December 30 -- Ups and Downs

South 85º 24.242' West 081º 07.397' Elevation 4,422 ft.  20 nautical miles

Bike and my two sleds with the Thiels Mountains

The day started out sunny with low wind. I was able to crank out a quick 10 miles. The Thiels mountains are visible to the west. It is nice to be able to see something besides just a sea of white. The after noon tuned cloudy and the visibility dropped. I was able to get a very nice 20 miles in for the day. It was a day of going slightly up and down with the altitude flirting with 4,500 ft.  I can't tell if what is ahead is a cloud bank or a steep climb. If it is a climb, that is fine, as the pole is still 5,000 feet higher than I am now. Hoping to get at least 16 miles tomorrow.

December 29 -- Weight Loss

South 85º04.979" West 080º46.905" Elevation 4,434  0 miles

I spent the day sleeping and repacking all my gear. The bike has been stripped down as light as possible and I left all my extra food and gear to be taken by ALE back to base camp. I don't know how much my new load weighs, but I think I left behind more weight than what I have moving forward. My goal is to get 1/4 of a degree each day. This would give me 20 days of travel and 3 rest days, getting my to the south pole by around the 20th of January.

December 28 -- Ultra Weight Weenie

South 85º 04.979" West 080º46.905" Elevation 4,434 16.5 miles

In some ways, you could look at this expedition as a three part journey. The first part was the climb up from the coast of Hercules inlet. It was the steepest part and hopefully the softest snow, and very difficult. The second would be from near Patriot Hills to Thiels mountain, which is what I have just completed. It was still very hard, but they have driven machines from Patriot Hills to here so there has been a packed trail to follow. This should have been the best biking conditions of the journey. The third and final section starts now. From here on, there is no more packed route and there is a lot of climbing. Hopefully, the snow is harder now than it was during the first section. But other than that it will be a lot like the first section. The weight of the sleds killed me on those first days. Trying to pull all that weight up those slopes was just too much. If the next section goes as bad as the first I will never make it. So here is the plan: I'm going ultra weight weenie. I'm going to get rid of my brakes, my big chain ring, water bottle cages, racks and panniers. I will tape over the bolt holes for the cages and the racks so I don't get snow and extra weight in the bike and I'm getting rid of the bolts. There is a lot of gear I brought that I just don't need. I brought a bunch of charging wires and electronic stuff that I'm not taking the rest of the way. I think there is more weight in the gear I will drop than what I'm picking up in my resupply so I should be the lightest I've been up to this point. By going as light as possible I think I can still get the 16 miles per day and complete the expedition.

December 27 -- Don't Spill the Beans

South 84º 49.000" West 080º 35.750"  16.8 nautical miles  9 hours 4,390 ft.

I started the day tired and not wanting to ride. I recorded some video but just didn't have the strength to work like I should. It was cloudy and low contrast, making it hard to see. So while the snow conditions were great, I just wasn't doing well and I had my worst crash so far. When I started, I had a bunch of honey stinger waffles and sport beans. There were heavy so I ate them as fast as I could. I ran out of waffles yesterday. If you don't seal your zip top sandwich bags, you will spill your beans. They ended up being a gooey mess in the bottom of my pannier, but I had eaten the rest of them, so I gathered the sticky, gross beans and put them in a bag. The rest of the day, I ate a handful of beans every mile. That might sound like a lot, but I was biking at 2-3 knots. After I started doing that, my energy returned and I finished out the day getting my target minimum of 16 miles. Tomorrow should be a short day as I will reach 85 degrees after about 12 miles. I will then take a rest day on Sunday, and get ready for the last half.

December 26, 2013 -- And Then It Went Downhill

South 84º 33.423" West 080º 25.032" 18.8 miles

There is an elevation profile of the route in the dinner tent at base camp. It shows that at some point there is a good downhill. I was starting to wonder if I had already hit it and it just wasn't as big as I expected. But shortly after starting this morning I hit the downhill. It was great to get a break from all the climbing. Of course, I now have to climb it again, but it was a nice relief. Adding the last night and early morning miles in, I was thinking I might get a 30 mile day in. Then I saw the first person that I have seen in what seems like forever--or at least an arm. The arctic truck was headed back from its trip to the pole. They waved as they flew past. After the truck went by a [fog] moved in and I lost the ability to see anything. The easiest way to navigate was to follow the new path from the truck, but it had pulverized all the snow, making for bad biking conditions. Also, there was a bit of wind and it got really cold. I started adding layers to my body and hands but I just couldn't keep my fingers warm. I'm not going to let frostbite end my expedition, and I had all the miles I needed to get. So I ended early and failed to get the last five miles that I needed to get thirty. Oh well, twenty-five on the records worked and I had now traveled over 300 miles, which is the record for the most miles traveled by bike in Antarctica. It also means I can reach the halfway point on Saturday.

HALF WAY!!!! But Wi-Fi Batteries not charged

Sorry about not having posts the past few days. Daniel called  from his Iridium satellite phone and said that it has been cloudy and his wi-fi connection equipment has not been able to get charged.
He said that he saw the arctic truck driving out on the ice. He arrived at 84.33.423 on Thursday the 26th, 84.49.000, traveling 16 miles on Friday the 27th. He called a few minutes ago to say that he has now passed 85 degrees, or the halfway point. His cache is still five miles away. He is hoping to charge batteries on Sunday so that he can resume his posts.

Thank you to all who are being so helpful and supportive. This wouldn't be possible without you.

Christmas Night

S 84°15.000' W 080°15.634' 6.2 nm
I was going to go for 8 miles giving me 16 for the day, but the 6.2 got me to 1/4 of a degree which works for my goal of getting to 85° and half way to the pole on Saturday. I was actually making great time but I'm tired and figured some good rest will help me be ready to get my 16 miles tomorrow. And after all it is Christmas and so I should get a bit of a holiday.