Sjaak Lucassen


Sjaak Lucassen is a Dutch long-distance motorcycle rider.

Travels

Between 1995 and 1998 he traveled on a Honda Fireblade and then between 2001 and 2006 he traveled around the world on a Yamaha YZF-R1. 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 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.

Documentation

Books and film

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