Club X4 all-Japan annual meeting

I got back earlier today from Club X4's all-Japan annual meeting, which is really just an excuse to get about 70 Honda X4 riders together from all over the country for some hardcore riding and a big dinner party.

This year's meeting was held at Green Hotel Sangane, built atop a mountain in Aichi prefecture. Guys (there were no women riders) came from all over Japan. There was even a group from Okinawa that brought their bikes over by ferry. I rode down from Tokyo with the club's Kanto chapter (Kanto is the region of Japan that includes Tokyo).

After blasting about two-thirds of the way there on the Tomei expressway, we covered the last leg on small, windy mountain roads:

The picture doesn't do these roads justice, because it shows us at rest in a nice flat stretch. The route through the hills was like something out of an old cartoon; all that was missing was Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner off a cliff.

That thought came easily to mind, as many of the sharp turns were indeed right at the edge of steep cliffs. Some had guardrails. Some didn't. To be honest, I need to work on my riding skills. Most of the Club X4 guys were awesome at carving through extremely tight turns and I was playing catch-up most of the way (but better that than falling to my doom).