Woman Bikes to the South Pole

Helen Skelton puts toughness to a new meaning. 28 year old Helen Skelton recently set a world record by becoming the first person ever to bike as part of an expedition to Antarctica's South Pole. She snow knitted 329 miles, snow shoed 68 miles and biked 103 miles to complete her 500-mile journey in just 18 days. The average temperature during this time of year in that area is between -15 and -50 degrees Celsius. Not to mention, she had to endure hurricane-like winds, huge cliffs of ice and super deep snow.

Skelton had to use a special bike, in which the tires of the bike are flat and tubeless to avoid being ripped up by the ice. The tires were 20 inches high so that she can ride through the deep snow. The bike weighed a total of 40 pounds, just 10 pounds more than the average mountain bike.

She had such bad blisters that they require at least 15 meters of medical tape. She said there would be a different pain every day from the cycling, skiing and kite skiing. She also added that when you kite ski there was burning on the face from the wind and your hands freeze as well. To pass the time during the journey, she would play games in her head, such as going through the alphabet and trying to name as many countries for each letter.

Skelton has done many impressive feats before so she is not new to this kind of stuff. She previously high-wire walked between the chimneys of Battersea power station in London and became the first person to solo kayak the length of the Amazon river. This is the kind of person we deem as a true Muscle Prodigy. Probably 99.9% of the population would never even think about doing the kinds of things she does. That's what life is all about, pushing yourself to your uttermost limits and discovering your passion. Yeah, biking through the South Pole may not seem like the best idea for most people and it is certainly dangerous. Your safety always should come first. However, if you have the right pieces in place and have thoroughly evaluated the situation, consider doing something out of the normal one day. It could make you a better and stronger person.

Source
http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/woman-sets-world-record-for-biking-across-antarctica

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/888074-blue-peters-helen-skelton-becomes-first-person-to-cycle-to-the-south-pole