Around the World In 79 Days
AROUND THE WORLD IN 79 DAYS
With only six months experience riding motorcycles, Ernest O'Gaffney decided "I'd like to see my name in a record book." So he hitched a Cycle Kamp trailer behind his Kawasaki KZ1000 and headed from New York's Empire State Building to the Empire State Building—by way of Europe. the Mid-East, Asia and across the U.S.
He left November 27, 1978 and returned February 15, 1979 in the middle of a snowstorm. It wasn't the only snow he rode through.
`l was in snow from London to Afghanistan; and thereafter mostly just cold. In Russia, with the chill factor, it was equivalent to 60 below zero." he said.
About 60 percent of his riding was on paved roads, including some of the fastest highways in the world through Europe. But the rest included everything.
“There was one road in Turkey composed entirely of eightto ten-inch boulders. Big semis were parked all along the way with broken axles and frames. I could only go five miles at a stretch before stopping in complete exhaustion.”
O'Gaffney claims to be the first American to enter China by road since 1948. and the first ever on a motorcycle. After entering. however, the Chinese had a change of heart and ordered him to turn around and leave. He also says he's the first American to enter Burma by road since 1954.
Exactly how far O'Gaffney rode isn’t known because his odometer broke along the way. He estimates land mileage at 35.000. Additional mileage accumulated as the rig was shipped over oceans. With the trip finished. O'Gaffney filed for seven new world records with the publishers of “The Guiness Book of Records.”
“If it weren't for the political troubles in Iran.” he said, “I could have done it in 15 days less.”
