Man Climbs Over 95,000 Feet to Break the World Record

California native Craig Cannon bought his first road bike last year and already holds the world two-day elevation record

The mammoth and feared Col du Tour malet took Tour de France riders along a 4,500-foot climb during Stage 11 of this year’s race. For a California man in a Hawaiian-themed kit last week, that was only about five percent of his ride’s total elevation gain.

Craig Cannon broke the world record August 7 for most feet climbed on a bike in a 48-hour span, ascending 95,623 feet—170 higher than the previous mark—with six hours to spare. Cannon used Strava and a GoPro to document his ride, which sent him back and forth in Orinda Tilden National Park in California for 339.5 miles. He had first finished an “Everesting”—climbing the equivalent height of Mt. Everest’s 29,029-foot peak—in June, and after testing first to see if he could stay up for 48 hours, and completing a 24-hour ride last month on the prospective course, he decided the world record was attainable.

Food for thought – ‘Great Men Are Almost Always Bad Men’

Is Lance Armstrong Still A Hero?

For many, many years, cyclist Lance Armstrong was held up around the world as a hero. The collective culture stood in awe, inspired by his seven consecutive Tour de France titles and his bold, unpredictable victory over cancer.

Most heroic, perhaps, was the creation of his foundation, The Lance Armstrong Foundation – now known as Livestrong. The purpose: “to identify the issues faced by cancer survivors in order to comprehensively improve quality of life for members of the global cancer community.”

Since it’s inception in 1997, Livestrong has raised more than $470 million dollars for the fight against cancer, and 81% of the funds went directly to support programs and services for survivors.

Here’s the question: Can good deeds cement the title “hero,” even if the hero is revealed to be – in reality – a determined, but flawed and unethical human being?

In August 2012, Armstrong announced that after more than 10 years of battle, he would stop fighting the charges of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), claiming that he systematically used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career and was instrumental in the organized doping of his tour-winning teammates.

He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport – his sport – for life, and Tour de France officials are looking to demand repayment of his tour winnings. All nine of Armstrong’s sponsors have dropped him to protect their brands.

In 2013 he finally admitted it to Oprah: He “doped” to win seven Tour de France titles and got caught in a web of lies that society won’t likely soon forget.

But does this mean that we should discard him as an icon of how the human spirit can trump adversity? Let us remember this: in 1996 this man started coughing blood and was found to have testicular cancer so advanced that it had spread to his lungs and seeded two metastases in his brain.

But before those victories ever happened, Armstrong was a relatively unknown 20-something-year-old battling stage three testicular cancer.

“I intend to beat this disease,” he told the New York Times in 1996. “I’m 25 years old. I’m one of the best in my sport–why would I have cancer? … This is something I got stuck with and now have to work through.”

A year later, a cancer-free Armstrong established the Livestrong Foundation.

But what if Armstrong hadn’t used performance-enhancing drugs during his professional career? Would the Livestrong Foundation have had the same impact on the cancer community?

No. And it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Lance Armstrong’s celebrity status directly affected his foundation’s fund raising abilities.

Had he just been another American cyclist in the saddle, like Andrew Bajadali, Chris Butler, or any of the other pro cyclists you’ve never heard of, inspiring individuals like 24-year-old New York Times’“Life, Interrupted” columnist and “cancer thriver” Suleika Jaouad may have had dramatically reduced treatment options.

For some people he is a cheater.

          And for others

Lance Amstrong, the cancer activist, is bigger than Lance Armstrong, the cyclist. He’s bigger than the Tour de France. He’s bigger than the scandal that cost him his seven victories and, ultimately, the career he lost.

Source: — psychologytoday.com, hellogiggles

The woman who cycled the North Pole

British Adventurer Maria Leijerstam, 35 [WALES NEWS SERVICE ]

Welsh Adventurer Maria Leijerstam, 35, pedalled 500 miles across the icy wilderness of Antarctica to win her grueling record attempt after four years of training.

She managed it in just ten days – 12 days ahead of schedule despite “vicious conditions” across the frozen continent.

Her three-wheel bicycle and daring route gave her the edge over her two male competitors from America and Spain.

Speaking on Twitter from the South Pole, she said: “I did it I did it I did it!!!!!!”

“I can’t believe I’m the first person in the world to cycle the entire way to the South Pole – and I peddled every meter!

“On the last day I got to within 4km of the South Pole but couldn’t get permission to enter. I had to wait an hour for a flight to leave.

“When I finally got there I was given a tour of the South Pole station and got my passport stamped. It was so exciting and hard to take in.

At one point even the sweat on the inside of her boots froze [WALES NEWS SERVICE]

Maria rode for up to 18 hours a day, followed by just two-to-three-hour power naps [WALES NEWS SERVICE]

“Now it is time for bed!”

Maria, from the tiny village of Llantrithyd in the the Vale of Glamorgan, completed the ride yesterday – as her team announced she reached the bottom of the world.

She set off from the Novo Russian air force base on December 16 and went head to head against two other riders – American Daniel Burton and Spaniard Juan Menendez Granados.

It was so cold that at one point even the sweat on the inside of her boots froze.

For 10 days she heated her freeze-dried food by melting snow on a small stove inside her wind blasted tent.

Her team told how snow drifts, complete white outs and crevasses, marred her journey too.

But she dug deep – and pedaled her way into the record books while on a customized recumbent bike Polar Cycle.

Her mother Adrianne said her daughter’s success was due to “meticulous planning, super fitness and pure determination”.

                 Maria’s a four-wheel recumbent cycle [WALES NEWS SERVICE]

“From the time she was 12 years old and announced she wanted to be an astronaut, Maria has always been an adventurer,” she said.

“We are thrilled she has made it in such good time.”

Maria chose a steeper but shorter route than her opponents – and even set off two days later.

She also has a vastly different bike from those of Burton and Menendez Granados.

While the men chose upright two-wheel machines, she went for a four-wheel recumbent cycle.

Her 45kg (100lbs) of food and equipment are stored over the extra wide rear driving wheels to add additional purchase in icy conditions – while the front wheels can be switched for skis to help negotiate snowdrifts.

Maria rode for up to 18 hours a day, followed by just two-to-three-hour power naps.

Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian expedition first conquered the South Pole in 1911 to beat Captain Scott.

Since then the journey has been completed with dog sleds, snowmobiles and four-wheel-drives – but never by bicycle.

Maria’s intense training program involved three hours a day of training on top of her day job running Multi sport Wales, an events and training company.

It even saw her endured a whole day cycling in an industrial freezer in Portsmouth at minus 20 degrees – while surprised factory workers stacked shelves around her.

She has also cycled across a frozen lake in eastern Siberia early in 2012 and go on training trips to Norway and Iceland to test kit and equipment on glaciers and mountain ranges.

Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole in 1911 using two-metre long skis.

He was five weeks ahead of the tragic expedition party led by Briton Robert Falcon Scott.

Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.

Article source- http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/450608/British-women-sets-new-world-record-for-cycling-to-the-South-Pole