On the 27th December 2013 Maria Leijerstam claimed two world records. She will now always be known as the first person to cycle to the South Pole from the edge of the continent, and she beat all other speed records by only taking 10 days to complete it.
Her epic journey has not been without its problems. At one point the sweat on the inside of her boots froze to minus 35 degrees and each rest time she struggled to erect her tent in the howling artic winds. She survived for ten days by melting snow on a small primus stove inside her tent so she could prepare her freeze dried food and only washing with wet wipes. She battled snow drifts, complete white outs and crevasses along the way, but even so she was able to cycle the whole distance on her specially designed three wheeled recumbent bike.
Her cycling record was an amazing 81km per day. On a continent where it never gets dark, she spent as little time as possible sleeping and the maximum time cycling. Having a YB tracker on her adventure meant friends, family and supporters left at home were able to follow Maria's progress. She could also update her Twitter account using the YB tracker which meant while getting some rest she could keep everyone informed and receive messages of encouragement.
What an incredible achievement! You can read all about Maria's adventure on her blog.