 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | For his eighth birthday, Emilio Scotto received a World Atlas. Promptly he announced his plan to make a route that would pass through all the countries of the world, a route he named BLUE ROAD ONE. When, some years later, he found himself astride a black 1100 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle, Blue Road One beckoned, and Scotto set off on a journey that would last more than a decade, take him virtually everywhere in the world, and land him in the Guinness Book of World Records. This is his story, a thrill ride that begins in his native Argentina, crosses Panama in the tumultuous time of Noriega, Mexico in the midst of an earthquake, and finds him broke in L.A. where, in a chance meeting, Muhammad Ali gives him fifty dollars and a signed book. Breaching the Iron Curtain, crossing the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie, being blessed by the Pope, set upon by cannibals in Sierra Leone, fleeing Somalia on a freighter, Scotto’s adventures would be unbelievable if they weren’t true. His tale of touring the world from Tunisia to Turkey, Petra to Afghanistan, Yugoslavia to Singapore, traveling miles enough to take him to the moon and back, is unlike any ever told. Come along, for the ride of a lifetime. |
Average Customer Rating:   ARE YOU KIDDING?????? Emilio sets out to ride around the world in every direction possible for 500,000 miles and 10 years and then comes back alive to write about it and share this INSANE journey and you cannot but give the guy 5 stars just for having it be unbelievable!!!!
BUT it is more than that.
Well Written!!!!!!!!
Entertaining!!!!!!!
But most of all he does all of this having everything STOLEN from him within the first 3 days of his journey!!!
It has to be true or why would every picture in the book from the jungle to the desert have him wearing sneakers and socks!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought Ted Simon and Glen Heggstad and Helge Pedersen were tough.....
Well they are tough!!!!!!
The three toughest guys I know but never had the pleasure to meet in person..........
BUT THIS GUY EMILIO SCOTTO IS NOT TOUGH he is superhuman with a massive touch of insanity!!!!!
That is what makes this book one of the best ever written.
Along with Skeletons on the Zahara.....The Long Walk........and Island of the Lost and now The Longest Ride......
There we have the 4 books representing the toughness of the human body on display....IN GRAND FASHION
He has no money and people give him things along the way...Pope John Paul II receives him and blesses him in person. The greatest....Muhammad Ali gives him money and his words of inspiration and BUZZ ALDRIN says..."My Friend Emilio Scotto has taken one of the most fantasitc journeys ever attempted by a human being, short of going to the moon." Who is going to argue with BUZZ??????
I am giving this 25 stars to make up for ANYONE having the guts to give this less then 5 on this site!!!!!!
AND he did all of this on a HONDA GOLD WING!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING!!!!!!!!!
A HONDA GOLD WING WITH SNEAKERS ON!!!!!!!!
I wish I would have know this man when he was doing this and better yet bumped into him along the way I would have been honored to give him a thousand bucks in cash to help him out!!!!!!!! FABULOUS!! What a great opportunity is to be able to own this amazing book.
A jewel from the stories, to the photos, to the learning experience
that this books gives to the reader.
This is one book that I keep reading over and over again.
Also, the perfect gift for this Holidays.
Thank You Emilio for sharing your amazing stories with us.
Great Inspiration This review is written as someone on the way to South America right now, and hopefully around the world, too.
There's a lot to be said about traveling outside of your comfort zone. The excitement is usually high and adventures come from things big and small. Something as simple as ordering a meal in a restaurant from a menu in a language you don't understand, much less the food items, can be exciting for example. Or, be denied entry into the next country but you don't know why. You don't speak their language and they don't speak yours. There are some kind of adventures I can do without.
My inspiration from the book comes from reading about the ability to overcome obstacles. I have periods where I worry about getting stuck someplace, or if I'm prepared enough, or not having enough money. Mr. Scotto proves that you don't need a chase vehicle full of spare parts and a staff of people back home to help you with visas and logistics - you can do it on your own. He also shows that you don't need a bunch of money, either. How many times did Mr. Scotto cross a border into a new country with only $20 in his pocket? I know first-hand that when you're traveling and you need a hand from a stranger, one (or more) will appear.
I enjoyed the chapter where he describes his impressions of the United States. It's interesting to read about your home country through someone else's eyes.
Indeed, the second half of the book certainly seems rushed, and there were many countries I wanted to read about that were completely omitted, but I don't let that detract any stars. I read the book in only two sittings and I've enthusiastically recommended it to my friends.
Some reviewers allege that there are some exaggerations. I have no idea, but there's no denying that Mr. Scotto spent years traveling around the world. All I know is that this book is a great read and I recommend it.
Speedreaders.info Review The Longest Ride: My 10-year 500,000 mile Motorcycle Journey
By Emilio Scotto
Emilio Scotto must be the bravest man on the planet. In 1985, with no credit cards and just $306 in cash in his pocket, the Argentine adventurer climbed aboard his 1980 Honda Goldwing and set out to discover the world. At the end of 10 years and 460,000 miles, Scotto had traveled to 279 countries, twice circling the world.
Scotto's hair-raising adventures started almost immediately, when he was robbed on the third day of his trip in Rio de Janeiro. He would be robbed four more times during the next decade, suffer three major illnesses, was shot at twice, and would be imprisoned six times. Fortunately for those of us who love adventure stories, Scotto also took more than 90,000 photographs and has a way of telling his amazing story in a droll, almost matter of fact way.
"I'm very tired. I suppose the bike is, too. I stop, realizing for the first time that it's totally dark. In fact, it's been dark for some time. I've been going along at a snail's pace, guided by the headlight of the bike. I know I've been moving all day without a break, so I can't have done less than 30 miles. I must be a stone's throw from the border. I look at the speedometer. It only shows 8 miles since I left the asphalt. The cable must be broken. I check the cable. It's intact." Scotto at times exhibits almost superhuman determination to push his Goldwing to places few riders would take a modern adventure bike.
If The Longest Ride has a weakness, it comes in the second half of the book. It almost feels like the editors decided to cut short the author's stories in order to get the book to the printers. It's a shame, because Scotto is by now on his second lap of the globe and is visiting many of the places he missed on his first lap.
Scotto is also blessed with a personality that allows him to make friends easily and on more than one occasion probably saves his life. In fact, the wide variety of people he meets on his travels, everyone from Muhammad Ali to Pope John Paul II (who blesses both the motorcyclist and his Honda) add to his almost incredible story. It is the kind of tale that will keep you up late into the night, reading of a brave man who wouldn't let his fears or third-world bureaucracy stand in the way of seeing every part of the world.
Copyright 2009, Kevin Clemens (sppedreaders.info)
Living a dream Most of us can only dream about this level of adventure. WE maybe don't hope for the same dangers, but a little spice in one's travels keeps things real. In this book Emilio does a great job of bringing us along on his journey. Yes, it makes me jealous, but also inspires. If you do have dreams to travel around the world on a moto, this is one of the must read books to not only fill the time until your big adventure, but also to inspire, prepare, and help you develop a punch list of places to see and things to do. Fun read! |  |
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