Category E for both routes:
Average speed 5 to 10 mph, with cruising speeds considering wind, temperature and general weather conditions. This ride will have some stops to regroup as necessary due to blowing snow and ice at the discretion of the Route Leader. Estimated transit time is 4+ hours.
The 25 mile route starts at the base camp at McMurdo Air Station and proceeds to the US McMurdo Station. The route then loops around the station back to the start. All roadways are either ice, gravel or dirt. Bicycle lights are recommended.
Google Earth map: Antarctica - McMurdo Station - 25 GE
The 30 mile route starts at the base camp at McMurdo Air Station and proceeds to the US McMurdo Station. From here the route starts the climb to into the Dry Valley area on an out and back route. The route returns to the station then back to the start. All roadways are either ice, gravel or dirt, with many rocky areas in Dry Valley. Bicycle lights are recommended.
Google Earth map: Antarctica - McMurdo Dry Valley - 30 GE
Travel Information for trips to Antarctica:
Transport in Antarctica takes place by air, using fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Runways and helicopter pads have to be kept snow free to ensure safe take off and landing conditions.
No documentation or visas are required to visit Antarctica, but if your cruise stops off at other countries en route, visas and documentation may be required for them. It is worth thinking about what you will do on your Antarctic trip beyond bicycling, icebergs and glaciers.
While no travel, especially travel by boat or plane to somewhere remote, is entirely without risk, Antarctic travel is not especially dangerous. If you go from South America, the most dangerous part by boat is the open ocean between the
Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula known as Drake's Passage. Weather may affect flying as conditions vary.
Since no country owns Antarctica, no visa is required. However, the countries that signed the Antarctic Treaty's Protocol on Environment Protection require that visitors from those countries (including the USA, Canada, EU and Australia) need permission.
The people who travel to or live in Antarctica fall into two main groups, those who live and work on scientific research stations or bases, and tourists. No-one lives in Antarctica indefinitely in the way that they do in the rest of the world. It has no commercial industries, no towns or cities, no permanent residents.