Fed up with ice, snow and freezing temperatures, I decided this morning to go for a ride – a very, very long ride. My plan was to take a new Honda CBR250R on a 22 country, round-the-world tour, and half an hour later, I was already passing through my 15th country on the way to Malaysia. Ridiculous you say? Not at all; Honda has been burning the midnight oil for ways to campaign the new CBR250R, and their latest marketing effort allows you to take the bike on a virtual, trans-global ride.

A recent add-on to their CBR250R microsite, TouringGlobe (http://world.honda.com/CBR250R) is stereotypical Japanese. Anime-style animation is overlaid by an ambiguous electronica soundtrack to mesmerize a web surfer much like a passenger is hypnotized by the view through a train’s window. While in Japan I rode under the loins of a Sumo wrestler, past a pair of fighting Ninja and barely escaped the fury of a Godzilla-sized robot. However, what mostly kept me glued to the screen was the anticipation of the icons that would represent Canada to the CBR250R TouringGlobe world. Unfortunately, I found out that Canada was one of the few countries featured as part of the tour to yet be added to the animation.

As a mindless diversion to accompany your morning coffee, I recommend visiting the TouringGlobe site. If nothing else, it will take your mind off the reality of another Canadian winter for a few precious minutes.