logo piaggio wide
Travel

WIDE REWIND
BY 01/15

ALASKA-ARGENTINA WITH A MOTO GUZZI V7
FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHE GUEVARA

DUTCHMAN PAUL VAN HOOF’S TRIP HAS BECOME A BOOK: “THE MAN ON A SADDLE”: 60,000 KILOMETRES OF FREEDOM ON A LEGENDARY BIKE

On his website – Guzzi Galore – journalist/reporter, traveller and writer Paul van Hoof (1964) says: “When I left Holland in May 2005, I had 12,000 euro in my pocket, enough for a year’s trip. In the end I travelled for three years, recounting my adventures on my website, and many people helped me.” Now his three-year trip from Dead Horse (Alaska) to Ushuaia (Argentina) has been turned into a book, recently published, entitled “The Man on a Saddle”, with the subtitle: “60,000 km of freedom”. His co-star is Guus, a vintage Moto Guzzi V7 from 1975, which took Paul along astonishing roads, in the footsteps of Che Guevara, through Argentine deserts and Bolivian mountains, in the most extreme conditions.

Legendary Moto Guzzi V7 arrives in Ushuaia
Back home and having finished his book, over the last few months Paul has been busy promoting his oeuvre in bookstores and interviews. Newspaper and magazine reviews have been flattering: “The Moto Guzzi V7… is the star of one of the best travel books of the last few years… although it recounts the adventures of Paul van Hoof and his bike, it reads more like a novel,” they say.

QUEEN OF THE ROAD

A three-year trip, “the best years of my life,” says Paul, who speaks with great affection for his travel companion, his beloved Moto Guzzi V7 (aged 30 when the trip began): “The godmother of all Moto Guzzi bikes, a legend: three years out travelling, 60,000 km and not a single mechanical problem; she’s the queen of the road.”

VIDEOS BEFORE THE GO-PRO AGE

Paul also made some videos of his trip. “Poor quality?” he writes. “Possibly. These films were shot well before the GoPro age. With a 100 dollar video camera I always have with me.” They’ve been seen by tens of thousands of followers. Here’s a selection.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA

Dutch Moto Guzzi V7 in La Paz

SAN VICENTE, BOLIVIA

Legendary Moto Guzzi V7 is Digging up Butch & Sundance

LA RUTA DE CHE GUEVARA, PART I

Moto Guzzi V7 (the Alaska/Argentina one) revisits Che Guevara, part I

LA RUTA DE CHE GUEVARA, PART II

Moto Guzzi V7 (the Alaska/Argentina one) revisits Che Guevara, part II
SOURCE AND INFO: www.guzzigalore.nl