By now, the world is familiar with Omar Di Felice’s cold-weather cycling faculties. The Italian former professional race rider pulled off an impressive project in the Arctic earlier this year. His new objective takes him to the opposite side of the planet.
Omar Di Felice has announced his plans for a coast-to-coast bike ride through Antarctica. His route will take him to the South Pole, and then across the continent to the base of the Leverett Glacier. Then, he’ll reverse it back to the pole. He plans to do it completely unsupported.
If Di Felice pulls it off, he will become the second person to cycle from the Antarctican coast to the South Pole and the first to link up the continent’s shores on a bike.
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He’ll reportedly cover 994 miles to do it, blowing the current record of the farthest bike ride in Antarctica out of the water. (That currently belongs to Daniel Burton, who rode 774.8 miles along the Hercules Route, with food drops, in 2013-14.)
Di Felice’s route does include one thing that will give him a distinct advantage: a road. Riding a bike through Antarctic snow can mean a lot of walking. While his route will include plenty of that, he’ll also take advantage of an access road between McMurdo Station (a U.S. research facility) and the South Pole.
If the biking wasn’t enough work on its own, Di Felice also plans to study the continent through the lens of climate change along the way. An environmental science degree he intends to earn soon will inform his work.
Di Felice calls the ambitious project Antarctica Unlimited. Its marathon duration — 18 months — means that he will finish its various objectives around March 2024.
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