Solo Explorer Begins Bicycle Journey To South Pole 144
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.'"
Follow-Up (Score:1, Offtopic)
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She's not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens?
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RickRolling is a bit like Goatse, first you get used to it, then you learn to appreciate it.
Have noticed that white fluff in the bottom left corner, what is it?
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I for one would use a Dornier Wal instead of a bike!
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A bike to the South Pole? (Score:3, Insightful)
'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...
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Unforunately she'll be mummified and buried in ice so her last name is inappropriate.
Enough windburn and she'll be a red Skelton.
I'm certainly put off by the wind - when it hits about 20 knots it's some real work to go in. In the winds she'll be facing I can't imagine doing other than trying to simply stay in once place, without my bike being blown away - and these winds can go for more than 24 hours.
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without my bike being blown away
Well, that's why the bike is being designed as highly aerodynamic, isn't? Let's hope that Miss Skelter is highly aerodynamic as well.
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I'd compare her to Amundsen, rather than Scott, but that's just me.
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Amundsen went low tec to South Pole. It was Scott's (or Shackleton's) f.... idea to use ponies and motor sledges. I don't think that Helen's bike is edible.
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Amundsen lived. Scott died. Shackleton required extraordinary skill and courage to overcome disaster.
I wish the woman Amundsen's luck!
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And she can't even justify her odd choice of a bicycle by merely quoting Edmund Hillary, either, because the bike wasn't there until she commissioned it to be built.
I am mystified by people who do things just to be different and get attention, as opposed to solving a problem or serving a practical purpose.
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Space isn't useful, but the stuff that punctuates it certainly can be. It's just that space is BIG and there's no places to make pit stops... stop and build a fire and catch a wabbit or two for dinner. Crossing the oceans was once pretty hard because those pit stops were rare, but they still had air to breath, a magnetosphere and ozone layer overhead, and the medium itself wasn't immediately deadly. Space as a medium is just a wee bit more hostile. It's still necessary and worth it, but we'll need more
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Have you considered she might enjoy doing it? Seems like a good enough reason to me.
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No. This rockets way past enjoyment and into self-promotion. Given the expense and preparation involved, this is a job done for profit, not something done for fun. More to my point it's not in the least bit constructive except (perhaps) for the companies who are sponsoring her pointless venture. She's an advertising hack with a spin, nothing more.
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Wow, I've been a bit surprised by the criticism I've seen here. When I saw this I only thought "Getting to the pole: cool" "Riding bikes: fun and fast", so trying to combine the two just seemed like a nice idea. She's also intending to use kite skiing. It's not as impressive as trekking with less equipment, although equally it sounded like she's doing it alone, which is quite scary regardless. It will be interesting to see whether using this level of fairly basic technology helps, hinders or makes no di
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No. I love long distance cycling, but I hate being cold and gratuitous self-promotion disgusts me. Not jealous in the least.
Design (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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http://surlybikes.com/bikes/pugsley No need to make a custom bike when an off the shelf model will do.
Re:Design (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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I came here to suggest the Moonlander, but you beat me to it. Surly is a good company that makes really good bikes.
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Re:Design (Score:4, Informative)
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Have a look at some of the photos [facebook.com] that Hanebrin
Re:Design (Score:4, Funny)
I've only been to Canada twice. One time it was bastard cold, the other it was fucking freezing. And I originate from Yorkshire, so I'm not soft like them London twats who shut up shop if an inch of sodding snow falls, and then it's all over the news that the country has ground to a halt. Shandy drinking ponces.
Where were we? Oh yes:
What does a Canadian do when it gets to -30? He starts to shiver a bit.
What does a Canadian do when it gets to -40? He thinks about putting a sweater on.
Re:Design (Score:5, Interesting)
The coldest I ever had to work it was around 18 years ago, it was -48C on the thermometer outside our control room. The cold had affected a couple of our systems and our techs were dealing with them. Then we found out a feed mechanism on the roof our plant froze up due to a failure of a compressed air dryer. It wouldn't have been an issue on warmish days, but it was so cold it caused the moisture in the compressed air that normally would have been removed to condense in a control valve stopping an important operation. I actually ran the smelter from the control room. But, since all the techs were busy and I was essentially a SME on literally half the systems in the plant, I turned the place over to tech, and suited up like a spaceman, and climbed up the catwalks around 140 or 150 feet in the air... outside. Like I said, it was -48C without the wind. And there was wind too. It took me around a half hour to switch out a six way solenoid activated valve.
Now here is the crux: what does a Canadian really do at -40C. He freezes his fucking bag off. Yeah we don't freak out, and dress for it, and essentially deal with it (usually without too much complaint.. it doesn't help and no one would listen to you if you did anyway), but really, it's fucking cold. Of course people brag about being tough, but really I have found that people who visit the tropics in the winter don't complain about it either. :) There are some things that do resonate with what you say though. IF there is no wind at 40 below... IF and only IF there is no wind what-so-fucking-ever, AND if you are working hard, you can actually make do with a light jacket. In fact IF you are working hard, it might be advised to wear a light jacket only. You will get overheated otherwise (overheating in sub zero cold is bad because once you stop what you are doing, any sweat that has soaked your clothes will freeze.. then you get hypothermia and die). I know, I've done that too. Chopping wood at a cabin at night at 40 below C on the thermometer with no wind. That goes for anyone. BUT, if there is even a 1km/hr wind, you would be frozen freakin solid if you dressed like that. This is why the 'feels like x degrees' windchill is such a load of shit designed by people in warmer climates so they can brag about how much cold they have experienced. Anyway in general, Canadians in really cold areas don't bitch about it because it is pointless. Better just to find things you can do and dress for it. Otherwise you WILL experience cabin fever after a while. Regardless of any mythbusters episodes, cabin fever is real.
About that wind chill. In Winnipeg/Manitoba they used to broadcast the wind chill in terms of watt/m2 of extra heat lost from a body due to wind. It was on a logarithmic scale. 1200 was minimal don't worry about it. 1800 means a little nip on the nose or ears if you were out for a half hour to an hour with no hat. 2100 was hazardous, stay in. 2200 is insane. I remember a day when it was 30 below and with the wind, on the bullshit wind chill scale they said it felt like -40. The wind was around 8 km/hr. Remember I said you can work with a light jacket at -40 if there is no wind? You've probably figured with a wind even at 'only' 30 below C that it wouldn't be a good idea to wear a light jacket. Well on the other wind chill scale the value was 2450 W/m2. I had never seen it that high before. I remember the incident because weather Canada had just announced they were getting rid of the useful wind chill scale. The 'feels like' scale is actually dangerous if you ask me. So when they were broadcasting both, the comparison as to useful information delivered was mind boggling. Just remember the 'feels like' scale is horse shit. And dangerous when it really matters. The only saving grace is that normally the colder it gets, the less wind there is. But not always.
Cold is cold. The colder the dryer the air. The dryer the air the more efficient the insulation in good winter clothing works. If you have to live in the cold you deal with it and find ways to enjoy things.
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I'd also question the assertion that the frame has no seams, unless it is cast or MIM or the like. If so, I can't figure how that would be an advantage over a traditional butted or welded Al frame.
"Simple brakes" is also an hilarious callout, to describe what are likely off the shelf cable pulled calipers not significantly different in design from every bike in stock at Wal-Mart.
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I'd also question the assertion that the frame has no seams, unless it is cast or MIM or the like. If so, I can't figure how that would be an advantage over a traditional butted or welded Al frame.
I think they're talking about the tubes that the frame is made from. See under "seamless": http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_sa-o.html [sheldonbrown.com]
"Simple brakes" is also an hilarious callout, to describe what are likely off the shelf cable pulled calipers not significantly different in design from every bike in stock at Wal-Mart.
Well, yeah. That's the point. Cable-actuated brakes are reliable, and when they do break, they're much easier to fix in the field than hydraulic brakes. They don't have quite as much stopping power as hydraulics, but for a mostly flat ride, that won't be a problem.
Re:Design (Score:5, Insightful)
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Pieces breaking, especially flexible plastic, is an issue. I've had the plastic sheaves on cables break in only -20. The biggest ice problem I've had in sub zero temperatures is icing on the rims on a bike with rim brakes (there's enough friction to heat the rims to melt the snow which later refreezes). Ice is much more of a problem around 0, in freezing rain conditions, but once she's away from the warm and wet coastal air the risk of freezing rain is slight.
Snow is much easier to deal with than mud if the
derailleurs are actually very fragile (Score:2)
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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.
Sometimes ease of accessibility trumps protection. Once on a bike tour, my riding partner snapped her chain and the loose chain got hung up in her chain guard. Normally a broken chain would be a 5 minute fix, we had a chain tool and some spare links. But it turns out that her chain cover screws were completely rusted tight - we stripped the screw heads trying to get them off.
Fortunately, a passing motorist had a hacksaw so we just cut off the chain guard mounts, then it was an easy fix after that.
For the sn
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Well done BBC (Score:2)
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
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Seamless? (Score:4, Informative)
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? (Score:4, Informative)
Actually it looks like an old Tote Goat [wikipedia.org]. (I can't believe there is a Wikipedia entry for those things....)
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(I can't believe there is a Wikipedia entry for those things....)
This is the internet; one man's lack of interest (or even disgust) is another man's fetish ;-)
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Well, it was a special deal - the tubes themselves were guaranteed to be seamless, and if she let them put just a few seams where the tubes joined, it was like getting 1/4 of the bike for free.
solo? (Score:2)
Re:solo? (Score:4, Informative)
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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 p
Re:solo? (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:solo? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
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I feel certain that nobody at the south pole will be pushing anything out to sea, since it's over 1000 km away.
Does anyone else find this pointless and idiotic? (Score:1)
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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Not any more silly than the team that wanted to ski down Mt. Everest.
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That's *awesome!!* *I* want to ski down Mt. Everest!
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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/ [bataanmarch.com] - me and a few thousand other people doing something utterly pointless. Just because we want to.
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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.
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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.
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Without knowing her preparations and physical ability, and the equipment she has with her it's hard to assess if it's "idiotic" or "inspiring".
However, given that she's starting with a significant amount of resources she may be OK. We'll see in 20 days. Best of luck to her.
Right time of the year but... (Score:4, Funny)
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It is summer there.
Why has no one else spotted this... (Score:2)
I thought she was female. How is it she has a blue peter?
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Wow, it took THAT long for someone to point out that she's cute? Congratulations Slashdot, this must be a new record.
Hey Helen... (Score:2)
Why Compare her to Scott? (Score:3)
If it's a well planned, modern thinking, expedition, would seem to make more sense to compare her to Amundsen [wikipedia.org]...
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 [genesiantheatre.com.au]
Explorer? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Gotta agree here. Not that what she's attempting isn't tough, but it's not being an explorer. If that was the case, then I'm an explorer, the first time I drove my pickup from my new home to work. That trek had never been made before, in that vehicle.
It reminds me of the art scene where the quality of a painting is less important than whether or not it was made with saliva and blood, or framed on a toilet seat lid.
At least it's all for charity.
Not biking the whole way (Score:1)
The article doesn't say she is biking the whole way, only part of the way. She's also skiing and sail-skiing.
Rescue costs? (Score:2)
I'm just sayin'... be mindful of where your donations go.
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The article clearly states that there's not much moisture in the snow, so I don't see how melting it would help anything. ;)
Hanebrink ice bikes (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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Not sure about ATV tires per se, but shaving the top few mm of tread off of auto tires for racing purposes is standard stuff. There are machines specifically built for it that are not unlike large lathes. I can't imagine that ATV tires would be that different, so if someone describes it as an unpleasant process, they might not be using the right tools for the job.
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A lot of these kind of tires are hand-made because the machine is too big or too small to accommodate them, or the wheel they mount to. The tires used on the Top Gear Polar Challenge [wikipedia.org] were hand-modified as well.
What's the point? (Score:3)
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It's Blue Peter and it's for charity?
I don't understand these stunts (Score:3)
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.
Well it is summer down there (Score:2)
How does the bike taste . . . ? (Score:3)
I mean, usually when these quests go wrong, the adventurers eat the sled dogs. So is she going to eat her bike?
What's this going to cost us if she fails? (Score:1)
When/if things go wrong....
Who pays for the rescue (or body recovery) effort?
Who Really Foots the Bill? (Score:2)
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 routinely cycle in the snow and -20F weather (Score:3)
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 !
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The aerodynamics (and weight) on a Hanebrink are *horrendous* -- but with a tire like that, and over terrain like that, you're not going to be anywhere near the speeds at which that matters. (For bikes the crossover is usually in the 12-20 kilometers per hour range, below which your power is mostly going to fighting friction, and above which it's mostly going to pushing air aside.) Those aero bars are mostly going to be of use to her for changing hand and body positions. I've done 100+ mile and multi-day
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It just seemed strange that they talked about the aerodynamics of the bike and it doesn't look like they really did anything at all in that regard other than internal cable routing. They even did wind tunnel testing but I
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Fairing, yes, but recumbents are *terrible* off-road. I can ride my cannondale mountain bike over a ford taurus sedan. My HPVelotechnik recumbent can hold 28 miles an hour for most of the day but can't even handle crossing a curb unless it's basically perpendicular (and even then it's pretty unpleasant.) Not to mention: have you ever pushed a recumbent? It's *awful*. And she's going to be spending a lot of time pushing her bike. For flat paved roads recumbents are unequalled, but for offroad rough con
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I've heard that full-suspension recumbents are better at such things as curbs. The editor of www.autospeed.com built a nice one.
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The HPVelotechnic is fully suspended. Previous to it I had a Turner SWB, that had no suspension. After a 100 mile ride I thought I was going to piss blood. That's why it went away and the HPVelo showed up. It's this bike [hpvelotechnik.com]. It only has about 40mm of front suspension travel, which curbs soak up entirely (and then some.) I've never seen a recumbent that had enough suspension travel to handle a curb without bottoming out. In contrast, on the mountain bike or my road racing bike, I can bunnyhop the bike up
Where's /. user "icebike"? (Score:2)
Where's /. user "icebike"? I need his / her thoughts on this.
I've seen this before... (Score:1)
Blue Peter ups the ante (Score:3)
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).
Seven degrees of separation ... (Score:2)
It's a joke (Score:2)
She starts at 83 South, need I say more?
Stupid - in a good way. (Score:2)
Next up, Tunneling to Java (Score:2)
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