Antarctica An Italian adventurer is due to set off next week on what could be the ultimate bike-packing expedition: a solo and unprecedented crossing of Antarctica. Omar Di Felice, 41, will ride a steel-framed, wide-tyred “fat bike”, with his tent and supplies in a sled pulled behind him. A former professional road cyclist, Di Felice hopes to cover the 2,000km route in 60 days, though says he is conscious of the potential challenges and has a sense of “fear as big as that continent of ice”.
After flying from Chile, he will start from Hercules Inlet (at the edge of the continental land mass although separated from the open sea by the Ronne Ice Shelf) then ride via the South Pole to the Leverett Glacier. The first half will be significantly tougher: uphill and with no track, meaning Di Felice will potentially face deep powder snow, crevasses and sastrugi, obstacles that could force him to walk much of the way pushing his bike. From the South Pole onwards, he will be able to use the compacted ice road created to supply the US research station. ultracyclingman.com
London The first hotel within the newly relaunched Battersea Power Station development is due to open next month. The 164-bedroom art’otel sits within the Foster + Partners-designed Battersea Roof Gardens building, a few metres to the south of the Power Station itself. It will start taking guests from December 12, with an official launch on February 21 next year that will include a spa and restaurant from chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, whose Alma restaurant in Lisbon holds two Michelin stars. The brick-built power station reopened as a shopping centre last month, 39 years after it was decommissioned. Doubles rooms will start from £400 per night; artotellondonbattersea.com
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