Italian ultra-cyclist aims to complete first coast-to-coast crossing of Antartica by bike

Climate activist Omar di Felice hopes to complete the 2,000km trek – made possible by advent of ‘fatbikes’ – in 60 days after departing next week

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... ca-by-bike

Well, bears'll have no trouble spotting him.

Good luck to him, but I wouldn't fancy pushing a bike over miles of sastrugi, especially a bike with a heavy horse-drawn sledge attached.

And I've just discovered another one of this site's eccentricities

My very black and white (and no grey area) thinking does question how a climate activist flys across the other side of the world to promote climate change?

Other than that, sounds like an amazing trip

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:38 pm Well, bears'll have no trouble spotting him.

He should be fine, no bears in the Antarctic!!

He should be fine, no bears in the Antarctic!!

They'll turn up by the bus load in that outfit

Liking his bike (at least the colours) rather a lot

And less important than his colour scheme of his bike, the proposed route

Fair play although I think the problems the last few folk encountered were down to the wind slowing them up until they ran out of food.... I think thats why the only successful person was on a recumbent fat trike - more aero and more carrying capacity

I believe the key for the trike was being able to pedal at super duper low speeds, rather than aero. Although I could be mistaken for another similar record attempt.

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:18 pm Fair play although I think the problems the last few folk encountered were down to the wind slowing them up until they ran out of food.... I think thats why the only successful person was on a recumbent fat trike - more aero and more carrying capacity

Iirc the person on a recumbent trike rode unsupported first, then had to ditch those plans due to knee issues and had her stuff transported by jeeps.
Yes... jeeps.
The kind of jeeps (called super jeeps) you come across in Iceland.
This goes not without saying that for some years now tracks on that route have been maintained; flattened, graded, crevasses filled etc. to provide the Amundsen-Scott base with whatever is needed there (it's a lot!). (And to facilitate cycle tourism )

In the same year as Maria Leijerstam rode to the pole, two other folks rode regular fatbikes across the Antarctic. There was even a little race between them. I thought Juan Mendez arrived at the pole too, after Maria, yet unsupported.
Little side note; Maria's boyfriend is Wayne Edy (founder of Inov-8).

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:02 pm Liking his bike (at least the colours) rather a lot

Same here. Very good looking. Showing the increasing average world temperatures (left to right).

I wonder if the (shown on his IG) The Times report is real though. And his "certified records" are ... I dunno... a bit smelly.
Shame since he (Omar) has done some amazing rides and likely, this will be another big one too.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:38 pm Well, bears'll have no trouble spotting him.

Reminds me of a story from Gary Larson, where a reader wrote him a letter, saying how he loved his cartoons but felt obliged to point out that penguins and polar bears wouldn't meet in nature. Larson replied by asking about his cows living in houses and trying to use phones etc.

Anyways, there won't be any polar bears left soon, thanks to all the cycling holidays to the Antarctic, no matter what the colour of some bikes imply.

Maybe I'm too cynical but this greenwashing of adventure jollies is utter horseshit. Raising climate crisis awareness, really? Everyone with half a brain knows there's a climate emergency and these type of exploits aren't going to make onto the Buzzfeed / TMZ / ig feeds of the aspiring conspicuous consumption Kardashian wanna-be's. Go to Antarctica, ride your bike , have fun, party on, but don't kid yourself that you're saving the planet cos you're sure as sub standard not fooling anyone else.

I have to say I agree with you Woodie. It's all rather crass and naff. Leave the place for the penguins.

Leave the place for the penguins.

... and bears Reg, and bears

As a little aside, the issue I have (amongst the untold others) is the subtle difference between saving the planet and saving our species. While saving the planet would help to save 'us', actually saving the planet would likely be more of a success if 'we' were to die out sometime tomorrow afternoon. Thus, anyone truly hoping to save the planet would do better to kill themselves rather than dragging a bicycle across a continent ... maybe I should have saved that for cheery Friday?

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:41 am maybe I should have saved that for cheery Friday?

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:41 am
dragging a bicycle across a continent

Paraphrasing my hero Sir Henry Rawlinson, "as good a way as any of killing yourself". Although in his case he was referencing a bloke hang gliding.

Well strap me to a tree and call me Brenda.

In what must be one of our wildest digressions of recent times, and this is one for B Dummy Steve, there's a connection between Sir Viv Stanshall and Half Man Half Biscuit, at least as far as John Peel is concerned: "Their [HMHB's] lyrics are the first genuinely and consistently funny pop lyrics since Viv Stanshall wrote for the Bonzo Dog Band, and they are set to unexpectedly memorable tunes, the whole rendered in a manner more appropriate to rehearsal than to performance. Somehow this is as it should be."

"rendered in a manner more appropriate to rehearsal than to performance". Sounds like one of Reg's shambolic bikepacking outings.

Sorry, I'm in that mood today.

In a particularly insensitive mockery of the [climate change] situation the postielady has just this minute knocked on the door and delivered a book I ordered recently - 'When Coal Was King'. A reminiscence of working in the Derbyshire coalfield, as per Reg's relatives. Some superb photographs and stories.

Sorry.... phatbikes then......

don't kid yourself that you're saving the planet cos you're sure as sub standard not fooling anyone else.

I am always little uncomfortable with those who do nothing* but are happy to chastise others

He made the papers and it's clearly not the only thing he does to bring about change. On balance I prefer his approach , of at least trying, than old sods moaning about it saying it achieves nothing.
YMMV

* I have no idea what you do or do not do and it's not meant as a dig it's just it's easy to use a keyboard to be negative and a lot harder to make a difference ( esp as people who agree with the cause have a pop never mind those who don't care and hate cyclists )!

He made the papers and it's clearly not the only thing he does to bring about change. On balance I prefer his approach , of at least trying, than old sods moaning about it saying it achieves nothing.

... but, in this and similar cases, could doing something actually prove to be more harmful than doing nothing?

^ exactly, it's the obvious hypocrisy that means the only people these days who need convincing of the need for changes in lifestyle have just written it off and used it as another example of the loony Net Zero types.

If you want to inspire people to use a bike more to help save the planet (that's what he's saying in the article), show them something they can relate to.
Be the change you want to see and take someone with a large following with you to gain coverage, or other actions like that. Maybe some campaigning for local cycle routes or change on a national level. Not some ultra-distance heroics BS stunt that will be forgotten 5 mins after reading by anyone who actually needs reminding of the situation we're in - or worse, give them ammo to write you off because of the contradictions and hypocrisy of the act itself. Pretty much no-one sees a bike in the snow and relates that to doing some errands by bike for a change, or if they do there's already plenty of examples out there and he isn't adding anything to this whole topic apart from a tonne or so of CO2.

(if he's got a CO2-neutral way of getting there on a research vessel flight then they really need to make that clear)

doing nothing?

I guess it can work but I cannot think of an example where apathy won the day and brought about change.

I guess it can work but I cannot think of an example where apathy won the day and brought about change

Merely using your words John. The first rule of medicine is 'do no harm' and in some instances, that might be best achieved by doing nothing rather than attempting something. I see this as a similar situation. I'm not advocating apathy, simply saying that doing something 'bad' for good reason is still bad.