Monday, December 16, 2013

Do You Know Why They Sing That Song?

S 81°56.649'
W 078°57.421'
20 nm today 496 to go.
If every day were like today everyone would bike to the South Pole. Make no mistake, today was once again the hardest day of my life, but 20?... I'll take that!
Finally a sunny day. I could see where I was going and it was up a nice incline with soft snow and large sastrugi. But after that climb, the day had a lot of flatter sections with good snow conditions. I was able to ride up and clear some nice slopes without having to resort to hike-a-bike! It was hard work, but I was able to lay down some serious miles. By the end of the day I was exhausted as always, but kept pushing to be able to hit 20.
I listen to scriptures on Sunday but other than that have pretty much ridden in silence, except for the talking to myself. This afternoon I put on some music. Du Hast is a great song to get you through some nasty sastrugi! When I first started listening to the music I started singing along. When there is nobody around for thousands of miles (OK, there are a couple expeditions closer than that) you can sing as loudly and badly as you like and nobody will ask if you know why they sing that song.
A word on the numbers. My Dad was concerned that my mileage was wrong. The thing is, I am not traveling straight south. There are crevasses that have to be avoided. Some of these are known from the history of other expeditions, others from a combination of ground penetrating radar and ice flow rates. Also, sometimes I have to go around sastrugi, and of course sometimes I go a bit extra from errors in navigation. So my miles traveled are not the same as miles made good which is not the same as miles straight to the pole. The only number that really counts is the south part of my coordinates, so I will include my coordinates in future posts. Each nautical mile is 1 minute south assuming you are headed straight south. So if I get 15 miles that gets me about 1/4 of a degree, and of course 90° is the number I have to reach.
Remember to get out and be active,
Dan



5 comments:

  1. THe Guy from Spain said he passed you on his 4th day... I hope not!

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    1. He did, but he's skiing as well. Bottom line is if Juan makes it and Dan makes it, Dan will have put in more distance on the bike. The fact that Juan has skis and is using them would reduce his claim to the title of biking to the South Pole. However, if he makes it and Dan doesn't...give it to him until someone does better.

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  2. You're doing great! It's fun to follow your posts and see your progress. Keep it up!

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  3. @MSD

    The guy from Spain has barely touched his bike, his trek should be renamed "Taking a Bike to the South Pole" not ridding a bike to the South Pole.

    Either way Dan has been catching up on him the last few days with longer days. Compare the two maps by lining them up in different internet browser tabs then hit ALT Tab to switch back and forth really quick, that will allow you to see how close they are:

    Dan - https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=zZ7c7q6h_WSI.kx-4oZ_QetKk

    Juan - https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=zELt5P_i-9no.kXbuyLAxhOFA

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