![20100123-DSC_7796](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4299797639_63c452af5c.jpg)
Pooey was born (purchased) somewhere in North Carolina about 2 years ago. Passed from rider to rider, he was the torch on a charity motorcycle relay across the good old United States of America. When you see motorcycle and USA in the same sentence, you're probably thinking a big fat dude on a big fat Harley. But ADVRider.com is all about adventure riding. Off road, middle of nowhere stuff. Cool! You can check out the hellllla massive thread about Pooey here. Check out a couple rad shots from his tours so far:
![](http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k12/MAX762/ADV%20Rider%20Relay%202008/P1010124.jpg)
![](http://i32.tinypic.com/zybv28.jpg)
![](http://www.leo.smugmug.com/photos/305612120_HyA3r-L.jpg)
![](http://soewe812.smugmug.com/photos/317291104_F37mX-L.jpg)
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/2752329096_2467f36a2e_o.jpg)
![](http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn362/aeford66/PooeyMK/SANY0150.jpg)
![](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/ArnobGupta/Poeeys%20world%20tour/DSCN3719.jpg)
![](http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss231/chanderjeet1/pooey/Leh-Pooey-8822.jpg)
So after touring America, Canada, Australia, India, and China, Pooey is here in Japan. There's not a lot of epic adventure style riding in Japan, unfortunately, and I don't really have the right kind of bike for that anyways. How to satisfy Pooey?
![20100124-DSC_8050](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4300548840_883599101e.jpg)
Booze! Yep, I use my vegetable crisper drawer for liquor. Shochu is made from vegetables, right?
![20100124-DSC_8049](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/4300546902_d9be21cc42.jpg)
Nothing screams Japan as much as Mt. Fuji, so on a brisk Friday morning I hopped on the CB1000 and headed west...
![20100121-DSC_7747](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4299754667_f3005e50ef.jpg)
...with my new sports video camera mounted on the ride. This is a GoPro HD Hero camera. It's meant to be worn on a helmet or mounted on a vehicle. I'm still working out the kinks, but check out a short video of me getting onto the expressway! (warning: it's boring)
Sorry, no more videos. A 2 gigabyte memory card fills up pretty fast. I have a video where I'm at a stop light behind a truck for 2 minutes. Should I upload it?
![20100122-DSC_7750](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4299762293_7759f68167.jpg)
Headed west on the Chuo expressway. Cafe culture sucks in Japan, so McDonalds is the choice for caffeine. I ordered a cafe latte, and the girl behind the counter freaked. Turns out they don't have McCafe in the countryside. Also talking to foreigners is hella scary to some countryside folk.
![20100122-DSC_7754](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4300516750_4920fbea24.jpg)
Arriving at the prime view spot of majestic Mount Fuji...
![20100122-DSC_7756](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4300521304_9ac7dd4410.jpg)
... was a disappointment. Fuji's magnetic cloud powers were in effect. Sorry Pooey.
![20100122-DSC_7759](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4299779305_81b343b6d8.jpg)
Took some new roads on the way home (route 147 out of Yamanako to the 246). Monkeys!
![20100122-DSC_7768](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/4299783939_18453cdb93.jpg)
Lookit them crazy monkeys!
![20100122-DSC_7775](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2730/4299786231_489eafdf71.jpg)
I made a left onto 76, which I thought was 70. After a nice ride along a lakeshore and up into the hills...
![20100122-DSC_7782](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2701/4299788327_50e7789f6d.jpg)
... a dead end. I've got a nice collection of "Don't Enter" signs from Japanese roads. The benefits of being too cheap to buy a proper GPS system.
![20100122-DSC_7786](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2790/4299790327_fea2fa0413.jpg)
Check the map, and try again.
![20100122-DSC_7787](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2728/4300538216_43cdcde53b.jpg)
Managed my way back to the Tomei expressway. Inside a rest stop is a massive real-time map of Tokyo's expressway conditions. A little traffic ahead, but nothing too serious. On a Sunday night, you'll see a lot of red, but on a Friday you're ok.
![20100122-DSC_7788](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4299794103_4a196e66d9.jpg)
Use of an electronic toll collection (ETC) system saves time and money. Being Japan, shit is all fucked up, and the unit for a motorcycle costs 4 times the price for a car. Regardless of that fact, they've been sold out for like 2 years. I just bought a used car one, which is technically a no-no, but it works so I don't really care.
Seriously, if I get busted for using a non-regulation payment system before getting busted for something else...
![20100122-DSC_7789](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2694/4299795949_828f2a7545.jpg)
Thus ends my day with Pooey the globetrotting ostrich. He is, yep, a Beanie Baby. And, crime of crimes, his tag is missing. Would this ruin the value of this collectible toy? A quick google search, and it looks like Pooey (nee Stretch) isn't on the top of any collector's lists. Onward Pooey, see it all.
1 comment:
That HD cam totally rocks! :)
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