Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

To The South Pole By Bike

Posted by timothy on from the are-those-bugle-boy-jeans dept.

buzzdecafe writes "Doug Stroup is attempting to ride his bike to the South Pole. Follow his progress here: Iceaxe.tv or read the article about him on Wired, including a pic of the bike. He's pulling over 100 pounds of supplies on a sled behind the bike--as well as carrying his own waste. Why bike to the South Pole? Hell, why not? Riding a bike in subzero temperatures in constant danger of losing your life sure beats my job."

48 comments

  1. Forget the south pole. by billn · · Score: 1

    I wanna take the bike to the sand dunes. I wonder how it handles a good downhill.

    --
    - billn
  2. Subzero temperatures in constant danger... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 1

    Riding a bike in subzero temperatures in constant danger of losing your life sure beats my job.

    Except for the bike part, it sounds alot like working in a colocation facility!

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  3. Bike to the south pole? by moc.tfosorcimgllib · · Score: 4, Funny

    This guy is kind of a wuss, isn't he?

    I mean, if *I* were going to bike to the south pole, I would at least start from home instead of antartica.
    Why not just say: "Guy plans on biking 50 miles in sub-zero temps, hopes no to die". This would have been kick-ass if would have risked mexico, panama, the amazon, just to come close to biking in sub-zero temperatures.

    1. Re:Bike to the south pole? by Dannon · · Score: 1

      An interesting proposal. The real adventure would be getting from the southernmost tip of South America to the first bit of ice shelf. Paddlebike? Or scuba tank?

      --
      Good judgment comes from experience.
      Experience comes from bad judgment.
    2. Re:Bike to the south pole? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Giant, nuclear-powered robotic ant, of course. ;)

      For those of you not in the know, Nukees, go back a year or two in the archives.

    3. Re:Bike to the south pole? by rakslice · · Score: 1

      Plus that lengthy stretch of ocean floor... =)

  4. Re:I can't post at +2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, what the hell, I can't post at +2 anymore. My karma is still excellent, and is around 48-50 (I never can hold on to a 50 karma very long).
    Maybe it's because you're AC

  5. Some random comments by devphil · · Score: 3, Interesting
    as well as carrying his own waste.

    For the standard lazy /. fucker who won't read the article, he's not doing that because of some weird fetish. It's SOP in Antarctica; the article only mentions it to point out that the weight load on the bike will increase with time (like every other Antarctic team has had to deal with).

    Er, no, wait... he's consuming the food he's carrying, so weight load should remain more or less constant. Okay, I don't know why the article bothers to mention it.

    Riding a bike in subzero temperatures in constant danger of losing your life sure beats my job.

    Perhaps you should consider skydiving. Unlike every other sport I can think of, where you die only when something goes awry, in skydiving your death is guaranteed the instant you jump out the door -- unless you do something to change your situation. Any sport where you die by default every time you play, and it's up to you to fix that... yeah.

    --
    You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
    1. Re:Some random comments by TripleA · · Score: 1

      I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe most parachute-packs that sports-divers use have altimeters and "auto-eject" when they reach a specific altitude.

    2. Re:Some random comments by joshuac · · Score: 5, Interesting

      ---snip
      awry, in skydiving your death is guaranteed the instant you jump out the door
      ---snip

      Not quite; you could be thrown from the plane unconcious, if your emergency chute is setup correctly the automatic activation device will go off once you've passed a certain altitude a bit too quickly :)

      So if you don't do anything, death is pretty much unlikely.

      Otoh, if you do end up doing something incorrectly (deploy your main chute incorrectly getting lines tangled, don't inspect all gear carefully before using) then yes, you could easily die; a half opened chute could slow you down enough to convince the emergency activation device all is well, but may still be plenty fast enough to kill you.

    3. Re:Some random comments by devphil · · Score: 1


      My understanding is that the automatic activation devices are still rather rare. Not from lack of supply, but from lack of demand.

      --
      You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
    4. Re:Some random comments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one ever thinks they'll need one... until it's a bit late.

    5. Re:Some random comments by quantaman · · Score: 1

      Depends if the waste consists of just #2 or he has to include #1 also. Just #2 you will get some weight increase because it will contain fluid in addition to just the lunch. If he has to carry #1 also it will be just a huge increase. Remember he'll likely get drinking water by melting snow & ice. But even just #2 contains a lot more fluid than the food making up the solid component origionally contained.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    6. Re:Some random comments by joshuac · · Score: 1

      By law (in the U.S.) students are required to have an automatic activation device, and any pro would carry one as a matter of common sense, although the law for pro's only says they need a backup chute, they legally can jump without an automatic activation device (assuming his friends would even let him get in the plane like that).

      Skydiving is an extremely safe sport; flying in an airplace is much more complicated than driving in a car, but so much attention is spent on aircraft maintenance and crew training that it is quite safe; people die all the time in cars. Riding a motorcycle is simpler than solo-skydiving, but so much attention is put towards safety in this sport (imagine taking your motorcycle apart, inspecting, and reassembling before every outing) that accidents in skydiving are rare (and almost always caused by someone deliberately trying to bypass the safety systems for a bigger thrill).

  6. Test Run by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The website says, "This is a test run for a later expedition to the South Pole."

  7. Hmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Possible candidate for the Darwin Award.

    Man rides bike to south pole and becomes popsicle treat for native wild life.

    1. Re:Hmmm.... by sszurfer · · Score: 1

      Didn't know those penguins are carnivorous...

  8. Re:I can't post at +2 by isorox · · Score: 0

    NEW SLASHDOT STUFF

    Go to preferences, see where it has "karma bonus", set that to +1.

    It allows trolls to moderated high-karma people out of existance, and others to mod high-karma people up by whatever bonus they want

  9. bike sounds good by hpavc · · Score: 1

    i like the bike better than the ski sails that those three guys tried to use.

    though parts for the bike might be a pain in the ass to deal with. i would be interested in what parts on the bike break.

    wonder if the bike has a belt or chain? that seems like some serious technology. i wonder how bad his boots are going to get chewed up by pedals or if the pedals and boots are going to just grind away at each other.

    --
    members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
    1. Re:bike sounds good by step · · Score: 2, Informative
      i think that the chain is the major weakness. i've had the pleasure of riding with Dan Bull (organizer of the iditasport multisport races in alaska), and when temperatures reach -20F it doesn't take much to kill a chain link. you need to be very careful with changing gears. by the way, i don't think he's using a belt drive as suggested by another posting; the front chainrings look pretty standard on the picture.

      other parts, such as tubes and tires, actually hold up fairly well. i doubt he'll have to deal with a snakebite anyway...

      what totally surprised me was that the bottom bracket shells broke on my bike. it's a carbon fiber frame, and the bottom bracket is mounted through steel shells that are glued to the frame.. either the glue went brittle, or there was too much stress due to different expansion coefficients. bottom line: if you're rinding in extreme temperatures, composite materials may not be the best idea.

      when it comes to boots, bunny boots are the way to go. you don't really need any SPD or other pedaling system, and those boots are awesome in really cold conditions. in fact, the metal parts of the SPD pedals would make a perfect thermal conductor from the outside (pedal) all the way to the shoe's insole (where the adapter is mounted), no matter how much insulation you wrap around the shoes. cold feet are guaranteed!

    2. Re:bike sounds good by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 1

      You sound 'in the know'.
      So...those tires seem big enough, and the environment there safe enough, that you could fill them with hydrogen, or at least helium and lighten your ride a bit.

      So I guess the weight difference would just be so small even in those gigantic tires that the idea is worthless?

      --

      Operator, give me the number for 911!
    3. Re:bike sounds good by step · · Score: 1
      weight difference aside (i doubt it would be noticeable), the problem is that all rubber tires do lose pressure over time.. not only due to leaking valves, but by diffusion through the rubber itself. for example, latex tubes are stronger and more puncture resistant than other materials, but they leak significantly.
      in triathlon races (where you often have to check in the bike on the day before the race) you'll find a lot of people pumping up their bikes on race day morning. not because they've forgotten to do so, but because the overnight pressure loss really is noticeable.

      so, the point i'm trying to make is that as far as i know those gases also diffuse through rubber tires very easily, so that you're bound to lose much more pressure over time than with plain air. which translates into higher rolling resistance as the pressure drops, and more stops to pump the tires back up.

  10. Small tires by n-baxley · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't it make sense to have bigger tires on the bike? Not only for handling terrain, but it would take a lot less pedaling.

    --

    THIS SPACE FOR RENT
    1. Re:Small tires by hcdejong · · Score: 2, Informative

      The small diameter can be compensated for with appropriate gearing. Bigger tires that are this wide, are very heavy. Too heavy, I'd expect.

      The tires need to be wide so the bike will ride on top of the snow, rather than plough through it.

    2. Re:Small tires by TamMan2000 · · Score: 1

      less pedaling, means pedaling harder...

      Humans are more efficient (in terms total work done before exhaustion) if they are doing more repetitions of a motion with little load, instead of a few repatitions at high load. Look at Lance Armstrong, he pedals at about 120 strokes per minute to maintain his speed, he could go in a higher gear, and pedal slower, but his legs would burn out sooner...

      --
      "I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
  11. Let me guess... by Deagol · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...this guys funds this excursion by harrassing people for two dollars, right?

    --
    Method of processing duck feet
    1. Re:Let me guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BWHAWHHHHAHAHAAHHAHAAHAH, Great post!

      Oh man I love that movie..
      ('better off dead' for those not in the know)

    2. Re:Let me guess... by coward_2.0 · · Score: 1

      LOL.. that is funny! had to explain it to my coworkers though...they are too old to understand.

  12. Pack a good puncture repair kit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those polar bears make a terrible mess after they raid the scientists' beer bottles...

    Glass everywhere.

    1. Re:Pack a good puncture repair kit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those polar bears make a terrible mess after they raid the scientists' beer bottles...

      Errm... wrong pole, pal.

  13. Dumb and... by Bob+Vila's+Hammer · · Score: 3, Funny

    I keep remembering the bike trek made by Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. As I read the passage about this man carting his own waste through the tundra, I can only imagine his toil being not unlike Lloyd and Harry's when they first arrived in bitter Colorado. In their disquieted and inimitable words I find the response: "Just go man, just go."

    --


    --"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
  14. Man crawls to south pole... by cornice · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's this kind of thing that makes me wonder why anyone cares. I bike. I bike a lot. I just can't see why sombody would take a bike to the south pole when hiking or skiing would work so much better? It's like race walking. It's different. It's hard. It's contrived. I can dream up any number of hard, death defying contrived things to do. That doesn't mean they are worth doing. There is a reason this expedition is self funded.

    1. Re:Man crawls to south pole... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Because some people enjoy 'ice biking', as we call it.

      I live in a climate where winter is very long and temperatures are typically below 0F. I love biking in the cold. I even own a set of studded tires for biking on ice and snow. I live near a smallish lake and often ride across it. Great fun.

      I think what this guy is doing is pretty cool, but to be honest if any decent cyclist had the money they could do this. It's really a matter of funding and getting the proper equiptment.

    2. Re:Man crawls to south pole... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I just can't see why sombody would take a bike to the south pole when hiking or skiing would work so much better? It's like race walking.

      You seem to understand it better than me. I don't understand why he doesn't just fly there like everyone else. This kind of "type-T" stuff never makes any sense to me.

    3. Re:Man crawls to south pole... by cornice · · Score: 1

      I love biking in the cold. I even own a set of studded tires for biking on ice and snow. I live near a smallish lake and often ride across it. Great fun.

      I've done that. You're right. It's big fun. It's also fairly effecient as long as you can maintain traction and your chain doesn't get too gummed up with snow. I can ride a stock bike (with studs) on ice and snow and actually travel fairly fast. If the ice is not smooth then it's a better form of transport than skating. The bike being used to travel to the south pole is far from what you and I are talking about. It adds so much weight and mechanical complexity that I fail to see any benefit. Maybe I could make roller skates with giant studded tires and get my name in Wired too.

  15. Re:Western Antarctica? by dunedan · · Score: 1

    everything at a longitude more west than the prime meridian and more east than the international date line is "west" antartica

    Just like for the rest of the world

  16. *Yawn* by p3tersen · · Score: 1

    Wake me up when the POGO STICK to the south pole expedition gets under way.

  17. Re:Western Antarctica? by norton_I · · Score: 1

    > Just like for the rest of the world

    exactly the same way that the eastern US is east of the prime meridian and west of the IDL?

    Your defenition is perfectly fine, but it is not what we mean by "western X" where X is not "antarctica" or "earth".

  18. Re:Western Antarctica? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, then, which way do you go to get to the Far East, usually, if you start from the USA? Hmm, why do you suppose they call it the East then?

  19. Re:Western Antarctica? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's "West Antarctica". There's no Western Antarctica. Also, the best definition West Antarctica is the part of Antarctica in the Western Hemisphere.

  20. Re:Western Antarctica? by Tiggan · · Score: 1

    Because you used to have to go East to get there. Ya know, up until Columbus decided he could find the way west.

  21. i bet even there... by radiashun · · Score: 1

    there's gonna be some poor driver stuck behind this slow bastard beeping away... "drive your bike on the shoulder damnit!"

  22. It's just #2 by Spamalamadingdong · · Score: 1
    According to the Antarctic meteor researcher I know, you have to pack out everything that will not degrade by itself. Feces won't decay when frozen, so you have to bring them with you. You can pee on the ice, because the urea breaks down under solar UV and decomposes into carbon dioxide and ammonia; since it degrades just fine, leaving it is SOP.

    I don't know why people don't use solar heat to freeze-dry the turds (to lighten them), after which you could burn them. In the 24-hour light of Antarctic summer this seems like a no-brainer.

    --
    Scientists restrict study to entire physical universe; creationist
  23. Been done before... by dargaud · · Score: 1

    The Iditabike is a bike race in winter in Alaska at the same place than the more famous Iditarod (dog sled race). I have some friends who took part several times, with custom bikes using 2 or 3 wheels welded together.

    A few years ago a group tried to bike to the North pole. It was probably the shortest lived expedition of the history of polar adventure: after 2 hours they were turned around by the soft snow.

    A friend of mine tried biking on Antarctic ice and gave up quickly. He was using a normal mountain bike though (he also tried a custom sail sled). This guy seems much more prepared and I wish him good luck: the snow in the center is often crusty with a soft underlayer... Yes, I've been there.

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
  24. Bike 7,000 miles, then climb Everest alone by sellout · · Score: 1

    This sounds a bit like what you're suggesting: http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=1928

    GÃran Kropp rode from Stockholm to Kathmandu with all of his gear, then climbed Everest alone and without oxygen, then got back on his bike and rode home.

    Now that's impressive.

    --
    "Whatever can go wrong, will." --Finagle's Law
  25. Urine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree some people just do not read the article. It clearly states he will also carry his urine around.

    Pretty strict, but I do not think he will also carry his watersupply with him (just to defrost a few liters of ice every day), so I guess he'll eat snow and pee in bags, thus increasing the overall weight to carry on a daily basis....