BOMBTRACK "A JOURNEY BEYOND"

A JOURNEY 

BEYOND 

2015

INTRO 

The word epic is often over used, but when it comes from our friend 

Marc Maurer, who rode from Cologne to the Black Sea and decided 

rather than flying home, he’d ride back … we had to pay attention. 

Marc’s journey is fully justified as epic he left in the middle of May 

for Istanbul, Turkey and the Caucasus mountains. His journey totaled 

5600 km, passing through culturally rich regions of Turkey before 

heading towards the Caucasus. From there he went on to Georgia, 

touching the Azerbaijan boarder, through Armenia and finally reaching 

Iran. Along the way he visited many stunning locations which are 

gathered by two of his photographer friends, Marvin Beranek and 

Joachim Rosenlund, that flew over and kept him company for a few 

days to capture and document those moments that words alone can’t 

describe. These images we are pleased to now share with you in the 

following pages of this lookbook. 

Another point worth to be mentioned is Marc’s daily companion: our 

Beyond. As the most important stage in the development of a new bike 

is its testing and evaluation we knew Marc’s A Journey Beyond would 

be the ideal test to see if all those ideas actually worked out – in this 

case a bike being capable for virtually any adventure you have in mind, 

on road or off it. So we were extremely pleased to hear when Marc had 

returned after almost 3 months of daily riding, the Beyond had passed 

with flying colors. 

“A JOURNEY BEYOND” HAPPENED IN COOPERATION AND WITH SUPPORT OF GLOBETROTTER AUSRUESTUNG, 

APIDURA PACKING, SHIMANO GERMANY / PAUL LANGE, LUPINE LIGHTS, DRIFT CAMERAS AND ALPINA HELMETS. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS JOURNEY PLEASE VISIT: BOMBTRACK.COM/PROJECTS/A-JOURNEY-BEYOND 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015 ›› INTRO PAGE 2 — 3

ISTANBUL 

TR 

ANKARA 

TURKEY

ABZON 

BATUMI 

GEORGIA 

ARMENIA 

IRAN

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015 

PAGE 6 — 7

» 

THE LANDSCAPE IN CAPPADOCIA, 

TURKEY WAS AMAZING, BUT IT WAS JUST 

THE BEGINNING OF BREATHTAKING 

SCENERIES ALONG THE WAY. 

« 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015 PAGE 8 — 9


PAGE 10 — 11


PAGE 12 — 13


PAGE 14 — 15


ISTANBUL 

ANKARA 

T 

TURKEY

GEORGIA 

RABZON 

BATUMI 

ARMENIA 

TIFLIS 

VAYK 

TATEV 

IRAN


PAGE 20 — 21


PAGE 22 — 23

PAGE 24 — 25 

INTERVIEW 

The biggest challenge for a longer 

solo bicycle trip lies in your head. 

You have to spend day after day with 

yourself and your thoughts. Sometimes 

you don‘t even talk to anybody 

for days. 

You really need to be able to enjoy – 

as well as to cope with being alone. 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015 — INTERVIEW

WHERE ARE YOU BASED AND HOW OLD ARE YOU? 

I’m 34 years old and I’m based in Cologne, Germany. 

IS “ISTANBUL — TEHRAN” YOUR FIRST LONG DISTANCE 

BIKE TOUR? 

“Istanbul — Tehran” is my second longer bike trip. In June 

2014 I cycled from Cologne to Istanbul and back again. My 

plan was to fly back to Germany from Istanbul, but when 

I arrived in Istanbul it felt kind of wrong to take the easy 

way home. So I decided to turn around and cycled back to 

Cologne. In the end I rode 6000km, covering 40.000 vertical 

meters, spent 54 days in the saddle and crossed 16 countries, 

kind of crazy for my first bigger trip. 

DID YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PREPARATION FOR THIS TRIP? 

I didn‘t really prepare especially for the trip, but I ride almost 

daily anyway. After a while your body (and legs) get 

used to riding longer distances. The first couple of days you 

might not be able to ride very long distances, but after a 

while you can easily ride 100+ km every day (depending on 

the roads, mountains, heat, etc). The everyday riding is the 

best training there is ... 

Eduard from “Veloküche” Shop in Cologne, is a bike mechanic 

and friend of mine, he gave me some lessons in solving 

minor technical problems. But during my two trips I 

didn’t had any technical problems at all, aside from a puncture 

or two. 

In my opinion, the biggest challenge for a longer solo bicycle 

trip lies in your head. You have to spend day after day with 

yourself and your thoughts. Sometimes you don‘t even talk 

to anybody for days. You really need to be able to enjoy – 

as well as to cope with being alone. 

HOW DID YOU MANAGE THE CHANGE IN LANGUAGES, WERE YOU 

ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH LOCALS OK? 

I travelled the world quite a bit and it‘s the same in almost 

every country. Even if you don’t speak their language or if 

they don’t speak English at all, you can always communicate 

with people somehow. Sometimes the only chance to 

interact with the locals is in sign language. Most of the time 

it’s very entertaining (for both parties) and it quite often 

leads to funny misunderstandings. 

In Turkey it was quite easy with English and sometimes 

even German, but it got more difficult in Georgia and Armenia, 

where the people rarely speak English at all. Iran 

was quite an experience, not many are able to speak English 

there (once you get off the beaten track), but the locals are 

so helpful and they really want to interact with you. They 

often call everybody they know to find someone who can 

speak English to translate. Quite a few times, they would 

even call people they didn’t know, like a local doctor or 

teacher, hoping they would know a few sentences in English. 

But it’s the same anywhere in the world, a smile and 

funny face is often enough ... everybody understands a smile 

and laughter! 

» 

SOMETIMES THE ONLY CHANCE 

TO INTERACT WITH THE LOCALS 

IS IN SIGN LANGUAGE. 

BUT IT’S THE SAME ANYWHERE 

IN THE WORLD, A SMILE AND 

FUNNY FACE IS OFTEN ENOUGH. 

EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS 

A SMILE AND LAUGHTER! 

« 

WHICH COUNTRIES DID YOU CROSS, AND WHAT WAS YOUR IM- 

PRESSION OF THEM? 

I cycled through Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Iran. The 

major impression in all four countries was the amazing 

hospitality and friendliness, and the diversity of the landscapes 

and nature. 

It started in Turkey with chai (tea) for free at almost every 

stop I made. In Georgia it was the incredible nature, with 

an enormous diversity for such a small country ... the Black 

Sea, the really impressive and rough Caucasus Mountains 

and the semi deserts have been a fantastic place to ride, 

with great camping spots. 

In Armenia the people are unbelievable friendly and curious 

– sometimes people would pay for your groceries or 

give you little gifts – resistance futile! The country also 

has spectacular nature, especially around Seevan Lake. 

It’s also very mountainous, with daily tough mountain rides. 

In Iran EVERBODY was waving along the way and wanted to 

shake your hand / take a picture with you and just generally 

wanting to welcome you to the country. Iran is a country 

where even the police stop you just so they can invite you 

for a cup of tea! If you want to feel like a famous person, 

come to Iran! 

WHERE DID YOU SLEEP? 

Most of the time I slept in my tent, just somewhere wild. 

Often in really beautiful surroundings but also next to 

highways, behind petrol stations etc. ... 

Sometimes I asked people if I could sleep on their property, 

which often lead to a free breakfast. When it was raining 

for days, and my clothes and myself needed to dry, or if my 

clothes and I needed a wash (longest time without a shower: 

7 days) I spent a night at a hostel, a homestead, or very 

seldom a hotel. In Iran random people invite you to stay at 

their house and to be their guests – almost every day, and 

on most days, several times! 

WHAT WAS YOUR NICEST EXPERIENCE YOU HAD DURING YOUR 

JOURNEY ? 

I had many great experiences during my trip. It’s difficult, if 

not impossible to pick one experience. In Armenia I made a 

quick stop to refill my water bottles. At the stop, there were 

these mean looking soldiers refilling the watertanks of their 

trucks. After some chit-chat, they warmed up and we drank 

beer together (they even challenged me to drink a beer in 

one go) and we had a great time together, with lots of joking 

around – all at eleven o’clock in the morning, right before a 

mountain climb ... 

In Georgia I came through a small village and saw some 

kids playing football on a small soccer field. It had been 

quite a tough day with a 120 km ride, so I decided to ask the 

kids if they knew a place where I could camp for the night. 

Of course they didn’t understand me, so I ended up playing 

football with them instead. Suddenly it started to rain 

quite heavily, so I just put my tent up on the soccer field and 

slipped in. Moments later a young boy came and invited 

my to sleep in his family’s house because of the heavy rain, 

but because the tent was already wet, I decided to stay put.

PAGE 26 — 27 

Traveling really opens your mind 

and connects people from different 

nations. Take Iran for example; 

cycling through the country has 

been such a positive experience and 

it really shows you how wrong 

the picture ‘our’ media is selling us. 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015 ›› INTERVIEW 

INTERVIEW

After a while an old lady came, woke me up and gave me 

cheese, bread and homemade wine. In the morning the 

young boy came again, this time with bread, butter, hot tea 

and a bottle of chacha (really strong homemade alcohol, up 

to 70% !!!). For breakfast !!! 

In Iran I was setting up camp under some trees on a patch 

of land, when two young guys came to say hello. I asked if 

it was ok for me to camp there and they said yes. We shook 

hands and they went off. After about 20min., they came 

back with a thermos flask with tea, a cup and sugar, plus 

a water melon. They gave me the stuff and went off again. 

I had some tea, ate the water melon and went off to bed. 

About an hour later, I was woken up to the sound of a lot of 

voices and as I looked out of my tent, there were about 12 

people with flash lights outside – the two guys had brought, 

more or less, half the village and they all wanted to say a 

“Hello” ... 

WHAT WAS THE AVERAGE DAILY DISTANCE YOU WERE DOING ? 

In average I did around 100 km per day, with an average of 

1000 meters of climbing every day! The toughest day was 

the ride to, and up, the Georgian military highway to the 

Russian border ... 160km with an elevation gain of 3225 

Meter! 

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO TAKE SO MUCH TIME OUT, WHAT DO 

YOU DO FOR A LIVING ? 

I’m a freelancer and at the moment I work as an exhibition 

builder, but actually I do anything for money. Travelling is a 

big part of my life and I do everything to see the world and 

make it a bit smaller. Traveling really opens your mind and 

connects people from different nations. Take Iran for example: 

cycling through the country has been such a positive 

experience and it really shows you how wrong the picture 

“our” media is selling us. 

IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE WAS SOME REAL DIVERSTITY IN THE KIND 

OF TERRAIN YOU WERE RIDING OVER, HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT 

CHOOSE YOUR EQUIPMENT FOR THE TRIP ? 

When I plan a trip I don‘t really have a fixed route ... I just 

start and see how it goes, talk to locals or other travellers 

about routes, roads, places etc. When it comes to the equipment 

you need, it‘s different. You have to know what the 

weather will be like, what the roads will be like, if it‘s possible 

to buy spare parts if something breaks etc. 

For bicycle touring or bikepacking it’s quite important to 

have reliable, lightweight gear, which is small in packing 

size. I chose a one person, 3-season tent, weighing only 1,2 

kilos, which can withstand heavy rain and strong winds. 

In my opinion it is important that the tent is freestanding, 

so you can camp on surfaces were it‘s not possible to use 

pegs.Finding the right sleeping bag is not easy (too hot, too 

cold ...), but I went for a 850+ cuin down bag, which weights 

only 500 grams and packs really small, with a temperature 

range from 2 — 10°C. But one of the most important things 

to me is the sleeping mat. I tried a few until I found the perfect 

one for me. It‘s really important to have a good night’s 

sleep after a hard day in the saddle. 

I have a multi-fuel stove that burns with more or less anything. 

In these countries it‘s quite difficult to find gas or 

alcohol, but you will find petrol everywhere ... and petrol is 

cheap, really cheap in these countries! Of course you don’t 

need all this “high-tech” stuff to do such trips, but for me it 

is definitely more fun to ride lightweight and to have really 

good reliable equipment with me! 

» 

WHEN I PLAN A TRIP I DON‘T REALLY 

HAVE A FIXED ROUTE ... I JUST START 

AND SEE HOW IT GOES, TALK TO 

LOCALS OR OTHER TRAVELLERS ABOUT 

ROUTES, ROADS, PLACES ETC. 

« 

WHAT ABOUT YOUR BIKE, DID YOU MODIFY IT IN ANY WAY FOR 

THE TRIP, OR KEEP IT PRETTY MUCH STANDARD ? 

I only changed or added a few parts to make it suit my specific 

needs. I added a time trial bar for a more relaxed position 

in heavy head winds and for long, flat and straight 

roads. I fitted my trusted “Flite” saddle and added a dynamo 

hub for charging my phone, camera, MP3 player, lights 

etc. I also changed the tires as I needed something better 

suited for road and hard-pack riding. Most of the time I 

rode on paved roads, lets say around 70% of the time, so the 

need for a tire that runs well on asphalt was there. 

I really liked the handlebar, it gives the possibility to ride in 

lots of different positions and it gives you a lot of control on 

difficult downhill patches with a rough surface. I also really 

liked the original setup of the drive train. The gear ratio 

was just perfect, both for climbing tough mountains, even 

fully loaded, and going high-speed on straight flat roads. 

Another great feature on the bike is to have the possibility 

to mount up to 5 bottle cages! 

WHERE DO YOU THINK THE BIKE FEELS BEST? CLIMBING, ROLLING 

DUSTY GRAVEL, LONG TARMAC-PAVED ROADS ? 

In my opinion the bike is great on all surfaces and for all 

conditions – it can take anything you throw at it! 

Even fully loaded it’s very stiff and you can go just everywhere 

with it. No matter if it’s off-road or on road. You can 

ride it very fast on paved roads and on gravel. In Georgia 

I had really bad “roads” for several days and the bikes performance 

was just brilliant! In Iran the roads are in really 

good conditions, the asphalt is perfect. The Beyond’s performance 

in these long asphalt sections was also amazing! 

For me the Beyond is the “eierlegende Wollmilchsau”. 

I don’t know what that is in English, like an animal that can 

provide you with everything you could possibly need.


PAGE 28 — 29 

» 

BORDER CROSSINGS WITH A BICYCLE IS EASY. 

SOMETIMES LIKE HERE FROM GEORGIA 

TO ARMENIA IT COMES ALONG WITH HIGH FIVES 

WITH THE BORDERCONTROL 

«

PAGE 30 — 31 


» 

WHEN YOU STOP FOR A SHORT BREAK AT 11AM, 

YOU DON’T EXPECT DRINKING GAMES WITH MEAN 

LOOKING DRUNKEN ARMENIAN SOLDIERS ... 

«

» 

LITERALLY EVERYBODY I PASSED ON THE ROAD 

WAVED, SHOUTED, STARED OR SMILED. 

« 



PAGE 36 — 37


PAGE 38 — 39


PAGE 40 — 41


PAGE 42 — 43 

» 

MOST OF THE TIME I’VE SLEPT 

IN MY TENT, JUST SOMEWHERE WILD. 

OFTEN IN REALLY BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS 

LIKE HERE IN ARMENIA AT SEEVAN LAKE, 

ONE OF THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN LAKES 

IN THE WORLD. 

«

» 

IN ARMENIA THE COUNTRY ALSO HAS 

SPECTACULAR NATURE. 

IT’S ALSO VERY MOUNTAINOUS, WITH DAILY 

TOUGH MOUNTAIN RIDES. 

«


» 

#SEARCHINGMYFIVESTARHOTELSUITE 

« 



PAGE 52 — 53

» 

EVERY TIME I STOPPED FOR A SHORT BREAK, 

I WAS SURROUNDED BY CURIOUS 

AND QUITE OFTEN STARING LOCALS. 

BECAUSE MOST OF THEM DOESN’T SPEAK ANY 

ENGLISH. THE ONLY CHANCE TO INTERACT 

IS IN SIGN LANGUAGE. 

« 



PAGE 56 — 57 

» 

THERE WERE NOT THAT MANY FLAT DAYS IN ARMENIA. 

STEADY UP AND DOWN ALMOST EVERY DAY. 

LOTS OF MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB BUT ALSO LOTS OF 

AMAZING DOWNHILLS TO RIDE. 

«


PAGE 58 — 59

» 

DURING MY TRIP I DIDN’T HAD ANY 

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AT ALL, ASIDE 

FROM A PUNTCURE IN ARMENIA. 

« 



PAGE 62 — 63

» 

ONE DAY MY BIKE GOT STOLEN. 

«



PAGE 66 — 67


PAGE 70 — 71



PAGE 74 — 75 

» 

I DID AROUND 100KM WITH AN AVERAGE 

OF 1000M OF CLIMBING EVERY DAY. 

«


PAGE 76 — 77


PAGE 78 — 79

TURKEY

TATEV 

BONAB 

IRAN 

SAQQEZ 

TEHERAN 

HAMADAN


PAGE 82 — 83 

» 

I HAD THIS STRANGE FEELING 

WHEN I CROSSED THE BORDER TO IRAN, 

BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT. 

«



PAGE 86 — 87


» 

LAKE ORUMIYEH IN NORTHWESTERN IRAN 

WAS ONCE A TOURISTY PLACE. 

NOW IT’S ANOTHER DEAD PLACE IN THE 

WORLD DUE TO THE LACK OF RAIN, 

DAM CONSTRUCTION AND POOR WATER 

MANAGEMENT. 

« 



PAGE 92 — 93


PAGE 94 — 95



PAGE 98 — 99

» 

KORDISTAN WAS A GREAT ADVENTURE. 

THE HOSPITALITY, THE PEOPLE, 

THEIR STYLE OF DRESS ... AMAZING. 

« 



PAGE 102 — 103


PAGE 104 — 105 

» 

THE TARMAC IN IRAN WAS SOMETHING 

YOU DREAM ABOUT. SO SMOOTH AND FAST. 

«


PAGE 108 — 109 

» 

IRAN: A COUNTRY WHERE EVEN THE 

POLICE STOPS YOU JUST SO THEY CAN 

INVITE YOU FOR A CUP OF TEA. 

« 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015


PAGE 110 — 111


PAGE 112 — 113 

» 

THE DRIVING STYLE OF 

TRUCKS AND CARS WERE 

SOMETIMES 

PURE MADNESS. 

«


PAGE 118 — 119 

» 

CONSTANT HEAD WIND. 

« 

A JOURNEY BEYOND 2015

» 

YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED A PLAN. 

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO BREATH, TRUST, 

LET GO, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. 

« 



PAGE 122 — 123


PAGE 124 — 125

MARC MAURER 

PHOTOS P. 20 — 21, P. 22 — 23 & P. 122 — 123 

MARVIN BERANEK 

PHOTOS P. 2 — 23, EXCEPT P. 18 — 21 

JOACHIM ROSENLUND 

PHOTOS P. 24 — 128, EXCEPT P. 126/127 

Marc was born in the south of Germany in 1981 before 

he moved north-westwards in the late 90s and settling in 

the city of Cologne. There he studied geography and asian 

studies, and in-between semesters, started to explore the 

world with backpack trips. After finishing University Marc 

travelled through Asia, but after 2 years he got bored by the 

restricted radius of travelling on foot – and tried to combine 

his two passions: travelling and cycling. So his first bikepacking 

trip was planned right after arriving back home, 

with funds earned from freelance carpentry work. 

With around a 6000 kilometer journey, from Cologne / 

Germany to Istanbul / Turkey and the whole route back he 

got the bug for traveling with a bike. “A Journey Beyond” 

was his second longer bikepacking trip – and it was no accident 

that he started his 2nd longer trip from Istanbul. 

Marc’s new plan is for each trip to start where the last one 

ended, eventually crossing the entire globe. So the next 

journey will begin in Tehran, but where will it end? We’ll 

need to wait and see what Marc has in mind. 

Marvin Beranek is a Cologne / Germany based filmmaker 

and musician feeling mostly at home in any urban arts. He 

is or was doing music for german Top-1o Artists Maxim, 

such as Flo Mega or known Rappers like Guilty Simpson 

and Raashan Ahmad to name just a few. Marvin discovered 

his passion for shooting photos and videos while touring 

with some of these bands. 

The pictures of Marc and his Beyond were shot in Turkey, 

mainly on a 5-Day trip between Ankara and Kapadokia 

such as its beautiful surrounding area. Marvin had great 

fun shooting photos whilst he was primarily there to film 

for a video to document Marc’s trip through Turkey, Azerbaijan, 

Georgia, Armenia and Iran, which will be released 

later this year 2015. 

Marvin is very grateful to be given the opportunity to make 

music, travel and film, as this is what he really love to do 

and is what he is fulfilled with. That’s possibly the reason 

why any stuff he deliveries, let it be photos or videos, contains 

the certain portion of soul and transported emotion. 

From an early age, Joachim felt that his place was behind 

the camera and soon his hobby became his profession, and 

with his passion for traveling, cycling, skateboarding and 

snowboarding, his motives are a given. Wanting to keep his 

approach to photography fresh, he only takes on a few projects 

every year. 

“I need to fully stand behind the project, which rules out many 

offers. Beyond is one of those projects you dream about – 

riding alongside a good friend, wild camping, sleeping under 

the stars, going through wild and exotic countries, feeling 

the wind in your face and connecting with people of 

different cultures, mostly without a common language. It 

was quiet the journey, it had all the ingredients to make it a 

real adventure. This is what real freedom feels like!” 

Born and raised in Oslo, based in Berlin, feeling at home 

wherever his bicycle is. 

ROSENLUND@ITSNOTME.DE 

FACEBOOK.COM/MARVINBERANEKMUSIC

BOMBTRACK BICYCLE COMPANY | RICHARD-BYRD-STR. 12 | 50829 KÖLN / COLOGNE, GERMANY | WWW.BOMBTRACK.COM | MAIL@BOMBTRACK.COM

BOMBTRACK "A JOURNEY BEYOND"

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