Four years after graduating from the University of Puget Sound, Jordan Hanssen is establishing himself as one of the region’s most adventurous travelers.

In 2006, Hanssen rounded up three classmates and they became the first Americans to row across the North Atlantic. In 2011, he and one of those teammates – Greg Spooner – plan to row from New York to Nome, Alaska.

For now, Hanssen, 25, is sticking to dry land. He’s in southeast Australia with about two weeks left in a 3,000-mile bicycle trip from Perth to Sydney.

On oarnorthwest.com, the Web site chronicling the North Atlantic row, Hanssen says “To live a life without challenges is to not live at all.”

Hanssen is true to his word. During his Australia ride, which started Jan. 15, he’s endured scorching 100-degree heat, a lightning storm and running out of water in the outback.

He said the scariest part, so far, was the lightning storm. “I felt the metal in my right brake start to charge up,” he said.

Perhaps more dangerous was the day Hanssen ran out of water on the Nullarbor Plain, but he came across some campers who were willing to share.

Nullarbor comes from Latin words meaning “no” and “trees.” In other words, it’s a huge a desert. It was the challenge of that Nullarbor that inspired Hanssen to save his money from his job at Seattle’s Stoneway Hardware to make this trip.

“Look at a map of the lights at night and look at the middle of the Nullarbor,” Hanssen said during an interview conducted via e-mail. “No lights. That was what I dreamed about when I decided to do this trip. I like the idea of visiting a place that lights up with just the moon and stars.”

Heat and the monotony of the long, straight Eyre Highway make the Nullarbor the hardest part of the ride. So, before he started, Hanssen arranged for friend, fellow Lake Washington Rowing Club coach Anthony Emmett, to join him for this stretch.

Among the obstacles on the highway are road trains. These are 120-foot-long semi trucks with four trailers that can make any cyclist nervous when they pass. “You get used to them, but you never get lax because then you would die,” Hanssen said.

“They have huge bars on the front because they do not stop for kangaroos, camels or cows on the road. They will not purposely hit them, but those bars are there to protect the truck. Unlike cars, the truck always wins. Cars can get totaled by roos.”

Hanssen said the road trains are scarier to watch pass when he’s not on his bike. “This must be because you can get an idea of just how big this machine is,” he said.

The road trains are safer to negotiate at night, Hanssen said, because you can see their lights from about six miles away.

About half the nights, Hanssen makes camp on the side of the road. “Just stop at any patch of bush, and you can find something appropriate,” he said. “I never cross fences nor knowingly trespass, then again I try to look for a hidden patch and I’m in after dark and out before light. No blood, no foul.”

While Hanssen relishes this experience, he says he always hears the traffic. “So it’s not a complete nature experience,” he said. “It’s a road trip experience.

“One night I was between the road and the railroad, and when a train woke me up I felt like I was very much a part of the road as opposed to just passing through. I’m not sure if I can make sense of it yet, but despite the noise it was comfortable and I felt quite safe obscured from the road. For a few hours, I am invisible.”

On the other nights Hanssen stays at hostels where he can get a shower. “I can go about three days without a shower before my body really needs it,” he said. “Sometimes you need some indoor time. Your body gets tired from being outside all the time.”

Loaded down with gear, food and water, Hanssen’s bike weighs more than 100 pounds. Good road bikes weigh less than 20 pounds. Still, Hanssen pedals between 13 and 155 miles per day.

He hasn’t limited himself by trying to stick to a strict schedule. “I like the freedom of just riding,” Hanssen said. “Depending on who I talk to, I can change plans or make detours as I see fit.”

He spent a day tasting wine in Margaret River, a town near Perth. He dropped his bike bags for easier day trips along the white beaches of Esperance and through the mountains near Victoria.

Then there’s the people. He met a couple from Austria who are pedaling around the world and several camping families who’ve invited him to stay for a meal.

It’s fall in Australia, and Hanssen figures one of his last challenges could be snow. But like the heat, the roadside camps and the road trains, Hanssen will embrace the snow’s challenge.

The challenge, after all, is what life is all about.

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

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Find much more information about Jordan Hanssen’s past, present and future adventures on The Adventure Guys blog.