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Sjaak Lucassen (born October 2, 1961) is a Dutch long-distance motorcycle rider.

Travels

Between 1995 and 1998 he traveled 160,000 kilometres (99,000 mi) on a Honda Fireblade and then between 2001 and 2006 he traveled 250,000 kilometres (160,000 mi) around the world on a Yamaha YZF-R1, nicknamed Florentina. One journalist deemed the Yamaha sportbike to be "by its nature" inappropriate for the journey's demands of "off-road traveling, desert and deep water crossing". His solo travels of the 2000s are documented in the film Sjaak the World and the book Life on 2 wheels written by Lucassen. A 16,000-kilometre (9,900 mi) trip from Florida to Alaska with German long-distance rider Doris Wiedemann beginning January 2009 was documented in her 2010 book, Winter Ride to Alaska: By Motorcycle from Florida to the Shore of the Arctic Ocean. In March–April 2013, Lucassen rode from Barrow, Alaska to Key West, Florida, starting with traversal over sea ice and frozen tundra from Barrow to Nuiqsut, towing a sledge part way.

In a 2012 interview for the Royal Dutch Touring Club, Lucassen reckoned he had spent ten years of his life journeying in the saddle of a motorcycle.

Around 2015, Sjaak announced he planned to make another harrowing trip on a Yamaha YZF-R1, this time a custom-built version, nicknamed aRctic1. He planned to ride his R1 to the North Pole, starting from Anchorage, Alaska. Currently he is in the process of building his custom R1, including air suspension, by which he can raise and lower the bike some 10 inches, a 330mm front tyre from Avon and an even wider fully custom made rear tyre. Also the aRctic1 carries an onboard compressor for inflating and deflating the tyres.

Documentation

Books and film

• Lucassen, Sjaak (2010). Leven op 2 wielen [Life on 2 wheels] (in Dutch). ISBN 9789491153013.
• Lucassen, Sjaak; Brown, Andy (Translator) (October 15, 2013). Thiesen-Lucassen, Gardie (ed.). Life on 2 wheels (Part 1 out of 3, Europe and Africa) (Kindle ed.). ASIN B00FXQB6WW. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
• Brandon Green, Director/Director of Photography, Editor, Writer; Sjaak Lucassen, Executive Producer, Camera (2010). Sjaak the World (DVD) (Motion picture). Kansas City, Kansas: Evergreen Images. – Nominated best documentary feature at Black Hills film festival 2011

Speaking

Lucassen was an invited speaker at the German Globetrotter Club's 2009 and 2013 Globetrottertreffen rallies in Austria.

Notes

1. ^ Lucassen, Sjaak, "About R1-Sjaak", Official website, retrieved 2013-11-01
2. Cycle World 2004.
3. ^ Lucassen 2012, p. 71.
4. Ferraresi 2005.
5. Top Speed 2013.
6. BMW MOA 2009.
7. Wiedemann 2010.
8. Richardsen 2013.
9. Royal Dutch Touring Club 2013.
10. "Sjaak Lucassen Planning To Ride To The North Pole". advrider.com. 15 July 2020.
11. Nomad, Mad or (19 March 2020). "Mad or Nomad: Sjaak Lucassen, his R1 and the North Pole". www.madornomad.com.
12. Black Hills Film Festival 2011.
13. German Globetrotter Club 2012.
14. German Globetrotter Club 2013.

References

• Lucassen, Sjaak (August 2012), "Beroep: wereldreiziger" [Job: world traveler], Promotor (in Dutch), Royal Dutch Touring Club: 70–72 (cover story), retrieved 2013-05-26
• "DVD Review: 'Sjaak the World' by Sjaak Lucassen", Overland Magazine, 12 July 2012
• 2011 BLACK HILLS FILM FESTIVAL NOMINEES, Hill City, South Dakota: Black Hills Film Festival, May 2011, retrieved 2013-05-26
• "Roundup: Ups and Downs", Cycle World: 30, August 2004, UP to Sjaak Lucassen...the 43 year old Dutchman has been wandering the world on his 2001 Yamaha
• Ferraresi, Michael (March 26, 2005), "Motorcyclist visits Valley on world trip", The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Lucassen, 43, has traveled more than 125,000 miles on his Yamaha R1, nicknamed Florentina, since March 2001. He has not been home to the Netherlands since and will not return until 2006.
• Wiedemann, Doris (2010), Winterreise nach Alaska: Mit dem Motorrad von Florida bis zur Eismeerküste [Winter Ride to Alaska: By Motorcycle from Florida to the Shore of the Arctic Ocean] (in German) (First ed.), Moby Dick, ISBN 978-3768853101
• Arctic circle beckons for Doris Wiedemann, BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, February 27, 2009, archived from the original on February 13, 2010
• Richardsen, Jeff (March 24, 2013), "Motorcyclist Sjaak Lucassen begins epic Alaska to Florida journey", Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska
• "R1-Sjaak gaat het poolijs op (R1-Sjaak goes on the polar ice)", ANWB Motor news (in Dutch), Royal Dutch Touring Club, January 2, 2013
• Davidson, Andy (23 January 2013), "The rules: Sports bike adventure travel", Motor Cycle News, retrieved 2013-11-04
• Rapp, Jerry (September 28, 2010), "The World Is In for a Sjaak: Adventurist/filmmaker claims Kansas City as second home", Review, Kansas City, Missouri, archived from the original on April 29, 2011
• Maxx Biker (March 10, 2009), Around The World On A Yamaha R1, Top Speed, he most impressive part about the ambitious rider's achievement is ... the Yamaha YZF-R1, a supersports motorcycle which, by its nature, has nothing to do with off-road traveling, desert and deep water crossing
• "Rueckblick" [Looking back], Globetrottertreffen Schwarzach website (in German), German Globetrotter Club, c. 2012, archived from the original on 2013-11-05, retrieved 2013-11-04
• 2013 Globetrottertreffen program (in German), German Globetrotter Club, August 4, 2013, archived from the original on April 17, 2014, retrieved 2013-11-05

External links

• Official website
• Sjaak Lucassen Around The World on YouTube from Clymer Manuals
• Sjaak Lucassen at IMDb

• Long-distance motorcycle riders
• 1961 births
• Dutch motorsport people
• People from Boxmeer
• Sportspeople from North Brabant
• Motorcycle touring writers
• Living people
• 20th-century Dutch people