Product Description

MI MOTO FIDEL: MOTORCYCLING THROUGH CASTRO'S CUBA is a unique, exhil-arating solo adventure into Cuba astride a cherry-red, 1000cc BMW Paris-Dakar motorcycle. Christopher Baker's moto journey took three months, sparking a love affair with the island and giving him instant entree to a people deprived of - and obsessed with - motorized wheels, especially ones covered by chrome. "Cubans rarely betray a sense of astonishment," he writes in Mi Moto Fidel. "Their lives are so topsy-turvy, there's not much that can surprise them anymore. But the motorbike held them spellbound. With its gloss-red tubular steel frame and armor plating designed to protect the moto from a rhino stampede, the Paris-Dakar was unlike anything ever seen. You'd think I'd landed in a flying saucer." With this opening, Baker met a tremendous variety of Cubans - tobacco growers and hookers, fishermen and santeros, soldiers and dissidents, teachers and shopkeepers - in every corner of the island. He describes the encounters with humor and insight, delves into history and politics, and from his singular vantage presents a close-up look at the island's towns, cities, and landscapes. "The soft texture of Cuba and the microwave heat got to me. It felt intoxicating. Just me and the bike purring steadily along a wide-open road, dipping and rising beneath a cerulean sky."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384960 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mi Moto Fidel, Christopher Baker's intriguing account of his three-month romp through Cuba on a fire-engine red motorcycle is perhaps the most thorough portrait of this faded Communist country to date. Baker leaves no stone unturned as he revisits Ernest Hemingway's haunts in Havana, checks out a secret cave in the foothills of the sierras that once served as Che Guevara's command post during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and sips motojos at a thatched-roofed beach bar on Playa Los Pinos. On this exhaustive journey, our leather-clad "yanqui" interacts with a myriad of characters from artists to farmers to fisherman to prostitutes and engages in lively discussions on everything from politics, sex, cigars and, of course, on the ageing revolutionary himself, Fidel Castro. Baker effectively captures the essence of the Cuban people--primarily their generosity and resilient spirit and his various dalliances with beautiful habaneras (Daisy, Sonia, Juanita to name a few) will pique readers' interest (men's more than women's, perhaps). By the time Baker winds up back in Havana he has covered some 7,000 miles on his cherished bike. After reading Mi Moto Fidel, you'll no doubt be inspired to hit the road. --Jill Fergus

Customer Reviews

poor light reading
I did not enjoy this book particularly as I found it did concentrate a little too much on Baker's libido rather than his journey. His powers of description are weak too, especially for a journalist. So much of the descriptive narrative, when it comes in waves is rather predictable. It was the author's personality that shone through to spoil this book... He does not really travel with an open mind, his dealing with the people he comes across on his travels shows this. Consequently he does not seem to be hugely beneficial from those peoples generosity.
It is a shame, otherwise it could have been a decent read, in my opinion. The political and social commentary come as a light relief from the author's testosterone driven riding. I do think this is a mid life crisis book, so as a young and not terribly macho man it's not for me. In any case, i urge you to wait for the paperback.

Please read Chasing Che for a more sophisticated read with a latin bike flavour, or Jupiter's travels for the definitive bike travelling book. Although If this book was up your street you might enjoy Richard La Plant's Hog Fever.

Mixed feelings
As I say in the title I have mixed feelings about this book. The descriptions of the country and the people are good, but the underlying theme of the book appears to be how many women the author can sleep with on his way around cuba. I agree with the previous reviewer that this is a shame as it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the book. At times the author seems to slip into a state of abject whingeing and again this is not necessary. I did keep reading the book until the end but was disappointed overall, despite the authors obvious ability to "paint a picture" of Cuba which is real, when he tries.