Detours: Life, Death, and Divorce on the Road to Sturgis

By Richard La Plante

Book Overview

Author Richard La Plante had always wanted to ride cross-country to Sturgis, South Dakota. To the famous motorcycle rally that began as a small gathering of the Jack Pine Gypsies MC in 1938 and grew to become the Mecca for the American motorcyclist. But, by the age of fifty-three, still bruised from a divorce, newly remarried and a father for the first time, he thought the trip was destined to remain an armchair fantasy. Then came the summer of 1999. Again his wife was pregnant-with a second child. The family was temporarily homeless, he was suffering from writer's block, but a Big Dog motorcycle that he had been designing by phone was finished and ready to ship. With no place to live, a new wife and child, another baby on the way, a blank computer screen, a teetering bank balance, a twenty-five thousand dollar motorcycle ready for delivery, and a mind that felt parboiled, La Plante made a decision. Escape. Out of the armchair and into the saddle. On a borrowed bike, he set off for the Black Hills of Dakota. Waiting at the end of the ride was a week-long party, a cast of outrageous characters, a sea of chrome, steel, and rock'n'roll, and his Big Dog motorcycle. But the real story is the miles in between. Moments of crazed introspection while stranded beneath a highway underpass in Iowa waiting for the floods to stop, the sheer euphoria of watching the sunrise in the mirror with the wind in his face and the bike roaring west, the anguish of being hopelessly lost on the wrong side of Chicago, all add up to the metaphor of a life's journey. Told in La Plante's humorous and self-deprecating style, Detours is a wild ride, all the way home.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765303248
• ISBN13: 9780765303240
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Got "detoured" and had a good time

I purchased Richard La Plante's other book, "Hog Wild" after reading this book, and this book is a much better read. Chapter after chapter of a rider's diary on the road. Not too many backflash memories, but what is mentioned, seems to flow well with the moment in the roadtrip. I recommend this book for "off-season" riders, or anyone who wishes they could travel the roadways via motorcycle. You can almost feel the wind as you read.

DETOURS: Never been so happy to get so lost

It's truly special how La Plante somehow takes one's own gritty reality of life, death and divorce, sends them off on a bike ride through time, space and climates, and ends up with a journey full of humor, sensitivity, hope and dreams. This book is a vacation for the soul complete with pit-stops for laughter, tears, and reflection. Sure would love to let loose and really take such a trip but until then, I'll take my daily dose of Detours to remind me to keep the perspective by getting lost.PS... I'm off to Ebay to buy a bike!

LIFE IS BUT A FRACTION OF A SPLIT SECOND...LIVE IT!

INCREDIBLY AWESOME!! LaPlante has captured the very essence of what we all yearn for....IT! A search into the mirror for the true meaning of hardaches, joy, love, honesty, fellowship and sincere happiness. One doesn't need to be a motorcycle enthusiast to savor the rewards this adventure will salivate. His humorous style will leave you giddy but the real story lies between the Hamptons of New York and the hallowed ground of the Black Hills of South Dakota. His wit and outrageous cast of characters makes this wild ride a must read, all the way home. This true exploration will leave a reflection in the mirror. Destined to end up a classic!

Touching and Very Entertaining

A man comes to terms with his life's decisions and puts them into perspective during his lone bike trip from East Hampton, NY, to Sturgis, South Dakota. Honest and without pretention, it will make you want to take a break from daily routine to prioritize and appreciate what we all take for granted. You do not need to be into motorcycles to enjoy this gem of a book.

well-written morality tale

Author Richard la Plante wanted to once live his American dream of attending the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. However, the now fiftyish Richard knew his time to consummate his dream apparently passed and he always would be a couch potato wondering what he missed. With a young child and a pregnant wife and now fifty-three, Richard faced with economic worries and writer's block decided it is time to live his fantasy. Borrowing a bike, he begins his odyssey.IN DETOURS: LIFE, DEATH, AND DIVORCE ON THE ROAD TO STURGIS, Richard, in his autobiography, concentrates mostly on the trek to the Dakotas, which serves as an allegory to life's journey from birth to death. This is a strong but quite different type of autobiography. Though some will say the author ignored his responsibilities to his family with this risky venture, many will agree this book is worth reading not only for the well-written morality tale, but also for encouraging individuals to sing "My Way".Harriet Klausner