Had the break-in service done on my bike last Saturday, and was at the shop long enough to ran into a few friends who wanted to group up to ride to the Azusa Canyon on Sunday morning. It was my first serious canyon "cruising" (It was so NOT a cruise) on my bike, and to say that I was nervous was an understatement. In each of my previous visits to Azusa Canyon, some mishaps always happened to somebody who think they are better drivers/riders than they are. It sucks to see people get injured and/or damage their rides, even though I don't know them. So when the group met up at the foot of the mountain, I asked everyone to go ahead of me, as I am not an experienced rider. All of them declined to do so, with excuses ranging from wanting to check out the new RR in action to if I got too slow for them they'll just pass me. And they did. Surprisingly, I wasn't the last one arriving at each of the check points. I was the second to last sportbike, but there were five to six more bikes that took it easy like I did by going only 50 - 55 mph up the hill.

A big "thank you" to James Chiu for dragging me along, and to Tim Chen, for keeping a look out for me through the whole ride.

Arriving at the top of the climb...

"Where the hell is Henry? Did he ride so slowly that even his helmet and bag left him behind?!"

One of the three crashes we witnessed... *sigh*

And we came back down on the other side, Glendora Mountains...

James, a master at Willow Springs, who managed to eliminate a 15 sec late start, M3 vs. M3, in a mere 3 lap time attack race. He also coaches race car drivers in Taiwan from time to time.

I didn't take too many photos because I was too tired. But once I get them from the other riders, there'll be more to share.

Before I got my new bike, I set myself up to take the car to work 4 times a week and ride my little Ninja once. At 70 mpg, the Ninja was a great option as a gas saver, even when it's ridden to work only once a week. I also only kept the riding at once a week because the Ninja has a carburetor for an engine, as opposed to the more standardized electronic fuel injection technology. The carburetor, for the most part, bites asses in cold weather and thus can be somewhat of a nuisance when everyone is usually in somewhat of a hurry in the morning.

Then I went insane and got myself a RR. It's everything I wanted in a pussy-magnet, I mean, err, bike. I picked up the bike with 0 miles on the odometer on a Saturday afternoon, and by nightfall on Sunday I ended up with 137 miles. I don't even know how the pho I managed to rack up the miles. My wrists were sore as hell, because the RR's riding position leaves my wrists to support most of my body weight and the things I carry on my back. That, apparently, didn't slow me down from jumping onto the RR for another spin. I was literally looking for any excuse to get out to take it for a spin or two... or ten. Funny how my wrists were only sore when I wasn't on the bike. By the week's end, the odometer read 463 miles. I also went from riding to work once a week plus the weekends to, well, driving once a week, weekends included. As of last night, the RR is only 23 miles from it's 600 miles break-in period/first oil change maintenance. The engine is running a little smoother now, and the suspension is settled enough for more parts of my feet to touch the ground at a stop. At 45 mpg, I am supposed to save money on gas for my commute. I don't really think I have been.

Oh, and my wrists are still very very sore.

Zapper The Lightning Toddler (c) 2007 Henry Liao

Several of my friends consult me a lot when it comes to things that I hold some expertise in, and console videogame being one those things. But I think, for the most part, my friends find asking me about these information rather, err, informative because I always tried to keep a clear distinction between the information I know and the point of view I draw from it. It's never my agenda to steer someone toward a direction I would take. But I certainly hope whatever information I gave up can help steer toward a direction from whatever conclusion that is drawn.

Now that a new generation of a videogame console war has begun, many of my friends are coming to me again asking about what I think about the new systems. Just to sum it up a bit: I think Nintendo did a great job bringing out the Wii with its gimmicky motion-sensing controllers. The question for me is that how deep can the game play be, and how long can swinging a controller around last without feeling a little outta breath? The important thing for the developers is for them to figure out how to innovate upon this innovation, so the games for the Wii doesn't just end up being GameCube games that you swing to play instead of hitting buttons. Which brings up the issue of graphics: The Wii is one generation behind the Xbox 360 and two to three behind the Playstation 3 in graphical power. It holds its own against the competition, for now. But what will happen in a few months when the competing machines' true power shows up?

Xbox 360 has a head start on its competitors. It has the biggest library of games and carries over all the experience Microsoft has from its PC online development. But that's the double edge sword - It's pretty much a un-upgradable PC. The 360 is also more like a Xbox 1.2, where the jump from Microsoft's previous system isn't the leap the next-gen consoles promised. It also isn't as a complete of a package as it's major competitor - the PS3, as you would have to shell out more a HD-DVD drive and pay for online services. Its long term staying power will probably be dependent on how well it can be accepted as the system to own in Japan, where the majority of console games are made.

The Playstation 3 is having a really rough start. Talk about blowing the best lead one can ever built with the PS2. It's simply too expensive for most gamers. It, however, is the system that has the most capabilty to last longer outta the system war due to its power, a more complete of a package, and brand name. It's not a system I would count out.

"What about hand held systems?" She asked. "There are so many good games made for the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP."

My answer to this simply comes down to my preference. Games, digital or general, are social tools for me. If I were to dump a hundred dollars and there and I can't share that enjoyment with my friends, it's almost worthless. Almost a little selfish, I would think. I think it's always cool for me to own a PSP and a DS. But... that's about it. It's probably why I don't play my GameBoy Advance SP very much, because my friends and I cannot play it at the same time.

Yeah. My frakking roommates are the luckiest gamers in the world.

Three Agencies. Six teams. More competitive than anyone thinks. I spent a good deal of time playing the center position to cover for teammates are that are... less agile. I certainly have the bruises from all the diving and digging to prove what went on in a 5-game tournament day...

Waiting for the opposing team to serve...

I am screaming for out of bounce. No touching...

Giggling as I make my way to serve the ball...

We had cheerleaders...

Not sure I like the size of the trophy after all the hard work I put in...

Oh well, I thought I'd pour water on the CFO, since we didn't have Gatorade...

Like a ninja, I was nowhere to be found when he turned around...

He'll probably hunt me down on monday...

Heidi, Wade,  Lillian...

Nao-chan with... err... not her baby...

I caught one with our head cheerleader, Eri...

With Wade...

Naomi, Lucky me, Anna...

With Jun-Bae...

Lillian and Naomi are two of the pretty girls from the Media Department...

Group shot of the people that showed up...