The Striking Viking

The Striking Viking
Around the World Twice

May I introduce you to Glen Heggstad, a.k.a. The Striking Viking. This guy rocks. Glen first traveled around the world on his motorcycle just after the 9/11 bombings. He left from Palm Springs and was captured by the ELN, “Colombia’s deadliest rebel army”. His tell-all book is titled Two Wheels Through Terror. I encourage everyone to buy his book as it is quite and read and all proceeds will be given to the Red Cross. Glen has witnessed first hand famine, torture, and day-to-day survival of many cultures throughout our world. His choice to make this donation is more than a gift, it is necessary. Terry and I were fortunate enough to be invited to Ventura BMW where Glen was giving his very first presentation fresh from his latest travels (2 weeks fresh). His slideshow seemed shorter than its 2 hours. Each picture held a story, some good, some bad, all beautiful. He puts his entire being through situations that none of us would even entertain. But the gift of knowledge and spiritual growth has proven more than fulfilling, so much so that he plans to head to China within the next year. Glen will spend upwords of 6 months in a Chinese language immersion program. You see, this guy can speak 10 LANGUAGES! Impressive? Yes. Attainable by the rest of us? Only if you're open and sincere...and ready.

Read Glen's book. Learn from him as Terry and I have. Life lesson - take your experiences and LEARN from them. There is no growth to be had unless you open your eyes and shut your mouth.

Visit Glen's website at www.strikingviking.net.

"Do one thing that scares you every day."
Eleanor Roosevelt

Meet David. David decided that airplanes were getting too dangerous so he decided to buy a motorcycle...at age 65. He claims that it's too slow as he can only go up to 150 MPH. We like David. He's planning to take a 2 week venture in Europe with some other riders, one of them being Hans. You'll meet Hans in a moment. David is a fan of the Adventure Trio site, "except that foul language." But after meeting me, I think he understands who I am and what I'm about, right dad ;-) And David, YOU'RE FUCKING GORGEOUS!!!!

Meet Hans. We originally met Hans at the Rawhyde rally in March. Hans is from Germany and will be riding with David and a few other chaps in Europe very soon. Hans is a crack up with his old jokes and wild stories. We like Hans. Wish them all a safe and fun trip. And Hans, YOU'RE FUCKING GORGEOUS, TOO!!!

A pic of some of the bikes from the Ventura BMW Open House in April. Terry rode his bike down and picked me up at Burbank Airport. We rode in L.A. traffic to get to Thousand Oaks. Ick. But we did see many friends at the open house and got a chance to reconnect and swap riding stories.

You remember Austen! Austen was able to join us for Easter a week prior to the open house. A group photo is always en vogue for us. A very cool guy. Hoping to get south again very soon to check in on the Ventura gang.

Captured Austen getting his book autographed by Glen before he had to ride off to another locale for another presentation. Like I said, we were ALL impressed with Glen's voyages and ALL inspired to take off and ride.

This is Jim Hyde of Rawhyde Adventures. You may remember his face from earlier riding entries. He had a booth at the open house and was giving some pointers and demonstrations using Pete's totally awesome bike. Jim gave some VERY good advice for riding in the dirt and had our attention for quite some time. Interested? Visit www.rawhyde-offroad.com and check out all he has to offer. Totally worth it.

We also ran into Jeff Clark, one of the dudes we rode with in Death Valley. Jeff took some awesome pics of Terry and I along the way. He's a pro photographer and does some excellent work. Interested? Visit www.jeffclarkphoto.com to view some of his work. It was very cool running into him and catching up.

We decided to leave Thousand Oaks and make our way north to shave off some time for our Sunday ride home. Pismo Beach was our chosen destination. Alas, it was some sort of parent's weekend at Cal Poly and ALL rooms were booked. We were told by one front desk dude, "You could drive up to north to _________ (insert the name of some town 1 hour away in BFE). They might have a room." It's getting dark, it's been raining, and we're on a motorcycle. Thanks asshole. And guess what, asshole! We ended up FINDING a room down the road with a room overlooking the ocean, right on the cliff, right in time for sunset. Awesome. They even had a free full breakfast in the morning complete with make-it-yourself waffles. Golden.

Our fresh ride parked up on the No Parking sidewalk. Gotta get the shot quick as the cops are aplenty. Doesn't this make you want to take off on an adventure?

One final shot before we head home to Mr. Jack. We REALLY dig getting outta the house and by ourselves, and we REALLY dig getting back to our family. It was an awesome trip, one that will be repeated many, many times.

Now get out there and travel, dammit!!!