Something I thought I’d share with my FTE buddies….

Back on January 8th I spent the day at the International Motorcycle show in Atlanta. There was lots to see. It was neat to get to see one of Valentino Rossi’s Moto GP bikes from last season.

But, as neat as that was, it wasn’t the most interesting thing I saw.
I met a guy name Sjaak Lucassen, from The Netherlands. Sjaak (pronounced “shock”) has been riding all over the world for the last three years. He has been all through Europe, Russia, Africa, across the Sahara, all over South America, through jungles, deserts and mountains. Across North America, up to Alaska, this guy has been everywhere! The amazing part: he has done it all on a 2001 Yamaha YZF R1!

Sjaak had his bike in a small booth sponsored by Clymer. I talked to him for about a half hour.
I asked him many questions and found he generally sleeps in his tent, at truck stops, filling stations, parking lots, anywhere he is allowed to – sometimes just on the side of the road.
I gave Sjaak my phone number and told him if he ever passed through Birmingham he didn’t have to sleep on the side of the road – he’d be welcome at our house.
This past Sunday, March 6th, my phone rang. It was Sjaak calling from Missouri. He was heading to Daytona and was wondering if he could take advantage of my offer of a bed and a place to shower. I was happy to tell him yes.
We planned to meet at an Exxon station near my house. Sjaak arrived in Trussville at 6 pm Monday evening in the middle of a MAJOR thunderstorm. It was raining hard. Matter of fact, as he pulled into the parking lot, lightning struck nearby and all the power went off. “What a welcome” I thought!
He followed me the 6 miles to my house then rolled into my dry, inviting basement garage for the start of what was to be a wonderful 36 hours.
Way more than I could tell here.

Sjaak’s English was good so communicating was no problem. We ate, talked, looked at pictures, I asked questions and he answered. I sat on his bike and imagined – well TRIED to imagine - where all it had been. I looked underneath knowing I was looking at a combination of Sahara sand, mud from the Congo and Bolivia, and gray silt from Alaska.

GOOD GRIEF if this bike could talk !!

125,000 miles so far – and lots more yet to come based on his plans.
Tuesday we ordered him a new digital camera and arranged to have it shipped to someone else who has befriended him (in Texas).
Tuesday night we emptied the left side of his home-made storage bins and fabricated a new bracket to securely hold an extra 12 battery so he could charge it while riding and use it to power the inverter for his laptop computer at night.
Wednesday morning we drank some coffee and he prepared to leave. He had a place for everything and everything in its place.

I left for work and he left for the world.

As a show of thanks, Sjaak gave me a CD with about 150-200 pics and about 15 short video clips. So many places for one man to visit. It is truly amazing stuff for me to look at.
I doubt I’ll ever see Sjaak again. Maybe I will, but probably not.
Sjaak plans to ship his bike from Los Angeles to Russia in about 3 weeks. Russia, Mongolia, China, Middle East, former Russian republics, who knows where else, then back home to the Netherlands in about a year.

I’m sure Sjaak was glad to have somebody provide a warm bed for two nights and a place to get stuff done during the day.

BUt, after all is said and done, he did me the favor really.

If you want to see little more: www.R1goesextreme.com

It helps if you speak Dutch.

 

Hoe het gaat? (How's it going?)

~About the only 'Dutch" that I know, really...
(Pronounced "Who Het Got?")

Congatulations! It's rare to meet someone of that caliber, and it must have been a fantastic experience... I've corresponded with a few Dutch people online several years ago, and always found them inspirational in many ways.

Lucky you!


~Wolf

 

Brian, you're truly a most generous and genuine guy. While some folks may just tell Sjaak to get a job, you opened up your home and your heart to him. It's good that there are a few people like Sjaak out there that are bold enough to take on such a great adventure and share what most of us can only fantasize about.

Scott

 

"He said, 'I ate the last mango in Paris,
Took the last plane out of Saigon,
took the first fast boat to China,
and Jimmy, there's still so much to be done.'"

---
Jimmy Buffet, Last Mango in Paris

I met a Danish guy in Sri Lanka who could tell the most amazing stories of travel; to living with headhunters, adopted by a Filipino tribe, eskimos, achaeology finds and the like, and every time I challenged him he had photographic proof.

Good on ya for hosting this guy. You should visit him some time...I've never been turned down by any European I've traded addys with.

For any of you, especially the younger guys...if there's a youth hostel within decent reach, you ought to go hang there for a few days. It could really open your eyes to the world, and it's cheap!

 

a few years back, i spent almost 2 months living with a missionary that has been to the Philipines, all over Russia, Asia, what an experience that was, to jsut hear his stories, what he's experienced, what he's done, and to just learn from him, i'll never forget that. it sure made me a better person and id love to say more, but dont want to get flamed for talking about God or anything, so i'll leave it at that, if you wanna know more, just let me know.