined us from Osaka, and we got some great shots with his helmet cam despite the overcast. Unfortunately, the clouds mean that you can’t see the Pacific Ocean on both sides of the peninsula, but I think it turned out OK.

]]> http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/04/19/izu-touring-2008/feed/ First ride of the year with Lin http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/01/06/first-ride-of-the-year-with-lin/ http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/01/06/first-ride-of-the-year-with-lin/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:26:52 +0000 Big Ben biker stuff Touring reports http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/01/06/first-ride-of-the-year-with-lin/
We had unseasonably warm weather today, and Lin insisted that we take a ride. I’m always looking for an excuse to fire up the machine, and Lin’s been a good girl recently, so I decided to let her pick the route and we went on our first ride of the year.


We fueled up the bike and headed over to a park she had wanted to visit.

Mostly because she wanted to show off her monkey bar skillz.


After leaving that park, I let her pick the route out by whim, letting the road take us wherever it wanted. We ended up visiting four different parks, mostly at random, and got a spectacular view of Tokyo from a cemetery we passed through on top of Tsudayama hill.


Despite being January, it was warm enough that Lin insisted on an ice cream treat before heading home. I think my little girl’s ready for some real long-distance riding this year.

]]> http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2008/01/06/first-ride-of-the-year-with-lin/feed/ Hirayu Touring 2007 http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/11/28/hirayu-touring-2007/ http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/11/28/hirayu-touring-2007/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:27:55 +0000 Big Ben biker stuff Touring reports SPLENDOR http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/11/28/hirayu-touring-2007/

]]> http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/11/28/hirayu-touring-2007/feed/ Thank You Tokyo! Part II http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/09/23/thank-you-tokyo-part-ii/ http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/09/23/thank-you-tokyo-part-ii/#comments Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:59:11 +0000 Big Ben biker stuff parades http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/09/23/thank-you-tokyo-part-ii/
My friend Justin got married last weekend, so we did our traditional wedding parade through Tokyo. This parade had a really international flavor, with a Chinese bride and an American groom, but the crowds in Tokyo didn’t discriminate, shouting out congratulations and taking pictures as if the couple were local royalty. The couple was able to share their happiness with the whole city, and brightened up quite a few faces as we went along, and in return, the whole city helped them celebrate the happy occasion.

(more pictures here, here, and here.)

It’s too bad I didn’t get any pictures of myself at the wedding ceremony, because I was rocking a pretty good mix of formal and biker wear (tux shirt, leather vest, chaps, and biker boots) and also wore a yarmulke for the first time in my life (the groom has a Jewish background—this may be the only Jewish-Chinese wedding I will ever attend in Tokyo.) I also had a slightly nervous experience helping interpret the speeches of the fathers of the bride and groom, where I towered behind them with people wondering who this huge leatherdude was. We had a bit of a telephone game thing going (dare I call it “Chinese whispers” in this context?) where the bride’s father gave a speech in Chinese, a friend of the bride translated that into English, and then I translated that English into Japanese. But everything worked out, and then we headed off for an amazing parade.

Congratulations, Shiye and Justin!

]]> http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/09/23/thank-you-tokyo-part-ii/feed/ 喜多方ラーメンツーリング2007 http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/08/31/%e5%96%9c%e5%a4%9a%e6%96%b9%e3%83%a9%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%84%e3%83%bc%e3%83%aa%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b02007/ http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/08/31/%e5%96%9c%e5%a4%9a%e6%96%b9%e3%83%a9%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%84%e3%83%bc%e3%83%aa%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b02007/#comments Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:02:59 +0000 Big Ben biker stuff Touring reports SPLENDOR 日本語 http://www.gaijinbikers.com/wp/2007/08/31/%e5%96%9c%e5%a4%9a%e6%96%b9%e3%83%a9%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%84%e3%83%bc%e3%83%aa%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b02007/
やっぱり美味いね、喜多方のラーメン。(↑板内の「ネギチャーシュー」）

今回は久しぶりに、いつもの道を先導するのではなく、人についていって知らない道を走ったのもよかった。ノジ君、気持ちいい道を教えてくれてありがとう！

そして今回は高校の頃からの親友カールも参加できて、初めて日本で一緒に走れたのもよかった。

最近仕事も遊びもちょっとやりすぎに部分があって、夜の宴会はまったくパワーが出なかったけど、走りの方は思いっきり満喫できた。

いやぁ、楽しかったなぁ。

写真アルバムはこちら。

追記：ビデオもできた！

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