Interviewer: Welcome to Amazing People Show. Today we are joined by Mary Jamison, who's been leading a truly adventurous life.
Mary: Hello. It's good to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Interviewer: So, Mary, how did you get the idea of cycling to the South Pole?
Mary: I'd been looking at Antarctica for years thinking I'd love to ski to the South Pole. I found out that no one had ever cycled there and I wondered if it was possible. I researched the idea and in March 2012 I cycled across Siberia's lake Baikal as a test. I then trained in Norway and Iceland. I think that pedal power is one of the most efficient means of human power and so I wanted to see if this was true, even on snow and ice where historically skis have always been favored. About six months before I set off in June 2013, I found out that there were two other cyclists. A guy from Spain and an American man attempting to do the same thing as me, so, I kept my plans very quiet.
Interviewer: So, it wasn't your plan to compete against them, was it?
Mary: Not at all. In fact, they left three or four weeks before me and finished a couple of weeks after me. I was reading their blogs before I left and I could see that they were not having a good time. They went on normal mountain bikes with thicker tires.
Interviewer: You helped design the horizontal bike you used. Did your background in math and science give you an advantage over your competitors?
Mary: I'm good at working out complex problems. I fell off my bike at least 50 times while cycling Lake Baikal because of the extreme wind, so, a lot of bike design came from experience. I also took a different route than my competitors, I don`t like following others. My route was much steeper, but also shorter, their route was about 1000 kilometers and mine was 638 kilometers.
Interviewer: Were you concerned that one of them was going to beat you to the South Pole?
Mary: I was but I knew my preparation was spot on. It`s a very expensive adventure, so, I needed major sponsors. I saved a lot of money and borrowed from family members, so, it was a very stressful time. Now I`m in debt, I have another 23 years to pay this loan off. There is no profit in these kind of expeditions.
Interviewer: You face temperatures of -29 degrees centigrade without wind chill. How do you prepare for that kind of bitter cold?
Mary: When I was cycling, I wore a light coat with three layers underneath and I didn`t have any skin showing. When I stopped, I put on an extra warm jacket. I did get a bit of frostbite one day. Every night I get a photo of myself and look at it to make sure I still had all my body parts. My feet suffered the most. I had to stop and jump up and down to keep them going. It didn`t matter how many layers of socks I put on my feet were cold all the time.
Interviewer: How did you cope being alone in the extreme cold for ten days?
Mary: The first few days I could see some mountains on my ride and that was spectacular and dramatic. Once I got closer to the South Pole it was just a blanket of white. The endless monotony was hypnotizing. I loved just looking at nothing.
Interviewer: Where did you rest and eat during your journey?
Mary: I had a solo tent, that was just about big enough for me plus two of my bags. I did all my cooking in there. I`d sleep for 5 hours or so at night and cycle up to 17 hours.
Interviewer: What did you do when you cross the finish line?
Mary: First, I took a photo at the ceremonial South Pole, a big ball on a post where everyone takes a picture. The actual South Pole is about 150 meters away, I cycled over to that as well. I was delighted to have become the first person to cycle to the South Pole.
