Originally Posted by axolotl

Native peoples in the Arctic migrated to the region via land. No such land bridge exists to the Antarctic. I don't think it's at all surprising that there are no native peoples on the Antarctic continent. Consider other mammals native to the arctic region versus the Antarctic region. In the Antarctic, they are ALL marine mammals.

Originally Posted by Randobarf

On either side of the Arctic Ocean once you reach the end of the road it's no longer cycling. Global warming is now changing the characteristics of the sea ice in the arctic making travel even more difficult. The obscure town in the Canadian arctic is Inuvik. Inuvik is on the furthest north road in Canada. There are no other land routes to the arctic in Canada. There is an ice road to Tuktoyaktuk, north of Inuvik and that is the absolute end of the road. You cannot ride a bike any further.

You cannot ride your bike to the north pole. I'm not challenging you to do it - it's simply impossible.

In Alaska you can ride as far north as the industrial perimeter of Prudhoe Bay but there is no public access to the sea ice.

Originally Posted by CollectiveInk

how did the boys at TopGear drive a toyota Hilux there?

Originally Posted by mev

My brother and sister-in-law worked there for one Antarctic summer:
https://www.jeanbert.com/antarctica/life.html

That is not to mention the general discouragement the US government (and probably others) would have against tourists getting themselves in trouble and then having to be bailed out.

Originally Posted by Niles H.

Along the left hand side, the third and fourth pictures down show the basic gear:

https://www.thepoles.com/news.php?id=16707

Small diameter, ultra-wide tires seem to be this guy's choice.

Larger diameter tires would seem to have advantages over these, in some conditions at least.

This looks like it could be fun -- towing a sled around in winter. No bugs, plenty of fresh water. No Natashas on the prowl. Silence. Solitude. Fresh, clean air.

***
It seems that some people who cross Antarctica have a plane drop supplies at strategic intervals (something like PCT hikers mailing food packages ahead for pickup where it will be needed). Accurate GPS devices would make this sort of drop-off system easier than it used to be.

***
It is surprising how mild the temperatures are in Antarctica during the summers.

***
There is a lot of food there, too. Penguins are pretty substantial, and seals, walruses, and fish.

For vegetarians, there are seaweeds, and possibly some edible lichens and mosses.

I wouldn't count on supplying my nutritional needs by foraging for vegetables, though.

***
It is somewhat surprising that there were no (known) native peoples on this continent. Eskimos and Inuits lived in comparably challenging environments.

***
Some of the surfaces (judging from photographs) don't look impossible for cycling. Icy plains look quite doable with wide, studded tires.

Originally Posted by spinnaker

The only way I see this tour being any nearly affordable would be to convince one of the touring companies to take you and the bike. Take it for a ride down the trail where folks normally walk then come back....

Originally Posted by Randobarf

First of all the motoring boffins at TopGear did not drive all the way to the (1996) polar north. They started in Resolute, not on mainland Canada. There is no road to Resolute. Secondly, there were two trucks because one was needed to winch the other. The trucks were not off-the-shelf trucks. They were heavily modified with ultra-low pressure (3psi) flotation tires designed for snow. Even the motors were modified to burn a mixture of diesel fuel and avgas. The most disturbing aspect of that escapade is the total amount of oil required to conduct the movement of two heavy vehicles so far north. I see no purpose in that whatsoever. It's a pure vanity trip that encourages others to do the same.

They also only drove one way.

Here's the episode:

https://video.google.com/videoplay?do...0154349675922#