Blue Peter's Helen Skelton will cycle to South Pole

Will she cycle back - another 500 miles?

...but nice to see Dan Hanebrink is still making crazy great designs.

Hmm, with the small diameter wheels the rear mech is close to the ground. Yes those are LGP tyres but unless the snow is hard packed, the bike will still be sinking into the snow to a degree and that means the rear mech will be dragging through powdery snow on a regular basis, which will affect chain lubrication and the operation of the gears. I've never ridden a bicycle for any great distance on snow in proper Arctic (or Antarctic) conditions though I've used my mountain bike in the snow in the last two winters here. I have done quite a bit of snowmobiling in the Arctic in Sweden, Finland and Spitsbergen though and I know how much those can sink in when the snow's powdery, although admittedly they are somewhat heavier. But if it was me riding that bike, I'd want a larger diameter rear wheel. For my money, the Surly looks the better machine.

I wish her the best of luck. She is going to need it.

Damn, Aidan beat me to Mike Curiak Rather lovely video:

http://lacemine29.blogspot.com/2010/12/iditatour-part-one.html

http://www.aidanharding.com/2011/12/celebrity-adventure/

Here's some thoughts on her "record breaking" adventure by someone who did the full Iditarod (in addition to having done the Tour Divide a few times).

Iditarod is all ice and snow with the added fun/danger of running water in places where the weight of the ice has push river/lake water up through cracks.

Mike Curiak rode the whole 1000+ miles last year without any external support. No resupply at villages and no taking shelter in buildings of any sort. I think he could make a pretty good claim to having the longest snow bike ride ever.

Good luck to her, but I don't think she'll be getting far with that bike!

let's hope there aren't any kerbs in the antarctic then, eh

Here's the bike she'll be using:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/diaries/helen-skeltons-polar-challenge-for-spo...

And a video of it in action:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mhmhg

Well, after the informal chat with the BBC about just this kind of thing last year that's quite annoying.

Fair play to Helen though, if she can pull this off she's certainly earned respect from 'serious' adventurers.

Fair point about Iditarod. Competitors are required to be self-sufficient for several days if needs be, but there are resupply points on route.

I remember reading an interview with john stamstad whose iditabike training consisted of five-hour stints on the turbo staring at a blank white wall and trying to maintain a heart rate of 155bpm...

I guess one essential difference is that with Iditarod for example, although conditions sound like they are often horrendous, the route passes by a number of settlements of various sizes plus the terrain and geography differ - she's just going to be out on her own (+ crew) on the ice and snow?

Many people have completed the 1000 mile on a bike....BUT how much of it is snow? as i have never heard of that race before i have no clue

Some variants of Iditabike are over 1,100 miles, so this'll be nowhere close. Best of luck, though

[edit: http://www.aidanharding.com/2011/12/celebrity-adventure/]