Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
'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.
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.
Doubt it will catch on as a summer vacation thing to do.
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
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.
Not solo. The summary doesn't say she's doing it solo, and the article tells you that she's one of a pair doing it.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
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.
One thing I've learned from cyclists is that they know so much more than we do. That's why, for instance, in Oregon there was a large effort to pass a law making it so that cyclists don't have to obey traffic stops -- their judgment about if they need to stop at intersections render stop lights and signs superfluous for them, and waste their time. I am quite sure she'll not only succeed, but have many great lessons to teach the people at stations near the south pole before they strap her to an iceberg and push her out to sea.
Really? I hadn't heard about that, that sounds like an excellent law.
You trust car drivers, who are in a closed, partially sound proof box with large vertical obstructions in their field of view to be able to make that judgement when their car hood keeps them 4 - 5 feet behind the intersection, but you don't trust a cyclist who has a clear field of view and sense of hearing who is 18" from the intersection when he approaches to make the same decision?
Often when I'm biking to an intersection, a car will pass me in the last 5 or 10 feet to the intersection, slow down, and proceed through the intersection before I even reach the stopping point. Did that driver really look carefully to decide if it was safe to go? If he did, then why do you think that I couldn't make that same decision in the same amount of time,even if I don't come to a complete stop? Plus, by not coming to a complete stop and unclipping from my pedals, I get through the intersection faster, so the approaching car from the side doesn't need to wait as long for me to clear it.
A bike loses significant momentum when he comes to a full stop, and loses further time when he has to clip in again to proceed, *and* he has much more to lose if he makes the wrong judgement - if a car pulls out in front of a cyclist, the worst he'll face is some scratched paint. If a cyclist misjudges and pulls out in front of a car, he risks serious injury or death.
Rule of driving: Never assume that the other person will act in a safe manner. Because one of these days during the next 50 years of your driving life, they wont, and you will come out much better if you are prepared.