[mtbeagle]

I've only talked to Juan via email so far. I don't know how good his English is but I am sure it is better than my Spanish.

 

[mtbeagle]

Yeah, like, get a malamute! I'd really like to see these efforts include dogs, like the earliest South Pole expeditions -- such an inhospitable place for (wo)man! But (wo)man and dog? I'm probably just biased, because the Alaskan Malamute puppy I lucked into earlier this year has a pedigree which, if plugged into the online bloodline-tool, shows she descends along a maternal line from a dog born in Antarctica on the second Byrd expedition! Just sayin'.

Sorry, but they don't allow dogs, or any other animals to be taken to Antarctica anymore. They are trying to protect it from non native species.

 

[hikernks]

I'd be more worried about the crevasse' than I would the cold....there aint no one going to come find ya.

Someone needs to do the Tour the Divide on a Fatty!

There was a guy who did the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (the route, not the race) on a VERY fully loaded Pugsley north-bound. I passed him in southern Montana, and I believe he made it to the border. The Canadian section was too washed out from floods this year.

There's no reason to do the Tour Divide (the race, not the route) on a fat-bike. With the amount of climbing and lack of technical terrain, a fat-bike would be at a HUGE disadvantage. Except on the rail-trail in Idaho, but f*ck that thing anyway. No, seriously, it's stupid. On a serious note, I think you'd really be hating yourself the whole way if you tried to race a fat-bike on the TD. I coud maybe see touring the route on one, but not for racing it.

 

[mtbeagle]

I'd be more worried about the crevasse' than I would the cold....there aint no one going to come find ya.

Someone needs to do the Tour the Divide on a Fatty!

Iridium | Iridium Connected | Rescue from the Crevasse

 

[bikefat]

Sorry, but they don't allow dogs, or any other animals to be taken to Antarctica anymore. They are trying to protect it from non native species.

I did not know that! But I would think it's the non-native species that need to be protected from Antarctica... My neighbor across the street used to work at McMurdo, took his malamute with him, I've seen the pics but this was back in the 70's.

 

[Sideways Tim]

I've only talked to Juan via email so far. I don't know how good his English is but I am sure it is better than my Spanish.

Juan speaks excellent English, we exchanged a few frantic phone calls over the past few days. Please pass on my regards when you meet up.

 

[Jilleo]

Apparently there's a third solo cyclist launching an expedition to the South Pole. A British woman plans to take a specifically designed recumbent tricycle on a different route. Should be fun tracking.

IceCycle | World first cycle to the South Pole 2013

 

[DirtDad]

That makes 4 I know of: Kate, Daniel, Juan and Maria. I am excited to watch them all, but if Kate does not want her 2wd christini fatbike when she is done, I will take good care of it. You know, it may turn out she never wants anything to do with fatbikes again after her antarctic expedition. A guy can dream, right?

 

[wolfmansbro]

While I am in Punta Arenas I still have full web access. When I get to Antarctica my web access is via sat phone. I have limited minutes and so will switch to only posting to blog and Facebook.

Juan should arrive today. My understanding is he doesn't have any resupply caches (cheaper that way) so his plan would qualify as a solo unassisted and unsupported. Since we are planning on leaving at the same time I have offered to work with him. If we work together rather than race I think it improves our odds of success.

If you work together won't that change his ride to supported/assisted? Coming from a climbing backyard I would think that would put an "!" on his attempt.

 

[mtbxplorer]

I wondered about mtbeagle when I saw this story about Prince Harry's Antarctic trek being delayed by dangerous weather...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

[alanm]

DirtDad,

If you want one badly, drop an email to Steve Christini, I did, he's going to do a run of them!

Al

 

[Silentfoe]

Kate is not going this year, waiting this one out.

Juan and Dan will not be riding together because Juan definitely wants to keep his unsupported status.

IMO I think the second person to ride a bike to the South Pole will just end up as a footnote in the history books, behind the person who rode a bike there first, regardless of how they did it.

As an aside: they are all stuck in Punta Arenas Chili until the weather allows flights to Union Glacier. They were supposed to fly out last Saturday.

 

[uncajohn]

There's also this very fat tricycle attempt:

IceCycle | World first cycle to the South Pole 2013

 

[donkey]

in case I have to do a hike a bike.

I let out an audible giggle upon reading this.

 

[mikesee]

I let out an audible giggle upon reading this.

While I just stared, slack-jawed...

 

[mtbeagle]

Juan and I just found out about the trike expedition yesterday. Completely different route. It will be interesting to see how she does. The truck going with her makes it a lot easier.

 

[Wombat]

This records a successful return effort to the south pole on foot. They carried all of their food and had no assistance over the 90+ days it took. Amazing, and their Norwegian "competitor" even more so.

There were a number of days where they made only 7 kms pulling their sleds through soft snow.

ABC iview

Tim

 

[Wildfire]

There's also this very fat tricycle attempt:

IceCycle | World first cycle to the South Pole 2013

Really, I wish her all the best but I hope she has quads of steel: in soft conditions, with a trike there are three wheels breaking trail as opposed to just one (the front) on a bicycle so it's gotta be tougher pedaling. Although...if it wasn't typically headwinds all the way, that trike would be great for using a sail or kite even if some purists might count that as assistance (but not support). This is all kind of exciting though, a modern day race for the pole. Good luck, everybody, it takes an amazing effort to even get to Antarctica in the first place. Oh, and be careful.

 

[Velobike]

I can't help thinking a recumbent quad would be the way to go - especially if you put tracks on it.

High winds seem to be one of the major problems, so having a lower frontal area would be a major benefit. The ability of tracks to spread the load may make up for the extra drag.

Good luck to all of them.

 

[Silentfoe]

Dan and Juan will finally fly out to Union Glacier tonight. Been stuck in a holding pattern due to bad weather. Good luck to them both!