Everyone got to bed fairly reasonably Friday night. Three of us had been on bikes pretty much all day Thursday and Friday and Flying W and Terryth all day Friday as well. We had a great breakfast at the Spoke Restaurant at the Hub, which has great food by the way! Randall and Debbie a simply two of the finest people on the planet. Thoughtful, considerate and helpful. I cannot say enough kind words for our hosts at the Hub and unequivocally recommend them, if you decided to hangout in the Jasper area. The motel is certainly no Hilton, and it's not as pricey as a Hilton either. It certainly was clean and comfortable for our dispositions.
This is from 0830 hours Saturday at the Conoco Station in Jasper. WFOPete showed up to take Terryth on a more dirt intensive ride then what I had planned. He signed autographs, passed out free DirtHogs stickers and . . . . No, No, No . . . Just kidding. It was nice to meet Pete and him volunteering his time and effort to give the group members an experience more in line with their expectations was kind of him and congruent with his reputation among the dual sport riders here in Arkansas. My thanks to him again for doing this for Terryth.
This is WFOPete in the Orange Jacket, Flying W in the Red and White jacket and Carbide in the Black. Flying W and Carbide ran out to Push Mountain Road with some friends of Carbide and did a Triple Digit Tarmac, Peg Scrapping Tour of the Ozark with an Honda RC 51 and an Aprilia RSV and represented the Super Tenere community very well.
This photo has the above three and Yours Truly on the left in Flourescent Green Jacket and Terryth in the Flourescent Green JumpSuit with Karson's Better Half on the far right edge at the Conoco in Jasper discussing today's plan of attack.
We are getting ready to depart on our various journeys from the Jasper Conoco. One interesting fact to note about this photo is Flying W was the only rider to show up on the slower Blue colored Super Tenere. Everyone else was on Black.
So Karson, the Better Half and Yours Truly head out for a wonder overlook for the Buffalo River Valley. Initially there were some concerns about the quality of the foliage, but by Saturday morning the Colors were bursting from the seams. The weather was absolutely fantastic with highs in the mid 70's and not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect weekend if there ever was one. We were literally bathed all day in a kalidescope of natural multichromatic glory. One thing that was so great about this gathering is that everyone participated in activities that were congruent with their desires and expectations. The more dirt oriented, the tarmac rippers and the flower sniffing touring types. I'm certainly in the latter group more than any other, but I think it demonstrates the versatility of this machine. If we were all on R1's there wouldn't be much question about what we would be doing.
The Buffalo River Valley
Yours Truly at the Overlook
Next we tooled down to Hwy 7 to an overlook over the Big Piney Creek Valley, just as gorgeous as the day is long.
Here is a group photo at the same overlook.
We were headed down next for our extended time on dirt roads. Having personally verified the route in segments over the past week we were sure there would be little or no problems with Karson being two up and there wasn't. The roads here are predominately rock bottom with some gravel. Very little in the way of mud, but some occasionally and the occasional red clay. So it was off to the Big Piney Overlook we go. The Big Piney is making a huge oxbow in the back ground though than can be a little difficult to discern.
Karson and Yours Truly at the Big Piney Overlook
After Big Piney overlook we had an extended dirt road tour that basically followed a ridgeline that provides a thermocline and a small climate difference between the Arkansas River Valley ( warmer and more humid) and the Ozarks ( cooler and slightly less humid). The views here along the ride over the river valley was awesome. In particular at Pilot Knob Vista had some awesome views. We stopped, but somehow I forgot to take pictures. This portion of the ride was our longest dirt road section being about 45 miles total. It was simply gorgeous. While I was at the Hub a guy named Johnny told me of a swing Bridge at Catalpa and sure enough we stumbled upon it. Here's some photo s of us hanging out on the swinging bridge over the Mulberry River.
Karson and the Better Half
Myself and Karson ( Those teenagers can teach you something if you listen to them!)
Karson contemplating the Mulberry River
Next up our dining destination the legendary Oark General Store and Cafe since 1890. Highly recommend the Buttermilk Pie which doesn't taste at all like buttermilk ( which I detest)
We headed out to Turner's Bend on the Mulberry to get some Premium fuel and came across a bad wreck involving a Porsche Panamera right by Byrd's Adventure Center. Here's stock photo of the Panamera
After Filling Up at Turner's Bend, we headed back to Boxley Valley and the Elk Herd was putting on a Show! Traffic was stopped and backed up for almost a mile going down 43. People running across the road. It was a zoo. We got a quick photo of this small buck.
From there we made it back to the Hub for dinner and war stories. It was a really great time. I'm sure that some others have some more photos to post up. I hope everyone has traveled home safe from the Hub to home today. Thanks again to everybody! ::026::
