A few years ago I was sitting in a bar of ill repute in Chiang Mai nursing a beer when a BMW motorcycle pulled up outside. The rider dismounted, strolled into the open fronted bar and ordered a cold one. As soon as I saw the rugged biker I knew he had a tale to tell. Unable to suppress my curiosity I struck up a conversation.
His name was Glen Heggstad. As a biker myself, I was immediately interested to hear that he’d spent months travelling the world on his bike. I’ve always fostered the desire to do the same so I asked him if he’d experience any problems along the way. He replied in an almost offhand way, ’Yeah, you could say that.’
It turns out that Glen’s ‘problem’ was capture by the ELN rebel army as he rode through Colombia. He was ripped from his motorcycle at a roadblock, marched for days deep into the jungle, held hostage for five weeks, and subjected to torture and brutality. Eventually he was released as part of a Red Cross prisoner exchange. His shocking story is told in his first book, Two Wheels Through Terror: Diary of a South American Motorcycle Odyssey. Remarkably, after his release Glen declined hospitalisation and continued on his round the world motorcycle journey.
The day after my chance encounter with Glen, we arranged to meet up again so he could tell me more about his travels. The result was an article I wrote entitled, Four Wheels Move the Body, Two Wheels Move the Soul which you can read below. Now, the reason this is all brought back to mind is because Glen has recently been in touch and brought me up to date with his fascinating life.
His new book documenting his global motorcycle adventure, One More Day Everywhere, has been released. In fact, according to Glen it quickly sold out and is into its second printing. Also, his first book, after being in hardback for four years, is also slated for an international re-release in the autumn in paperback.
Glen was also the subject of a National Geographic docu-drama based on the book. It was originally scheduled to be shown five times in one year but it immediately became the most widely viewed programme of the series and has been aired 60 times around the world so far. It has also been translated into 34 languages, including Mandarin for the Chinese market.
Two months ago, Biography Channel sent Glen a request to be in a show. He shot the piece a few weeks ago and it should air in the autumn. He is also currently in negotiations with a company discussing the possibility of hosting a moto-adventure reality TV show.
WorldFlix recently purchased rights to Glen’s life story in order to make a compelling feature film on the former Hell’s Angel turned adventure motorcyclist. He is now entering pre-production stages of an anticipated classic with top Hollywood players seeking leading roles. An A-list team of influential industry personnel will be announced in the upcoming months.
You can find out more about Glen and watch TV interviews on his website http://www.strikingviking.net/
It is always great to hear from Glen and I am thrilled to know that things are going so well for him.
I don’t usually put my articles up on this site, using it primarily for my photography but I make an exception in this case. All images used in the article are courtesy of Glen, except the two on the first page. Enjoy.
