Jeffs' shout!
Week nine: Japan!

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Our DREAM vacation.

( Thanks Illinois Lottery for makin' it happen! )

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Tokyo from our hotel window

This was the view from my window in the Keio Plaza Hotel, near Shinjuku Station. It gives you an idea of the incredible density of central Tokyo. The saying is that "you're never alone in Tokyo" - and that's very true.

When Mary and I got settled into our hotel in Tokyo, I flipped on the T.V. and heard about a world superbike race at Suzuka. I had to get down there to see all my old competitors! It's been a few years since I left the circuit. I wanted to see how much had changed, and how much had not.

The crew told me the middle bike dyno'd with
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2 h.p. over the back-up bikes.

You have probably driven this world
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famous track on video games!

Once we got into the pits, I found my friend Eric Bostrom had fallen in the shower and broken his wrist that morning! Team Kawasaki was scrambling to find a driver! Luckily I had kept my world superbike license up-to-date. So naturally I took up the challenge when they asked me to ride for them.

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Mary caught me during a little "down time."

The 4cyl. Kawasaki was a little heavier
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than the Ducatti I used to ride.

A few laps into the race, my nerves calmed down, and I settled into my groove. You kinda feel a "oneness" with the bike and track in that "zone". I finished 5th, not bad for being such a rusty rider! I reluctantly turned down an offer to join the team, I'm getting too old for this!

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It was Cold atop Mt. Fuji!
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Mary let me rest for a few days after the bike race, Geez I was sore! Then she drug me up Mt. Fuji. The view from the summit was breathtaking!