Simon Gandolfi
Old Man On A Bike
I bought this one out of sheer curiosity and what a joy it turned out to be.
Simon Gandolfi, a self-confessed writer and author of mediocre fiction, 73 years old, two heart-attacks behind him, decides to ride a 125cc Honda pizza delivery bike from Veracruz in Mexico, through Central America, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Patagonia, and Chile, to Tierra Del Fuego. Yes, you read that correctly.
I shall not spoil the book by telling you what he gets up to but, it is a truly amazing story.
Gandolfi may consider himself to be an author of so-so fiction but, as a travel writer he is extremely honest, realistic and eminently readable. He takes you every mile with him, on the back of that pizza bike, providing an extreme variant on other such epic journeys.
For those of you reading this (and I hope there are a couple of you, at least) it proves that just because you get older on the outside doesn't mean you get any less daft and reckless on the inside. Like he says, what is he going to do with the remaining years of his life? Sit at home and watch TV?
Simon, you are a bloody superstar!
*** I have yet to acquire it but there is a second book which tells of his subsequent trip from Tierra Del Fuego to New York on the aforementioned pizza bike ***
Simon Gandolfi, a self-confessed writer and author of mediocre fiction, 73 years old, two heart-attacks behind him, decides to ride a 125cc Honda pizza delivery bike from Veracruz in Mexico, through Central America, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Patagonia, and Chile, to Tierra Del Fuego. Yes, you read that correctly.
I shall not spoil the book by telling you what he gets up to but, it is a truly amazing story.
Gandolfi may consider himself to be an author of so-so fiction but, as a travel writer he is extremely honest, realistic and eminently readable. He takes you every mile with him, on the back of that pizza bike, providing an extreme variant on other such epic journeys.
For those of you reading this (and I hope there are a couple of you, at least) it proves that just because you get older on the outside doesn't mean you get any less daft and reckless on the inside. Like he says, what is he going to do with the remaining years of his life? Sit at home and watch TV?
Simon, you are a bloody superstar!
*** I have yet to acquire it but there is a second book which tells of his subsequent trip from Tierra Del Fuego to New York on the aforementioned pizza bike ***
