One of the least tiring aspects of a long journey with a loaded bicycle
is certainly talking about it with your Mom when you're back home.
Depending on whom
you talk with, a portrait
of Claude Marthaler can take many forms. He may be described by his family,
his friends, and by the people who met him where he belongs: on the roads
of the world, awaiting the next encounter that will make him richer.Everyone who met him has been and is still encouraged to send images, news and e-mails to tell the story of their deep encounter with this two-wheeled enchantor. You can find wonderful examples of these encounters of the Yak type in the first Web site put up by Redfish. If you would like to see more of it, please contact me directly for more contributions. Text, photos (classic or digital), postcards, memorabilia, all is welcome to help ever more people share the Yak's adventure.
Claude's articles, stories and e-mails show real talent at storytelling, information gathering and enven poetry. This material that provided him with food and equipment for quite some time is being collected here for your enjoyment.
When he came back in Geneva (June 16, 2001), the Yak began working on his book, articles and slideshows. He presented selected images of his huge journey from April to June, 2002. That is also the time when he flew to Ladakh for a few weeks of pedaling. As he came back in September, he resumed his slideshows with Explora. That second series kept him busy until June this year. In the meantime, the book Songwheels was published in French (April, 2002) and German (October, 2002).
Claude took his new bicycle to Bolivia on July 8, 2003 and plans to be back in Geneva on October 8.