An adventurer who will attempt to be the first person to cycle across Antarctica via the South Pole says the expedition will be a dream come true.

The 45-day trek will add to an impressive series of cycling expeditions for Kate Leeming, who was the first woman to cycle unsupported more than 13,000 kilometres across Russia in 1993.

She was also the first woman to cycle 22,000 kilometres across Africa in 2010 and cycled across Australia in 2004.

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The expeditions give her more than bragging rights, each adventure is linked to education programs and awareness campaigns for specific world issues.

Her cycle across Antarctica, which is set to begin in November, will raise money for the Global Fund, which is working to eradicate HIV-related disease.

Ms Leeming will cycle on a purpose-built bike that features an all-wheel drive system and 12-centimetre-wide tyres.

Her support crew will include world-class explorers and filmmakers to chaperone and document her journey.

She has described her latest expedition as her most ambitious.

“I was so inspired by the heroic age of Antarctic exploration and also modern explorers as well, so it’s always been in the back of my mind,” Ms Leeming said.

“It started off when I cycled 15,000 kilometres through Europe and I guess it’s just been about topping that since then.

“Each time it’s about exploring, it’s about understanding how the world fits together and it’s really about being very connected with the land and the people and I just love the idea of bringing a line on a map to life.

“My motivation is really quite complex, it’s a motivation of all the different things that I’ve done before and using all of those experiences to create something a little more challenging.”

Challenge to control body temperature in extreme cold

Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world and Ms Leeming will have to face temperatures from between minus 10 and minus 40 degrees Celsius.

She said she was excited to test herself against those conditions.

“I’m really excited to be exploring somewhere that I’ve dreamed about since I was growing up,” she said.

“I’m excited to test myself against that environment and to actually work with it not against it.

“It’s a huge challenge for example to be able to control body temperature when you’re in the extreme cold.

“I have to protect myself but I don’t actually have to wear many layers when I’m actually going because I can’t afford to perspire because that freezes and then I get very cold.

“There’s always the worry of failure but I’ve picked all the challenges right in the past so hopefully I can pick this one right too.”

Ms Leeming said she needed to raise about $800,000 for the expedition, which she hoped would kick off on World Aids Day on December 1.

Now based in Melbourne, Ms Leeming is touring Australia to raise awareness of the expedition and will finish with a discussion at the University of Western Australia later this month.

She said her sense of adventure was grounded in her roots in Northam, east of Perth, where she grew up on a sheep and wheat farm.

“You just have this incredible freedom and time to explore,” she said.

“There’s an amazing grounding that I’ve got from [working on the farm] that I take with me wherever I go. It really does affect how I see the world.”

-ABC