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Solo Explorer Begins Bicycle Journey To South Pole
Hugh Pickens writes "Helen Skelton, the first person to solo kayak the length of the Amazon, has set for herself another difficult task — to travel up to 14 hours a day battling 80mph winds and -50C temperatures 800km across Antarctica in an attempt to reach the South Pole by bicycle. It's no average ride, and Skelton, 28, is not using your average bike. Her specially-built Hanebrink 'ice bike' took designers in Los Angeles three months to finish. It features a seamless frame made of aluminium aircraft tubing, heat-treated to withstand harsh environments, and fat, tubeless, rubber tires designed to bulge over the rim to provide maximum stability and traction. The bike is designed to be as minimalist as possible, to make it aerodynamic and very low maintenance. 'The bike is designed specifically to cycle in soft snow or sand,' says polar guide Doug Stoup. 'We trained together in the desert this past summer. It helps because the temperatures are so cold the snow has little moisture and has a sand-like consistency.' Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes commends Skelton for taking on 'incredibly tough and grueling challenge.' 'Like Captain Scott, Helen is attempting something that has never been tried before and I applaud her pioneering efforts.'"
Solo Explorer Cannot Tell You What It Was She Saw, It Was Too Horrible, Cannot Describe, Just Keep Flying Damn It
'Like Captain Scott, Helen is attempting something that has never been tried before and I applaud her pioneering efforts.'"
I bet that won't be the only similarity between her and Scott...
Trolling is a art,
Just a casual look at the picture of the bike makes me really wonder about the chain and sprockets on the back. They are totally exposed, and very low to the ground. Seems like they would be damaged on a chunk of ice pretty quickly.
Better known as 318230.
For keeping childrens TV interesting and alive and keeping the spirit of this long live tv programme going for over 53 years!
this is a prime children's tv program doing a challenge to raise money for a charity called sport relief
Well done and we wish Helen God speed
The frame isn't seamless, the tubing that makes up the frame is seamless. The tubes join in distinct seams.
After reading about and looking at it, it just looks like bike with fat tires.
she's gonna die
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Or is it just me? I guess if she fails, she can go back to teaching tap dancing.... Oh, wait. We're back to that pointless thing again.
Remind me again how this person merits any newsworthiness?
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Doubt it will catch on as a summer vacation thing to do.
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Not any more silly than the team that wanted to ski down Mt. Everest.
Huh?! "Because it's there."
Don't you ever want to know anything about the world outside of your mom's basement?
I'm doing the Bataan Death March http://www.bataanmarch.com/ - me and a few thousand other people doing something utterly pointless. Just because we want to.
Who cares?!?
I thought she was female. How is it she has a blue peter?
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Maybe, but this is also much, much less awesome.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Uh, there's a dude with her.
If you happen to come across any ammo cans out there, would you please sign my id to the paper log inside? thanks!
Do they expect that she won't make it?
If it's a well planned, modern thinking, expedition, would seem to make more sense to compare her to Amundsen...
Scott appears to have been very brave, but he also seems to have been stuck in the century old Royal Navy mindset of the nobility of man hauling during polar exploration. Amundsen seems to have studied the problem of polar exploration from a very young age and put this knowledge gained into designing a successful solution. He got there first, got there faster, and didn't lose a single man.
--
Terra Nova - a play about the race to the South Pole
I dunno when I think explorer I don't think of these stunts. Sure they are difficult to accomplish but I don't see much actual exploration in them. Exploration would be charting some previously uncharted caves, exploring space (star trek style) or something else. This solo bike ride, is more stunt worthy, record book worthy but I don't think she will be remembered as an explorer.
The article doesn't say she is biking the whole way, only part of the way. She's also skiing and sail-skiing.
I spent quite a few years working in the arctic. Every year we would have 'adventurers' trying to get to the North Pole. Usually they didn't make it. Sometimes they had to be rescued at great expense to the taxpayer.
The only group we had much respect for were a group of Norse (iirc) who tried to ski from Greenland to Resolute. They did just about everything right except that they got lost on Ellesmere Island. Lucky for them they ran into the first RCMP patrol in thirty years; otherwise they were in big trouble.
The person on the bicycle probably won't be as lucky.
And who will be footing the costs of the rescue effort when things inevitably go pear-shared on this misguided publicity-hound?
I'm just sayin'... be mindful of where your donations go.
Hanebrink's been building these bikes for almost two decades, although I've only seen one in person. These days Dan's making an electric-assist version of the bike. They have a bare minimum of plastic parts, which break in the cold. I don't know what he's using for tires these days but his first run were apparently done using knobby ATV tires that he'd ground the knobs off, which he described as a fairly unpleasant process. They also have a somewhat complex geartrain to give reasonable heel clearance from the chain, as well as reasonable speeds across a wide terrain profile.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
hey, she's cute...
I don't mean to come off as too cynical, but I mean, I can see being the first person to hike to the South Pole, fly to the South Pole -- heck even snowmobile to the to the Pole. But, what the heck is the purpose of biking to the Pole -- simply because it's yet another form of transportation? Maybe it's just me. I don't get it.
Slashdot regularly reports on the annual Darwin Awards, this seems to be a good attempt...
I salute her other achievement though, kayaking the length of the Amazon is a feat of endurance, and a kayyak is an appropriate means of travel on a river..
However traveling in the Antartic on bicycle is just stupid. How does she expect to cross crevasses, or carry enough food?
I can understand doing something really difficult with a lot of preparation. Bike across America? Cool. Walk across America? Cool. Crawl across America? Moonwalk across America? Walk on your hands across America? That goes beyond an interesting challenge to just bizarre.
I can understand sailing across an ocean. I can even understand doing it solo. But trying to set a record for smallest boat or rowing? That just seems like trying to push beyond difficult to stupidly dangerous.
I understand doing something for the challenge but there has to be a screw loose to do it for notoriety. Yeah, yeah, nobody will remember my name after I'm dead and she'll get her name in the history books whether she survives or not. In fact, she'll probably be remembered better if she does fail. Amelia Earhart surely owes a good deal of her current name recognition to not just how she lived but how she died. I guess if fame's that important to you, have at it.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I'm waiting for the follow-on where she does it in the winter.
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She should stick with the tried and proven method of cross country skiing. Biking is a lot less energy efficient especially given all of the friction caused by the dry powdery snow. This is a big deal because exerting more energy burns more calories and creates more sweat. All that dampness unless vented properly will make a person miserable. More food and water will be needed than normal. Biking into the wind is also a lot harder than skiing would be, plus it's uphill all the way. If it was packed snow and ice most of the way she might be okay. I've mountain biked through the mountains before in the middle of winter mostly on snowmobile tracks. Even with fat tires there will be some sinking which amounts to a lot of wasted energy. Skis also provide more protection from falling into a crevasse at least the ones with smaller openings. Unless she's tried something like the Admundsen Scott Southpole Trek before she's in an unfamiliar and very hostile environment. I don't think she knows what she's getting herself into.
I mean, usually when these quests go wrong, the adventurers eat the sled dogs. So is she going to eat her bike?
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I've smashed several rear derailleurs when mountain biking. In many ways they are great. They are easy to maintain and easy to swap if they break but they are totally exposed and originally designed for cycling on roads. I wouldn't use them on a trip to the south pole. (If I really had to go there I would use dogs but that's another issue.)
When/if things go wrong....
Who pays for the rescue (or body recovery) effort?
This is an amazing name. That is all.
So.. who is paying for her rescue? And are they volunteers who are willing to risk their life to save some chick out on a whim?
I live in Minnesota and ride 6 miles to work year round in all weather and have gone winter camping where we slept under the stars for a weekend in -15F. I'm very intrigued by the design of this bike and would LOVE to try one here. Typical mountain bikes are a ton of work to pedal through even a few inches of snow, - at least the type of snow we get in these parts.
Somebody has already mentioned the Surly Pugsley and while it's a fine machine it has its limitations. If the snow isn't fairly firm, it's worse than a conventional bike. You end up pushing 4 inches of tire through the snow instead of 2.
An ultra-wide, small diameter tire like the ones they're using make a lot of sense. More float without all the extra weight of a large diameter tire. They mentioned the aerodynamics of the bike but it doesn't look like they've done much in that department other than adding aero bars.
Clothing and supplies will be a huge deal. She's going be traveling mostly under her own power and working hard. Her clothing needs to be able to wick sweat effectively while still keeping the wind out. She'll also need a lot of water and need to consume a lot of calories. Does she have a support team supplying her?
Good Luck to her !
Where's /. user "icebike"? I need his / her thoughts on this.
That's *awesome!!* *I* want to ski down Mt. Everest!
I'm the first one on board the "Because it's there!" trip, but in this case, I'm less impressed. What's next - first trip to the South Pole in a Unicycle? Walking backwards? While doing a three-legged race?
Do it because you want to, not because you want to get your name in a record book by altering some small part of the original record.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
It's a Honda monkey bike reproduction, except gutted & made out of aluminum instead of steel...
Now we are allowing stunts on Antarctica? This annoys me, do it somewhere else, Antarctica is a very important continent for science and the future of the earth and beyond, it is not a fucking playground. And to anyone who says "it's for charity", you are an idiot, it is a fucking stunt. Plain and simple.
...who will be the first Black Lesbian to drag a cinderblock there?
Here http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2012/01/south-pole-on-bike.html is the opinion of a gal who is very familiar with cold weather endurance riding. Snow riding has become very popular sport in Minnesota. Surly, Salsa, 9:zero:7, FatBack, Moots, and others all make bikes specifically for snow. None of them look like the one that Ms Skelton will be riding.
I really don't get the "she's going to die" comments; this is Blue Peter - a UK (middle class, losing audience) BBC kids' show. There will be tens of thousands of kids following her attempt, she'll have scads of logistical support. If she gets into real difficulties, don't be suprised if Prince WIlliam flies her out, she's in no way doing this 'solo'. She is really doing it (though not cycling all the way, as I understand) but you really don't get a high-profile BBC presenter putting her life at risk in front of kids. Although they've done really risky things in the past (those of you who thought that John Noakes was just a humourous character should read up) by now there's no chance that the BBC would be taking a serious risk,but those of you who think this is a suicide mission or doomed to fail can look forward to watching the kid-friendly "it was really hard but worth it" episodes later on, (or possibly the "she broke a leg and was airlifted out 100 miles out").
Nobody's going to be seeing a Blue Peter death here, that's just for the pets. And good on Blue Peter for showing young girls that they can aspire to something other than X-Factor (though I think it's pointless, same as with all other ''explorer' antics, other than as a personal goal).
Assuming she gets from 83 deg south to her goal.
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...which is why there's a soft-metal tab that attaches them to the frame, called a derailleur hanger. It doesn't take much at all to bend them, and the derailleur is also pretty fragile, in general. The more gears you have on the rear cassette, the more precise everything has to be. Having the chain exposed like that, and using a derailleur/cassette, is pretty stupid. Ask anyone who commutes in the winter; it's all going to clog up and stop working. They should have gone with an internally-geared hub (with suitable oil for the temperatures) and a full chaincase covering the chain. She's going to have issues with snow and ice getting everywhere, in the cables and more. Won't be much she can do about it, either, at those temperatures.
Please help metamoderate.
She starts at 83 South, need I say more?
I don't know if others actually read the article, but with an average temp of -26C, there isn't going to be much thawing happening, and so there won't be much ice...i got the distinct impression that it's exceptionally "dry" there.
Sure, snow will be whipping around, but it's not particularly tenacious. I'd agree more with the other comments of parts busting because they're not designed to withstand this environment...although the torque from a human isn't really that great, and especially so in this case given the mantra appears to be "sweat is death". She'll be pedalling at a pretty easy pace.
As a fairly serious cyclist, i think i'd have opted for something more like one of the Surly bikes also linked to in this thread...bigger wheels allow for much faster travel as well...i don't think even kids bikes have wheels with a diameter as small as what the bikes in the article have!
No.
Weight is a massive factor in polar expeditions and the experience gained in this trip could help a lot for those places where the best option now is to drop the group and their equipment by helicopter.
IMHO it's no more pointless than racing cars and getting a few nice side benefits as gravy every now and again.
She's not solo.
The bikeS are only being used a minority of the time - apparently they did 40+ miles today kite skiing.
See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8992225/Helen-Skeltons-Polar-Challenge-begins.html
And current updates: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/8969960/Helen-Skeltons-Polar-Challenge-the-latest.html
I do find the (real) story super interesting.
Subject says it all.
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won't be cool until done with a pogo stick
Summary's a bit misleading, as they're walking, biking, and kiting the way there. Doesn't explicitly say if it's an unsupported run, but it's kind of implied especially for a one-way trip with a plane back.
Different beast entirely from what Scott did.
Does this remind anybody else of this Monty Python Sketch: http://www.montypython.net/scripts/tunnel.php
RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
I'm doing the Bataan Death March http://www.bataanmarch.com/ - me and a few thousand other people doing something utterly pointless. Just because we want to.
Dunno if it's pointless, but I find the idea of walking 26 miles to commemorate the Bataan Death March -- and giving out awards to the top finishers! -- to be rather insulting, or at least tasteless. It's sort of like commemorating the Holocaust by filling a sealed room full of helium and pinning a medal on whoever gets the squeakiest voice. "He who saves one life saves the...hey, I sound like Teresa Ganzel!"
OK, can't expect a colonial to know she's a TV presenter on childrens programme "Blue Peter" and part of the job description is doing this sort of stunt. Or to notice the BBC are getting 9 weeks of possibly inspiring kiddies TV out of it. Can't even expect you to recognise the name 'Sport Relief' at the end of the article.
But completely missing the charity fund raising aspect (the Sport Relief bit)? You didn't read the article did you?
Lot's of reasons she's doing this, getting her name in the record books AGAIN is the least of them.
it's a surly moonlander