St. Jo - Nocona, Texas Loop
Sunday, 11/04/07
218 Miles
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This was just a little day trip to get out and ride a bit to keep the battery charged. The map above is the total loop I rode. I left my house in Willow Park about 11: AM. You can modify the route from where you start, but most people in the Metroplex should be able to intersect this route no later than Decatur. I decided to ride north this time after reading an article in 'Ride Texas' magazine. I had never ridden in this part of Texas because I always go southwest to the more known hilly part of Texas.
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Since this is a long, narrow loop, I've broken the map down into three parts which shows the route in more detail. The one above is the first third and the ones below are the middle and final thirds.
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This is the middle third of the route.
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And finally, this is the final third of the route.
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Here's my bike ready to go. I loaded the route in my Garmin since I'm not familiar with these roads.
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Another shot of my bike at my house. As you can see, I live out in the country, so no need for me to go toward Fort Worth. That's the reason my map starting point may look 'out of the way' for those in the Metroplex.
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This is the Wise County courthouse in Decatur. It was completed in 1896 for a total cost of $110,000. I'd like to build a house simialr to this if I could do it for that price.
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This is the town square of St. Jo. You can tell this town used to have big public gatherings because of the way the square is layed out. The Chisholm Trail Mercantile store is a motorcycle store. It seems like a strange location for this type of store, but alot of bikers ride here just to look around and buy something. They are moving the store to Nocona after the first of the year. Nocona is a little larger town, but not much.
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This is a little closer look. I didn't go in. Couldn't think of anything I might need.
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I zoomed in on one of the buildings to show how old this place is.
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Here's the bank. I was going to open an accout, but they were closed.
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Here's my bike in St. Jo. There were several bikes in town, but I was the only non-Harley. I don't know why it seems the Harley riders ride so much more than the others. I only saw one other touring bike the whole trip.
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This was taken just north of St. Jo. This is some pretty country, but it's really not as good as going southwest from the DFW area.
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This is the Community Center in Illinois Bend. I'm not sure that it's used anymore. There was no one around. I understand that it got its name because it was settled by a small group of families moved there from "guess" - Illinois. Don't know about the 'bend' part, unless it has something to do with the Red River.
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This is the Montague County courthouse in Montague. It was built in 1913 and not quite as neat looking as the one in Decatur.
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Just across the street in the Post Office. As you can see, Montague is not a very large town. This is the last photo I took. The rest of the ride I had ridden before so I didn't stop. Plus I wanted to get home in time to watch the undefeated clash between the Colts and the Patriots at 3:00.
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