Dogpatch and The Hub

The Hub is a "motorcycle friendly" motel perched atop a mountain north
of Jasper. It arose in 2005 from fragments of the strange demise of
Dogpatch USA. That tale is too long to relate here so I refer you to
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA
It is worth reading: dreams, imagination, ambition, overreach, folly,
greed, lawsuits, near decapitation -- better than a special double
Sunday edition of L'il Abner.

To Jasper and beyond

Today we got out of the heat and out of the flat. Riding from
Arkadelphia to Jasper was our first experience of the Arkansas
mountains, crossing both the Ouachitas and the Ozarks. There are so
many curves that a stretch of straight road comes as a surprising
novelty. At a local burger joint of renown we met a sport bike rider
from College Station -- this is biker country.
A bit of rain and lightning entertained us on the way into Jasper,
where we planned to stay. But the available accommodations were Early
Phillip Morris, so we rode on to "Dogpatch" and The Hub.

Arkadelphia AR

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=34.180237,-93.072677%20%28100%20Crystal%20Palace%20Dr,%20Arkadelphia,%20AR%2071923,%20USA%29

9 hours after leaving Houston, 6 hours in the saddle, 386 miles, 63
mph, 98 degrees. Time for some comfort.

Leigh Anderson
Sent from my iPhone

Arkansas

Click http://tayaratravels.blogspot.com/search/label/2011-06 to see all of this trip

We are leaving tomorrow on our bikes for Arkansas, crossing the Ouchita's twice and the Ozarks four times.

SaddleSore 1000 summary

I covered 1060 miles in 14.5 moving hours (on the bike), plus stops, for a total of about 17.5 hours start to finish. Left the starting point (US288 & Beltway 8) about 5.30am, returning about 11pm. A dozen or so riders participated, but it was not a group ride. We left singly and rode our own pace, and I saw only a couple of other SS1000 riders at fuel stops. The route was well chosen with roughly half at speed limit 70mph and half at 80mph (it rises to the West Texas level a little past Kerville). It was all I10, except for a bypass around San Antonio, generally clear riding with little traffic, and we rode facing away from the Sun, coming and going.