World's First Cycle Trip To the South Pole Achieved

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World's First Cycle Trip To the South Pole Achieved

Posted by samzenpus on Monday December 30, 2013 @05:13AM from the mountain-bikes-of-madness dept.

Zothecula writes "Shortly before Christmas, we heard about 35 year-old British adventurer Maria Leijerstam's planned attempt to ride to the South Pole on a recumbent fat-tired tricycle. On December 27th at 1am GMT, she achieved that goal, becoming the first person to ever successfully cycle from the edge of the Antarctic continent to the Pole."

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LOL ... by gstoddart · 2013-12-30 05:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Oh, great, now someone will feel the need to do it in a unicycle.

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Lost at C:>. Found at C.
1. Re:LOL ... by dotancohen · 2013-12-30 05:22 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Actually, even two wheels has not been successfully accomplished yet. Though, to be fair, zero wheels has been done.
  
  --
  It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
2. Re:LOL ... by Psychotic_Wrath · 2013-12-30 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  Daniel Burton will probably be the first person to do it on 2 wheels, he should complete this by the end of this next month.
  
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  Doctors do Massage in Longview WA now, who knew?
3. Re:LOL ... by guises · 2013-12-30 07:29 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not going to be satisfied until I see an Antarctic expedition on Segway.
4. Re:LOL ... by Penguinisto · 2013-12-30 07:30 · Score: 1
  
  I'm waiting for the "First handstand-walk to the South Pole" achievement to be unlocked, myself.
  
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  Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
5. Re:LOL ... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 08:27 · Score: 0
  
  While juggling snowballs.
6. Re:LOL ... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 11:55 · Score: 0
  
  Uhhh... I'm crowd sourcing a project to do just that. I'm at 10%. Got it all worked out. Unicycle with knobby tire. Arctic class protective gear and equipment. A wool lined, Thinsulate clown wig to top it all off.
  Toot Toot
Icebound ship in Antartica rescued! by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2013-12-30 05:22 · Score: 2

. . . by a team of tricyclists . . . !

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Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
1. Re:Icebound ship in Antartica rescued! by Trax3001BBS · 2013-12-30 07:33 · Score: 1
  
  . . . by a team of tricyclists . . . !
  My first thought :}
Hey Maria, by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 05:27 · Score: 2, Funny

On your way back through can you stop off and rescue those idiots in the boat that got themselves entombed in the ice? kthx
1. Re:Hey Maria, by gl4ss · 2013-12-30 05:33 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  its a trip TO the pole.
  in other words, there's a lift out of there.
  
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  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
2. Re:Hey Maria, by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 05:44 · Score: 0
  
  Nothing can get in or out of the South Pole via air, the conditions are too harsh. You hoof it in, you hoof it back out again.
3. Re:Hey Maria, by OglinTatas · 2013-12-30 06:22 · Score: 2
  
  There is a research station at the south pole.
  She can probably crash there for a few days
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%E2%80%93Scott_South_Pole_Station
  My questions are:
  She had a cargo rack and panniers on her trike, was that enough to carry all she needed? Did she drag a sled like many solo explorers? Was this a solo? Were there supply drops on the way? It just seems insane to attempt such a high-energy feat in such a harsh climate with the limited gear apparent in the photographs.
  Congratulations, regardless of the logistics involved.
  
  --
  More music, fewer hits
4. Re:Hey Maria, by spike+hay · 2013-12-30 06:32 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  There's daily flights to the pole from McMurdo...
  It's only in the winter you can't fly.
  
  --
  If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
5. Re:Hey Maria, by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 07:25 · Score: 0
  
  And for those reading with too much of an American-centric world view: It's the SOUTH pole - it's Summer there now, so these flights are active.
6. Re:Hey Maria, by advocate_one · 2013-12-30 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  It just seems insane to attempt such a high-energy feat in such a harsh climate with the limited gear apparent in the photographs.
  that's why I'm very interested in finding out what her dietary regime was for the trip... Low-carb, high-fat fuelling herself from proper pemmican? Not the crap dietary "balanced" formula pemmican that caused the Scott expedition to fail.
  From some quick googling, you only need one pound of proper pemmican per day (that's pemmican made the old fashioned way with just pounded dried meat mixed with rendered tallow)
  
  --
  Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
7. Re:Hey Maria, by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 17:22 · Score: 0
  
  The office next to mine is filled by people who've been to the South Pole to maintain a physics experiment there, and they've said while there, they saw a rare group or two that cross-country skiied or otherwise came overland to the base at the South Pole. However, as a government facility, they were not allowed to use any of the facilities other than the gift shop (seriously, there is a gift shop there as part of the contract to run the base). So they would be camping near by.
Sounds to me like she just wanted a popcycle. by Tacos4Sanchez · 2013-12-30 05:37 · Score: 2

*rolls eyes at self* Pretty good chance I am going to have to award all of /. with PUNitive damages for that one.
Epic South Pole by SecretSquirrel33 · 2013-12-30 05:40 · Score: 4, Informative

In other news, Daniel Burton, a former Word Perfect and Novell software engineer, is currently attempting the first bike ride (two wheels) to the South Pole. You can follow Daniel with live blog updates at http://epicsouthpole.blogspot.com/ Daniel has quite a story switching from programmer to cycling enthusiast http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25470585
1. Re:Epic South Pole by TheCarp · 2013-12-30 06:18 · Score: 0
  
  Wow. Funny I was just thinking of that antarctic explorer who planned to be the first person to the south pole, and instead got to Antarctica in time to meet the expedition who beat him to it on their return trip.
  Of course, his expedition ended when they got caught in a storm and all died. Hopefully this guy will not follow in that tradition.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
2. Re:Epic South Pole by Penguinisto · 2013-12-30 07:32 · Score: 1
  
  You mean the Scott expedition?
  
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  Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
3. Re:Epic South Pole by gravis777 · 2014-01-01 06:04 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, this is the same news, although I do like Daniel's blog.
  FTA:
  
  Despite starting days later than her competitors Maria is significantly closer to the finish than American, Daniel Burton, and Spaniard, Juan Menendez Granados. The two men are cycling the most common route from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole on Fat Bikes – an approach that has been taken before but without success.
Then I guess by rossdee · 2013-12-30 05:41 · Score: 1

So Krystal Ball, Ari Melber, Abby Huntsman and Touré will have to try to be The 1st Cycle to the North Pole then
Aokiji did it on a bicycle... by Kojiro+Ganryu+Sasaki · 2013-12-30 05:49 · Score: 1

Aokiji did it on a bicycle, though it's a bit unclear how far the distance was. He did have to freeze the water first, though.
1. Re:Aokiji did it on a bicycle... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 07:16 · Score: 0
  
  1piece4me
Why? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 05:55 · Score: 1

What's the point?
I would love to see someone try it using Amundsen or Scott's equipment. Amudsen's voyage was the most remarkable because of the horrific route he took with no maps or GPS or radio....
1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 08:02 · Score: 0
  
  Both of them used a landing site and starting path plotted out by Shackleton
2. Re:Why? by Carnildo · 2013-12-30 10:44 · Score: 1
  
  There was an effort in 2006 to re-create the Scott expedition to see if they could figure out why it failed (see the second paragraph of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_Amundsen_and_Scott_Expeditions#Food_and_fuel). They called it off before reaching the pole because the expedition members were suffering from severe weight loss.
  
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  "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
3. Re:Why? by plopez · 2013-12-30 11:57 · Score: 1
  
  Amundson's route was partly mapped by Shackelton and they carried maps and sextants. Radios and GPS units did not exist at the time, which is why they decided not to use them.
  
  --
  putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
The point is ... by davidwr · 2013-12-30 06:07 · Score: 1

... one less item on your bucket list.
My question is: Who paid for this, and why? Unless it was his personal money, it seems like a waste of money.

--
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
1. Re:The point is ... by Joce640k · 2013-12-30 06:37 · Score: 2
  
  You don't know who "Amundsen" was, do you?
  
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  No sig today...
Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Wheels by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 06:13 · Score: 0

The record is still open for a bicycle. any other idiots want to try?.
This does nothing for the world, it only get a persons name into the history books for doing stupid shit.
News for nerds?! by Cyko_01 · 2013-12-30 06:16 · Score: 0

why is this nerdy? because it was a recumbent tricycle?!
December? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 06:21 · Score: 0

Do it in July and I will be impressed.
The brand of trike by djbckr · 2013-12-30 06:50 · Score: 1

Seems the brand name of the trike is apt: ICE. I've been in the market for a trike lately and they have been a top contender. Just have to get the cash to buy one.
Maria, aged 35 from Wales by Trax3001BBS · 2013-12-30 07:30 · Score: 1

Took a lot out of her just getting there, (a direct quote).
The Singularity of World Records by timeOday · 2013-12-30 07:34 · Score: 1

In Facebook Culture the number of World Firsts grow exponentially, but they also grow exponentially more bizarre and trivial, so the net effect resembles saturation instead of an explosion.
south pole? that's childs play by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 07:49 · Score: 0

ride that cute little bike from ellesmere island (northern canada) and visit santa at the north pole.
I know WHY this is the first polar bicycle trip... by Applehu+Akbar · 2013-12-30 08:11 · Score: 0

Because Antarctica has no signals or stop signs to blow through. For cyclists this, not the mercury-freezing cold or the 10,000' hills, makes it an alien, forbidding environment.
Blue bags? by plopez · 2013-12-30 10:51 · Score: 1

Seriously, pack it in pack it out. I wonder how many bags it takes to make it to the pole and back. This is what I am referring to if you do not know:
http://www.backpacker.com/june_2008_pack_out_waste/nature/12424

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putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
No surprise by gmhowell · 2013-12-30 11:35 · Score: 1

The guy trying it in a car was probably following traffic laws, while this jackhole on a cycle likey rode through the red lights. Typical.

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Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
1. Re:No surprise by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 14:06 · Score: 0
  
  Yes Mr Troll. Whatever you say. Circularly support your prejudices with themselves, until you dispappear up your logical arsehole.
Re:Anybody surprised that she isn't BLACK? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 11:58 · Score: 0

Because they're too busy screwing your mom.
In other news by Chas · 2013-12-30 13:08 · Score: 1

Maria Leijerstam's surgery to remove the bicycle seat that'd been frostbite-fused to her backside has been successfully removed and a butt-lift in lieu of reconstructive surgery has been completed.

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Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Douchebag achievement by kurish666 · 2013-12-30 13:24 · Score: 1

"First woman to get punched in the face at the south pole."
Everest is already dirty and overrun by extreme tourists with too much time and money. Naturally the south pole couldn't be far behind. She should try peddling across the ocean.
1. Re:Douchebag achievement by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-30 14:05 · Score: 1
  
  For Christ's sake. "I really think you should take a stress pill and lie down".
  What is your problem with one person doing this? Does it deserve physical violence?
ground pressure by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-31 06:34 · Score: 0

How does the ground pressure of the 4.7" tires and 45+kg extra load compare with just walking? I'd imagine the 3 wheeler would provide at least 33% more. How would it compare to snow shoes? How much is needed? Is the antartic snow pretty well packed? If I tried to walk accross my yard without snowshoes, I'd be over knee deep. Would this trike be able to stay on top?