The Longest Ride: My Ten-Year 500,000 Mile Motorcycle Journey

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!!!!!!!!

Words can not give this book justice. I bought it to read about a ride and I was given an in-depth geography and political lesson. This is a fun book but with tremendous insight and humor. One of the few books about motorcycle travel I could not put down. It is real and revealing not only about the man but the peoples and human nature of the world. If you can't take a trip like this, this is one book you can read and almost experience the ride yourself. I plan to buy two more, one for friends to read and one for my college Library. This book will always be on my personal bookshelf, Thank you Emilio Scotto.

This book is an absolute must read for any serious motorcycle adventure rider. It is a testament to one man's courage and determination to follow your dream whatever it may be.

By the end of the "Introduction" I was hooked. I expected the intro to aquaint me with the author and define the beginning of his trip and the reasons for it. I could not have been more in error. By the time I completed these beginning pages I was convinced he'd never make it. Even if you have never even seen a motorcycle, you will be enthralled by this story. Amazing courage, a guardian angel, and uncommon good luck are a part of each paragraph. Don't miss this great story.

This is the best book on motorcycle adventure travel I have read so far. It's about this crazy Argentinian who sets out to ride around the world on an 1100 GoldWing (!), with hardly any riding skills, and even less mechanical skills. He starts out carrying "everything" (up to and including full scuba gear!), but gets robbed of it all after a few days. The rest of us would have gone back home, but Scotto continues his journey with $53 or so in his pocket, no gear, but an impressive ability to charm his way to free meals, beds (with and without company) and gas money. Scotto is a great story-teller, and I easily forgive him the spices I am sure he must have sprinkled over his stories. Some of you may remember a "teaser" in the 2005 edition of Cycle World Adventures magazine, where he more or less carried the GoldWing through the jungle in Guinea, West Africa.