As Kate Leeming’s personal website proclaims, she has already cycled a distance equivalent to the Earth’s equator twice over.
Previous exploits include the 13,400-kilometre Trans-Siberian Cycle Expedition, the 25,000-kilometre Great Australian Cycle Expedition (GRACE) and more recently, the Breaking the Cycle Expedition – a 10-month, 22,040-kilometre ride across Africa through some of the most unforgiving and war-torn landscapes on the planet.
Leeming’s next big adventure, Breaking the Cycle South Pole will be the first bicycle crossing of Antarctica via the South Pole in a journey spanning 1,850 kilometres and around 45 days.
“In doing so, I hope to raise awareness and funds for the plight of those affected by HIV/AIDs in Africa as a continuation of the Breaking the Cycle Africa Expedition,” she told Wild in a recent interview.
“It is my hope that these events also inspire other young women to aim higher and achieve their own potential.”
It is this dedication to help others by performing inspirational feats of stamina and mental fortitude that is the motivation behind each of Leeming’s expeditions.
In 2010, she spent nearly 300 days travelling across Africa from west to east, through 20 different countries including Somalia and the Republic of Congo, but Leeming says her next mission will be a “totally different challenge”, albeit just as (if not more) dangerous.
“It doesn’t matter what the project is, preparation and good planning is absolutely second-to-none when it comes to making it through OK.”
Riding with with the President’s Special Forces, just outside of Garowe, Puntland.
In Africa, that meant 18 months of organisation to arrange partnerships and logistics so that Leeming could pass through borders and travel through hot zones with the correct amount of protection. For Antarctica, Kate is spending more attention to detail as it relates to her gear and supplies.
“The route is by no means the furthest I’ve undertaken,” she says. “But it has its own unique set of risks.”
In order to undertake such a journey, Leeming is developing partnerships with sponsors representing a broad range of businesses, the least of which include her gear and apparel suppliers.
“I’ve been working with Mont and Christini Technologies to trial products in readiness for this journey,” she said. “Mont is custom-designing outer wear garments to complement its existing range of apparel and camping equipment suitable for this kind of journey and I’ve engaged Steve Christini to engineer the polar bicycle.”
Due to the frozen terrain she intends to traverse, Leeming’s idea was to have Christini create an all-wheel-drive technology built into a fatbike, the first of its kind in the world. Then, to test it all in a similar, more controlled environment, she packed off for Spitsbergen in northern Norway.
“We gave everything a very thorough pummelling in negative 30-degree conditions and, with more testing and a few extra tweaks, I think we should be well-prepared for the real thing.”
More than being developed purely for Leeming’s exploits, new products from Christini Technologies and Mont are expected to be re-released on the consumer market sometime after her expedition.
Beginning in December this year, she plans to set out on the journey of a lifetime that will take her clear across Antarctica, in altitude ranging from 0-3,000 metres.
Having just completed a speaking tour of Australia to spread her message on HIV, leadership and the empowerment of young women, Leeming is now turning her attention to a final round of fundraising for Breaking the Cycle South Pole, which she is running through online crowdsourcing platform, Pozible.
More than being a first for adventuring in general, Leeming’s journey will also be notable for feeding content, video and updates directly to a website and mobile application on a regular basis. A dedicated Breaking the Cycle website will allow Kate to share her experiences with the world soon after they occur.