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SPRING 2020 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 04
Exhaust Note
BY PAUL PELLAND
WATCH VIDEO
Left : Somewhere on Route 66 , happy to have a Yamaha Star Venture TC for company .
Something About a Sunrise
Motorcycle rallies offer more than just large crowds , T-shirt vendors , greasy French fries and porta-potties . A ride across the Kancamagus Highway or a Maine lobster yanked right out of the Atlantic Ocean are both within an hour ’ s ride of Laconia . Warm beaches , great racing and , for most , the first ride of the season , starts in Daytona . While at Americade , you can scoot around Lake Champlain or take a tug-rope ferry to snag a block of cheddar straight from a Vermont cow .
I have been to quite a few , but my favorite rally is Sturgis . The Black Hills , Devil ’ s Tower , Mount Rushmore , Needles Highway , Crazy Horse and so many more incredible sights and roads are all just a tank ’ s ride away . For the last couple of years , Yamaha has invited me to hang out with my bike at its demo tent , kicking tires and telling tall tales .
It is actually a lot of work , and after eight or 10 hours each day on my feet handing
out Longhaulpaul brochures and sharing my million-mile journey for Multiple Sclerosis , I look forward to the relaxing 20-minute ride back to our hotel . In four years of attending the Sturgis Rally , I have yet to venture to the famous Buffalo Chip , watch the races and concerts or even travel down Main Street .
I often try to hit a few of the national parks or attractions on my way to the rally or afterwards , and I have hit most of the big ones at least once . I never get tired of riding through the Badlands National Park , 244,000 acres of colorful rock formations , canyons , towering pinnacles and beautiful spires even teenagers would voluntarily turn off their cell phones to inhale . Although I have been there half a dozen times , I