Nov 30 - Dedicating Ride to My Mom

My mother was killed from high cholesterol one year ago today. I wanted to start riding south today but the weather isn't allowing me to get to the coast to my start. However I am still dedicating this expedition to her memory and using this as a way to encourage people to get out and be active.
I still have a few things I need to do before I can start biking to the pole. But the weather is so bad they can't fly out to the drop off point and with a couple of ski expeditions ahead of me it will be a couple of days before I can start so there isn't a lot of pressure to dig my gear out of the snow drift it has disappeared into and get things finalized.
With the strong wind and blowing snow I figured it was a good time to try out layering options. I dropped a couple of layers out of what I have been wearing and still was plenty warm.
I had problems with my googles fogging up and not being able to tell where I was going. I will work on a couple of ideas to see of I can fix this problem.
I thought I could get distance info from my inReach but it doesn't give me that info so I don't know how many miles I did today but it was only about an hour of riding.

My tent is slowly turning into an igloo, it is cold and windy but it is awesome to be in Antarctica.
Get out and be active
Dan

Nov 30 - This is Antarctica!

I don't have any weather equipment. Just one of those extras that didn't make it. So I'm going to call this about a gazillion mph wind, and bitter cold. I have some of my food and my gas for the stove placed around the tent. It has all disappeared in the drifting snow. My tent is slowly getting buried.
Basically, if you think Antarctica is cold wind and inhospitable then you would not be disappointed in today's weather.
I had a route briefing today. We looked at the ground penetrating radar to see where crevasses are. We also looked at ice flow rates that help identify were crevasses are likely to be.
My route will start at hercules inlet and climb up and around a big crevassed area and then basically go south with a bit of zig zagging to get around more dangerous areas. My route is a bit different than the ski routes so that it favors hard packed snow. However the first 30 miles will have a lot of soft snow and a lot of climbing.
Well, I guess it is time to try riding in the worst blizzard you can imagine.

Nov 29 - Colder and Windy

It is now overcast and low visibility. None of the surrounding mountains are visible this morning. The wind also has picked up. It is a lot colder than yesterday. What was water in the bottom of my tent is now just ice.
At 11:00 I will get a route briefing. I will also pack my bags today and try and figure out the best way to distribute the load for this first segment. From the reports I have gotten the first 30 miles are going to be VERY hard.
In the dinning building here at base camp they have an elevation profile for Hercules to South Pole. I have looked for this in the past but could never find one. To conserve satellite minutes I'll wait until I get home to post the picture.

Second Test Ride

I did a second test ride today. 6.25 miles in 1'15". They have dinner at 7 and I left at 6 so I had to push hard to try and finish the ride in time. I ended up arriving at dinner late and soaked. They didn't have the heater on at dinner which is normally good, but I could have used the heat to dry off. After dinner I hung around trying to dry off and talking to people about the biking expeditions.
There are now three expeditions trying to be the first to bike to the pole, mine, Juan Melendez Granados and some other lady that will try and do it with a recumbent fat trike. I don't want to use up all the minutes I got from the satponestore, so I don't have more details about her expedition. Anyway it will be interesting to see how this all works out.
After awhile of hanging out after dinner, I was getting cold from being so wet. I went back to my tent, stripped down to my baselayer and jumped in my sleeping bag, I wasn't in the bag for more than 10 seconds before I was toasty warm.
Tomorrow (actually it is just after midnight here so today) is the 1 year anniversary of my mom dying from high cholesterol. I was hoping to start my expedition on the 30th in honor of her, and to try and use this expedition to promote an active lifestyle. Of course promoting an active lifestyle will still be a goal for this expedition but I won't start going south until at least Dec 1. There are ski expeditions that are ahead of me for flying out.
Get out and do something.

My First Bike Ride in Antarctica

Distance 6.78 miles climb 187 feet descend 177 feet time 1:35
The first day in Antarctica has been great. We got here at about 4 in the morning Chile time which is the time zone I'll use for my expedition. That way the sun will be low in the south while I sleep and at my back while I travel.
After arriving I found a place for my tent and set up the minimums of camp and then got the bike put together. The bike was a big attraction at the base camp. I let anyone that wanted to take it for a test ride. Everyone was surprised how light the Borealis bike is and how well it traveled on the snow.
It is kind of hot in the tent, but the outside weather is not that cold, I'm guessing around 20°F.
I took the bike out for a ride around the skiway (runway), about 6 miles. The bike did real well. However, no matter how hard you think it will be for me to bike to the South Pole...... It will be harder. I didn't have any weight on the bike and wasn't pulling a sled. I hear the conditions from Hercules to Patriot hills, about the first 30 miles, is very similar to the conditions here.

Tonight?

The plane is back inPunta Atenas. The pilots get some rest and if the weather holds out we can fly out tonight. 

Made another attempt to walk up into the mountains. If I translated the sign right it said "private residence, do not enter" so this is as close as I got. 

Weatherman

I think it would be easy to be a weatherman in Punta Arenas. 

Today's weather will be windy with a mix of rain, snow, sunshine, and overcast, but always windy. 

Good news

They made the resupply flight last night. When the plane gets back to Chile then we can fly out. Maybe tonight. 

More Walking

I took my GPS on my walk today to see how far I am walking. Looks like my daily walk abouts are around 20 miles. Sounds good, but it isn't -40 in the snow.

Still waiting for my flight. I have walked in every direction about as far as I can go. I really need to get on my bike and head south!

Bad news

Looking at the web cam photos of union glacier I was hoping the resupply flight was able to go out yesterday, but it didn't happen. So now tomorrow is the earliest possible flight. 

On the positive side, I helped Pablo build a stable for his new nativity set. I guess he accidentally stepped on the last one and broke the head off of Joseph. Anyway the plan is to finish it tonight, and I will be around to help. 

Soft snow?

The fat bike works great on hard or packed snow, but not so good in powder. I'm worried all this bad weather will mean a lot of soft snow making the bike expedition even more difficult.

Still I am anxious to get down there and start riding. 

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my bike.

The resupply flight this morning didn't happen. However there is still a chance they can get a flight in today. If so maybe they can get us on a flight tomorrow.

Cross training

It looks like they might get a resupply flight in tomorrow. But then the weather looks bad again for Wednesday. So Thursday is now looking like the earliest chance to fly down to Antarctica.

I walked up the beach for a few hours today. I now have walk as far as I can go in a day north and as far as I can go in a day south. Tomorrow I'll either catch a boat to the isla Magdalena or see how far was I can walk. It makes for good cross training. Some have suggested I rent a bike, but well I haven't, I just walk around all day. 

Weather improving

They say the weather looks to be better the next couple of days. Hopefully will fly out soon. 

Waiting

Still waiting, I'm told it isn't looking good. Other than that I don't know anything. Sounds like a common problem though. Prince Harry finally made it to Antarctica. And now he is stuck in a storm waiting. 

Found a place to stay

Staying with the LDS Bishop's family until my flight to Antarctica. I'll have to have short limited posts while here. 

Flight delayed

Weather has delayed the fight. They just called and said the earliest the flight could be is Monday. Sound like Monday most likely will get delayed again.

Tonight is the last night I have in my hotel and then I am a homeless traveler. It is the busy season and the hotels are all full. 

Recharged

Got through the weigh in. I was only 45 kg over. Very happy with that. Food and gear should be about 100lbs at the start. 

After the weigh in I spent a few hours laying around the beach and recharged my batteries. 

Weigh in Tomorrow

I've organized every thing into bags that

1 go with me to the drop off

2 go to the first resupply

3 go to second resuppky

4 go to final resupply

Now everything gets weighed and then it wait for my flight to Antarctica. 

Right now it looks like it could be delayed. Bad weather has pushed back a few flight and they need to get caught up with sending supplies to the base camp before we can go.

Sanding next to Juan Menedez Granados. I'm the stif looking guy. It looks like I'm not very comfortable giving or getting hugs. 

Juan is a great guy and I wish him the best. I think we will cooperate with each other but he wants to maintain his solo status so we won't be biking together. 

Good Morning Punta Arenas

Beautiful morning. The sun is coming up, there aren't a lot of clouds and right now the wind isn't blowing. I have a communications check at 10am and then a pre expedition meeting at 3 pm. 

Ice bike

One of the guys working on the Toyota truck expedition was Doug Stoup. Talked to him a bit about his ride on his ice bike about 10 years ago. He was tent bound for days and had to keep going out and digging out his tent. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1935038_1935083_1935722,00.html

Reunited

 Great day! I was reunited with my bike. 

Everything was in perfect condition. 

There are a lot of people preparing for expeditions. There was a room full of parachutes, but the biggest thing here is a Toyota truck getting read for a run to the pole. 

I spent the day repackaging my food. Right now is one of those times when everything seems right. 

Waiting

It sure will be nice when I can start biking. I found out my bike arrived yesterday. ALE told me they would call later today after they got it from the airport. Waited all day. No call. 

Working together?

Got an email from Juan. He is arriving today but said he didn't have his bike. Not sure what that means. It will be nice to meet him. I have offered to work with him. I think working together would improve both of our odds of reaching the South Pole. 

It doesn't get dark here until after 10 pm and is light by 5 am. Of course when I arrive in Antarctica it won't ever get dark. 

Vientos

Vientos - the hostal I'm staying in, or Spanish for wind. 

They say that Punta Arenas is a land of contrast. It can be dead calm, but since I have been here it is windy, or rain and windy. Google says it is 7C and 35 km/h but I'm such an American that I don't know what that means.

I decided to go penguin hunting. I'm told if I want to find penguins I need to take the boat to Isla  Magdalena  where all the penguins like to hang out. Maybe that will be tomorrow's activity. I walked up the beach just in case some penguin got lost on its way to the Isla. No penguins but I found some other things I found interesting.

Some historic ship wreck. There was a sign about it but about all it said was that it was historic and to leave it alone. 

My mom loved to walk on the beach and collect shells and rocks for polishing. I don't think anyone does that here. There are tons of shells and what I think are agates, but what do I know? Anyway I left them there for my mom. 

Then I came to this strange park. At first I thought it was just playground toys for kids. The I realized this is exercise equipment. They all seemed to work well but give little resistance and for the most part not much of a workout. Here is a treadmill. 

Like the treadmill but now your arms join in the fun. 

Pull up machine. Sit in the chair and pull down the handle to lift yourself. 

A few machines here, some treadmills an elliptical trainer and something you sit on and pull with arms and push with feet. 

I wasn't sure what this was. I guess some kind of parallel bars. Boring!

This was cool, a leg press that uses your body weight for resistance. I need to eat more ice cream so I can use this to get in shape. 

Stand on the plate and twist back and forth. You would need to do a lot of this to get a core workout. 

More elliptical trainers.

Snowmen dressed like Canadian Mounties?

And I guess the USA isn't the only place that makes poor bike lanes. I know it is obvious, but in case you don't see it, the pole uses up the whole bike lane. 

Is hello hola backwards? If so, hello.

Walking along the Strait of Megellian

Walked down to ALE today. They told me my bike and gear should arrive today or tomorrow. Then when I got back to my hotel I got an email with flight information. I couldn't quite tell what it all meant but it does look like my bike will be here soon.

I walked around the beach a bit. Turned on the satellite tracking so that the tracking map would show me in Punta arenas.

It is a bit windy here. It was raining a bit but nothing was getting wet because the wind would dry out the rain as soon as it would hit. The water front on the Strait of Magellan here is interesting. Nice little paths, benches, and basketball courts. But nobody was out there. It was kind of like a ghost town. I guess it is just too cold and windy. I took a few pictures but I don't have a computer to download the pictures with. I'll use the little camera next time so I can post a picture or two to the blog. 

Skipping winter

Well, I made it to Punta Arenas. It is about 9 pm but it is still light. Looks like I successfully skipped over winter.

I loved winter when I would ski, snowmobile, and other winter sports. Skiing ended up becoming too expensive, and I opened a bike store and got to where I really didn't like winter. I would tell people I was ready for winter to end when the first snow storm hit. The fat bike changed that. Winter is still hard because sales at the store are low in the winter, but having a fun winter sport has brought the joy back into what otherwise would be a cold dark season.

Talked to a couple of guys from the Czech Republic today. They are headed down to Union Glacier in a couple of days to do a marathon and a 100k run. Their Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/PetrVabrousek

Santiago Chile

I made it through customs in Santiago. Now waiting for my flight to Punta Arenas. Last I knew my bike and gear were still here in Santiago. They were talking about morning it into smaller crates so that it can fly the rest of the way. Anyway I'm hoping it gets there soon. 

Winter Bike Challenge

Mark bought a Borealis Yampa before I left Utah, and committed to matching the number of miles I ride each day. He figures no matter the weather it will be nicer than Antarctica.

So, are you willing to join the challenge and bike through the winter, matching the miles I travel each day?

Landing in New York Soon

That was scary! 1:30 am, 35,000 feet high, somewhere above Iowa going 600 mph, I woke up. I started feeling like I would pass out. Do I need the barf bag? The I start to sweat. I'm sweating more than I would biking in 120° In the southern Utah desert.

Somehow I made it through. Not sure what caused that but now I don't dare sleep or listen to the headphones in case it was either of those causing me to have a motion sickness attack.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go

Well, mostly the song doesn't fit but skipping to the chorus...

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh baby, I can't wait to go

My bike and gear are on an adventure if their own. Hoping they are in Punta Arenas soon! 

Nerd Biker

As a computer programmer in my former life, and now as a full time bike rider, the gear for this expedition would make the geek and the cyclist grin from ear to ear.
I have the most awesome fat bike, a Borealis Yampa with 5" wide tires, a carbon frame, Shimano XT components, Giant carbon Handle bars seatpost and stem, and an e*thirteen crank. I have great clothing from Pearl iZumi, and Canada Goose and awesome camping gear from Bear River Outfitters.
Now I top that off with some real fun electronics. I am using an iPad mini connected by Wifi to a RedPort Optimizer. The optimizer allows me to connect to my camera with Wifi and then send pictures and text dates to my blog using the Iridium satellite phone. All this made possible thanks to the satphonestore.com.
Yeah, there are sure to be some very trying times ahead, but right now this is the nerd biker's dream.
Sent from my sat phone.

First Sat Phone Post

Got my sat phone setup from satphonestore.com. Now I need to test creating a blog entry phone the sat phone.

Down to the Wire

I am trying to get last minute things taken care of so I can leave my store for 2 - 3 months. I just have so much to do and so little time left.

I got an email from Juan Menendez Granados. He will be flying down to Punta Arenas on Nov 19. He is taking his bike and gear with him since it is too late to get it shipped. My bike and gear is stuck in Santiago trying to get through customs. I am told that customs is on strike and there are border closures that are making it hard to get the bike to Punta Arenas. I am very worried about my bike and gear. It is hard when you have no control over what is happening.

I got my satellite phone and wifi optimizer from satphonestore.com and am trying to figure out how everything works. Wish I had a little more time to play with it but I am so overloaded with other things I have to do. Right now I wish I could just simply be biking south instead of dealing with all the logistics. I haven't ridden a bike for a couple of days now since I have been loaded up with other tasks.

Two days until I start my flights to get to Antarctica. Hoping everything comes together in time.

Put Down Your Stupid Phone and Drive!

I rarely drive a car anymore. I usually ride my bike to get where I need to go. When I do go somewhere in a car, my son, daughter, or wife is usually doing the driving.

This morning I went shopping for some last minute items and used the car, and I have to say, "Put down your stupid phone and drive!" People using their phones for talking, texting, browsing the web, or whatever else they are doing when they should be driving are worse than drunk drivers.

You may think you are better than everyone else and you can drive and use your phone at the same time, but you are WRONG. Whatever you are doing with your phone is not more important than someone's life. Quit using your phone while driving before you kill someone.

4 Days to Go

My antique tractor

Just checked the DHL tracking. Looks like my crate with the bike and the gear has arrived in Santiago Chile. The planes that fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas are narrow body jets which means the crate has to go by truck the rest of the way.

I leave Salt Lake City Friday night, and arrive in Punta Arenas on Sunday. Only 4 more days left. I'm playing around with the new cameras that my father is letting me use for the expedition.

I have a Canon EOS 7D that I will use in Punta Arenas, at Union Glacier and then at the drop off point on Hercules Inlet. We are worried that the camera will not function properly in the extreme colds of the expedition without some modifications. So I will not take it with me on the bike.

I have a Canon PowerShot G16 that I will take with me on the bike for still pictures. It is small enough and light enough that I can carry it in a pocket close to my body to keep it warm. I'll keep it in a plastic bag to keep it from getting fogged up. I will also have a Sony Handycam that I will use for video while biking. Like the Canon I will be able to keep it close to the body to keep it warm.

For POV cameras I have two Contour cameras. We have modified the back to the camera so that we can plug in external power and are hoping that the Skinz handlebar bag will keep the batteries warm enough. If not I will be able to put those batteries inside my coat also.

Prayers for the Philippines

My heart and prayers go out for the people of the Philippines. My neighbor is serving as a missionary a few miles outside of Tacloban where the storm hit. Fortunately she has been accounted for, but it is reported that over 10,000 in that area died and millions are living in areas devastated by the storm. Sometimes it seems that the things we are doing are so insignificant compared to the problems faced by others. Today was one of those times. 

Frosted Gas Can

I will be using an MSR Wisperlite stove to melt snow for drinking water, and for re-hydrating my freeze dried food. ALE will give me 4 gallons of Coleman fuel when I get to Antarctica. The metal cans getting bounced around on the way to the South Pole can end up leaking which would be double bad. No fuel, no water, and fuel getting into food and gear would ruin the food and gear.

Frosted gas jug

I was told I should get good quality plastic gas jugs. Some plastic gas jugs may not handle the cold or bouncing around. I looked at the gas jugs at Walmart. They seemed like they were nice, but a lot of things from Walmart break real easy, it seems that at Walmart price is more important than quality. So I also looked at the auto parts store. The auto part store jug looked cheaper than the Walmart jug. Also the Walmart jug was HDPE which is rated to -148 F, much colder than I will experience. The auto parts store jug was "other plastic" so I have no idea how cold it is designed for.

I bought a sample jug and took it over to the Smiths grocery store next to my bike store, and asked if I could put it in their freezer. Instead they put it in with the dry ice. Dry ice sublimates at -109 F so if it can stand that cold I should be good.

After about an hour packed in the dry ice freezer I went back and got the jug. It was too cold to handle with bare hands. I took the jug and banged it on the floor and tested to see if the plastic would be brittle. I am so happy to say it passed the test! So now I need to go back to Walmart and get 3 more 1 gallon jugs.

T-7 days

I was going to say my expedition will start in one week, however with the amount of time and work I have been putting into this expedition since early February I think that is when the expedition really started. I have put endless hours into working on the plan, studying other expeditions, and learning everything I could about Antarctica. Then I did everything I could to try and get funding for the expedition. Once I got the money for the expedition I was able to work with a lot of great companies to get the equipment that I need for this expedition. 

The sponsors on my Sponsors Page have all been incredible. I choose each of these companies because I their products were what I needed. However I have to say that the people that work for each of these companies are as great as their products!

Of course I have spent many, many hours and riding my fat bike. I stopped using the GPS to track my miles in the last while. It is kind of strange but heading into the expedition I have wanted to just be able to do some riding without it being published to the world. As I am riding to the South Pole I will be recording as much data on the expedition as possible, and using the tracking map people will be able to see where I am at all times. It has just been nice to not worry about that for little while.

Anyway, there is so much that has gone into this expedition the last 9 months. My traveling portion of the expedition starts next Friday, and the Antarctic part of the expedition starts on the 23rd. Weather and other things could force changes to my schedule but here is the current plan:

• 15 Nov 2013 - Leave Salt Lake City, flying to New York, Santiago, and then to Punta Arenas
• 17 Nov Arrive in Punta Arenas. Get bike and gear through customs, repackage food into bags for the expedition
• 23 Nov Fly from Punta Arenas Chile to Union Glacier, while acclimating check out bike and equipment to make sure everything is working correctly
• 30 Nov Fly to Hercules Inlet. I want to start this day because it is the 1st anniversary of my mother dying from high cholesterol. I really want to be able to use this expedition as a way to promote active living and help people live a healthy long life.
• 4 Dec - Celebrate my 50th birthday in Antarctica by going for a bike ride :-)
• 14 Dec - Wish my wife a happy anniversary. First time we won't be together for our anniversary.
• 25 Dec - A white Christmas. My daughter will be calling home from Croatia where she is serving as a missionary. I will call home at the same time and with the miracle of speaker phones get to talk to my daughter for a couple of minutes.
• 1 Jan 2014. New Year in Antarctica. By this time I should be getting close to the South Pole.
• Early January fly back from the South Pole to Union Glacier.

I plan on riding 10 hours a day. My best guess is this should result in about 20 nautical miles a day. The planned route is 709 miles, but by the time you factor in deviations from the planned route the actual route will likely be more. I am planning on 750 miles. So 23 miles (20 nautical miles) per day should get me there in 33 days and get me to the South Pole the first week of January. I am scheduled to fly back from the South Pole on Jan 22, so I should have plenty of extra time and hopefully I will be rescheduling for an early flight back. 

Do What You Love, and You Will Love What You Do

Sometimes when I am mountain biking, climbing the hard hills, and flying back down the rock twisty trail through the trees, I have an overwhelming felling, I wish I could do this for a living! And of course being a bike shop owner, it is what I do for a living.

This morning was one of those rides. I had a great time biking up and down the trail in Tickville Gulch until I got a flat and had to walk my bike back home to pump up the tire. I have the wheels set up tubeless, and rather than putting a tube I would rather walk home where I can pump up the tire and keep it tubeless. Also, sometimes it is nice to just walk along with the bike.

Anyway back on the bike and headed into work and that feeling comes over me. As long as I am peddling a bike, everything is right in the world. I am so lucky to be living in such a beautiful world, and I would love to be able to bike all day everyday for a couple of months. Which is just what I am going to do.

I know that some time in the near future I will be pushing up hill in a whiteout blizzard, 40 below with a 30mph headwind and soft snow. Yes, when that happens my attitude will be different. I will look forward to being able to have a nice warm comfortable place to rest. I know going into this, that it will be the most difficult and miserable thing I will ever do, but in the end it will be worthwhile.

Some people will say don't do what you love as a career because it will turn what you love into work. I don't agree. Owning a bike store I get to spend all day working on, and talking about bikes. I meet some of the greatest people. It is hard work, but I think I am helping other people find a great way to relieve stress and to get physical exercise in an enjoyable way. Now if I could just figure out how to make a profit.

KSL Story

Jed Boal from KSL came and interviewed me yesterday. It is always interesting to see what things make it into a story and what doesn't make the cut. It is also interesting to read the comments that people make about the story. The story ran on the 10pm news and here is the link http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27523174&nid=148 

This morning I went up to Salt Lake City to talk to a class about the expedition. I always talk too much when people ask me about what I am doing. I ended up biking into work just barely in time to be able to get a quick shower before opening up the store. I love a nice long warm shower. Two months of biking without being able to take a shower... I will be more than ready for a shower when I get back.

Biking Home in the Dark

The hardest thing about biking home after work in the winter isn't the cold, the snow, or the wind, it is the darkness. Don't get me wrong I love doing a mountain bike night ride. Mountain biking with lights is a lot of fun, but I have a hard time getting motivated to bike home in the dark. I better get going though, I should be on the 10pm news on KSL TV tonight.

Nutrition Plan

Q: Could you detail what dietary plans you have? What will you eat, how many calories per day?

Food from Ready Store

A: One of my first sponsors was the Ready Store. The president of Ready Store brought his bike in to be worked on and when I told him about my expedition he asked what I would be eating. I need to have meals that are easy to prepare and are light to carry so I wanted mostly freeze dried food. Ready Store is a top seller of Mountain House food and has their own brand of food, Saratoga Farms. 

I have been working on a food plan with Saratoga Farms for many months now. We are planning on 50 days of food at 7,000 calories per day for a total of about 350,000 calories. For breakfast I have things like eggs and bacon, breakfast skillet, eggs with ham and peppers, instant breakfast drink mix, and orange juice. For lunch I have a some Saratoga Farms Mountain Man stew that I can make in the morning and put in a Hydro Flask and eat for a lunch break. I also have a lot of freeze dried fruits, bananas, strawberries, oranges, and blackberries. Also I love the Honey Stinger waffles, so I have a lot of those and some Sports Beans that I can eat on the bike. 

Food and bike in the crate

I love that I can take strawberries with me. One year when I was doing LOTOJA I pushed too hard on the king of the mountain and ended up completely bonked going through star valley. When we got to Alpine the Russ' wife had a bunch of strawberries. I think I ate more than my share of them, and for some reason, maybe the strawberries, I recovered and finished the rest of the ride feeling good. Russ struggled a bit on that last stretch, I think it is because I ate all his strawberries. So anyway I love that I get to take strawberries with me.

The crate all ready to go to Antarctica

For dinner I have a variety of freeze dried meals, Lasagna, Sweet and Sour Pork, Chicken a la King etc. I also have some freeze dried cheese that I can add to the dinner meals adding calories and flavor. I will buy some butter in Punta Arenas to add to my meals and increase the calories.

Overall I know it is hard to eat 7,000 calories a day so I am trying to gain a bit of weight before I go, however my riding schedule seems to be preventing me from gaining weight. Getting everything ready to go these last few days has cut into my riding time, but it also has cut into my getting extra food so the weight gain isn't happening. 

All the food got packed into the crate with my bike last week and is on its way to Chile. When I get there I will take everything out of the cans and vacuum pack it into bags, and eliminate all the extra packaging that I don't need. I have to do it in Chile because the food has to be in its original containers to be able to get through customs.

Human Pinball

Word of advice: Two weeks before you go on an expedition to the South Pole is not a good time to play human pinball.

My new Borealis Yampa bike (which is now on it's way to Chile) rides so much better than the Moonlander that I have been training on. It is amazing how much faster and agile the Yampa feels compared to the training bike. It is going to be a great expedition bike.

Today I left Myron in charge of the store and got a little ride in on my new Anthem 27.5 bike. The difference between this bike and the Yampa is much like the difference between the Yampa and the training bike. The Anthem is snappy fast and agile.

t-post

So I take off with Jake up the Tickville Gulch trail. Near the end of the trail it goes along a split rail fence and ends with a gap in the fence. In the middle of that gap is a t-post. Not sure why it is there but it leaves just enough room between the split rail fence and the t-post. That is, it leaves enough room if you don't bounce off the split rail fence like a pinball and then take a direct hit into the t-post.

Biking 750 miles in the snow, up hill, with a head wind, will be a lot easier if my arm doesn't feel like it does right now.

Gap in fence with t-post