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Jonathan Roberts – 24 Year Old Texas Man Tentatively Breaks World Record for Longest Journey on a 50 cc Moped
A man from Texas tentatively broke a Guinness World Record by driving a 50 cc Moped over 10,000 miles. Jonathan Roberts found himself on a mission to fulfill a life-long aspiration of seeing his name in the Guiness Book of World Records by obtaining the longest journey on a 50cc scooter. Beginning in the Pacific NorthWest of the United States of America in Seattle, Washington, he drove southbound to Panama and through the twists and turns of not only dangerous roads, but also inclement weather, language barriers, corrupt authorities and COVID-19 restrictions, he made his arduous journey back up to the United States, marking the conclusion of this Guiness World Record attempt in Florida.
In an interview with Jonathan Roberts, he detailed his original plan explaining his intentions to drive to Buenos Aires, sell the scooter, and fly back to Houston. However this was not possible, and he had to diverge from his original plan saying, “the Columbian customs authorities would not let me in without showing proof that the bike and I were welcome into Ecuador, and Ecuador, although open for tourism, was not granting customs permits for vehicles due to COVID.”
These restrictions due to the pandemic left Jonathan at an impasse. “I made it as far as I could” he says, “I went until the road ended in Yaviza, Panama – the start of the Darien Gap. After this point, all transportation was done via foot or river boats. It was incredible seeing how this part of the world lived.” After spending some time at the Darien Gap Jonathan says he turned around and began his journey back to the United States.
Jonathan says he started planning the trip in the late summer of 2021 after leaving his first company. He had dropped out of college and moved from Michigan to the Bay Area of California to help co-found a health tech company and had been focused on growing that company for the last 5 five years. Although he was incredibly busy those 5 years, in the back of his mind he knew he always wanted to attempt a world record.
In explaining his motivation behind this trip, he divulged his love of being challenged by life. “I always liked to be working on something, so after leaving my company in July, I found myself in need of a new project. Whenever I feel the urge to do something, I try to work on my bucket list and soak up every moment life has to offer. Taking a quick break from start-up life gave me the perfect opportunity to look at where I want my life outside of work to grow. It was in this craving for a challenge that I landed on tackling the challenge to break a world record.”
Pending the acceptance of his application for the Guiness World Record, Jonathan found himself restless, invigorated to travel while waiting to hear if his attempt would be accepted and he could move forward with the logistics of a 10,000 mile Moped trip. Not one to view time waiting as time to waste, Jonathan found himself destined for adventures in Europe, touring nine different countries in the span of a few weeks. It was during this European escapade that Guinness World Records contacted Jonathan, permitting him to attempt the record. The moment he had been waiting for was approaching and Jonathan recalls his unconventional way of going about the next steps, smiling as he confessed his lack of a plan outside of “buying a bike and driving south.” Equipped with a determined mind, dauntless spirit, and haphazard plan, he flew to Seattle to begin the journey of a lifetime.
When asked about the toughest parts of the journey, he said “at first it was just getting used to the bike and trying to make sure I wasn’t going to cause an accident. The bike only goes 30 MPH, so there were quite a few times that I would have to completely full over to let cars pass if there wasn’t a large enough shoulder.”
After he got used to the mechanics of the bike and he became more accustomed to riding it for over eight hours a day, the language barrier in Central America proved the second biggest obstacle to his journey.
“I got burned early” he says, remembering his times on the borders. “The second border I crossed, entering Guatemala, was incredibly confusing. and I didn’t realize how rampant the corruption is, from officials to townspeople, it was like they were conspiring together.” Going into further detail, he explains “I was forced to buy a fake permit and give a cash deposit that would be “refunded” when I left the country. It wasn’t until I reached the El Salvadorian border that I realized they cheated me out of almost $500.”
Overall though, Jonathan contends he has no regrets summarizing his thoughts saying, “I made it back in one piece and broke the record, and those two things alone are more than enough. Although I came close a few times, I never crashed the bike, and besides the border crossings and military checkpoints, I experienced relatively little harassment.”
When asked about what he will do next, Jonathan confesses he ruminated over what next excitement he would embark on, what other records he could break, and where the potential of where opportunities could lead. He recognizes this next adventure will have to wait a little longer as he is staying busy with the details of the launching of his next company. “Truthfully, there’s a lot I want to do and will do, but it’ll have to wait. As I get back into the startup world, I think I’ll be here for the foreseeable future. But if and when I do have the time to do an extensive journey like that again, I know it will be just as rewarding as the last. For now, I’m content with settling in and sticking to finding adventure in the life around me with people, rock climbing, or smaller-scale mountaineering trips.”
Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at bloggerjohnsmith12@gmail.com.