As a teenager growing up in Kristiansand, Norway, Helge Pedersen started his wanderlust on two wheels with a small 50cc scooter.

Later in his early 20’s, he purchased his first BMW road bike, an R 100/7. With a dream of traveling to Africa, the worldwide launch of BMW’s first Enduro style bike in 1980 was like a dream come true. Helge bought one of only two BMW R80G/S bikes imported to Norway in 1981.

Educated as a technical photographer, Helge merged his photography skills with journalism, enabling him to fuel his passion for two-wheeled adventure around the world for 10 years straight. His unique brand of photojournalism celebrated not just the rigors of the road but the diversity of human cultures, wildlife and scenic vistas along those endless miles. During that time, he produced photo-essays that appeared worldwide in dozens of motorcycle magazines like Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Motorrad, Bike, outdoor-enthusiast magazines, as well as iconic publications like National Geographic, TIME and The New York Times. Helge’s journey has also been featured on Discovery Channel, PBS, Wealth TV and other broadcasts around the world.

At the end of his solo ride around the world, the book “10 Years on 2 Wheels” was born. It chronicled his amazing journey riding 250,000 miles by motorcycle through 77 countries. This was by no means the end of the story, rather a primer for what was to come. After moving to Seattle in the early 1990’s, Helge founded his own company, GlobeRiders®, in 1998 with the intention of sharing his knowledge of world touring via motorcycle. To promote his new business, he took to the road in a different manner—presenting multimedia shows as well as weekend seminars throughout the U. S. In 2000, the GlobeRiders® World Tour ushered in a new era in long distance organized motorcycle touring. For 72 days a group of 14 GlobeRiders® rode their motorcycles from Tokyo to München (Munich). There they visited Helge’s world-spanning BMW R80G/S (nicknamed “Olga”) that was on exhibit at the BMW museum in München.

Since this initial journey in 2000 GlobeRiders® has been conducting tours to all corners of the world (throughout Africa, Central-South America, Eurasia and S.E. Asia) helping others realize their dreams of adventure motorcycle travel throughout parts of the world neither easily accessible nor commonly visited.  Collectively, Helge has traveled through over 100 countries on six continents and has logged more miles on the seat of a motorcycle than he cares to count.

In addition to organizing and leading motorcycle adventure tours, Helge produced instructional and adventure DVD’s designed to prepare the avid motorcyclist for world travel and inspire a desire to take to the open road. He continues to give multimedia presentations that offer breathtaking photography and inspiring stories from his adventures and still enjoys presenting travel related seminars, teaching participants motorcycle maintenance and repair, GPS navigation, and other insider tips for the savvy traveler. He lives by the slogan, Making Tracks Around the World®.

Helge speaks four languages: Norwegian, English, Spanish and German. He currently lives with his wife, Lisa, just outside of Seattle, Washington, USA.