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.'"

Re:Design

[Anonymous Coward]

The new, even more over the top Moonlander might be more appropriate.

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander

4.7" wide tires. I'd give my first born to be able to justify owning one.

Seamless?

[Sez Zero]

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.

Re:Seamless?

[ColdWetDog]

Actually it looks like an old Tote Goat [wikipedia.org]. (I can't believe there is a Wikipedia entry for those things....)

Re:Design

[theshowmecanuck]

Obviously you don't have much experience at 50 below zero (and no, I don't count the 'with the windchill' bullshit... try working at 50 below BEFORE factoring in the wind). Even metal parts break a lot easier if they aren't purpose built for the cold. So experience going down a hill at anything above zero Celsius does not prove anything about suitability at the temperatures she is going to encounter. I have worked in Manitoba with equipment designed and built in the southern half of the U.S. that was supposed to be suitable for arctic winters. I guess a lot of people down there don't get it. We had to do a bunch of modifications after we received the equipment (a gas analyzer shed) so that it wouldn't freeze up and quit. And Antarctica can make the arctic look like a trip to Cancun (ok a little hyperbole, but it is way harsher down south).

Re:solo?

[digitig]

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.

Hanebrink ice bikes

[smellsofbikes]

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 [fortunehanebrink.com] 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.

Re:What's the point?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's Blue Peter and it's for charity?