ANN ARBOR, MI – After riding on six of seven continents, cyclist Al Newman said he’d just about given up on getting to ride Antarctica, the snowy, icy terrain around the South Pole.

No tour company would consider it, he said. But after telling his friend Dan Atkins about his dilemma, Newman, of Ann Arbor, found a way.

“He had been part of the National Science Foundation Polar Program and contacted the NSF Polar Program head,” Newman explained on his cycling blog this week. “A connection was made, and their logistic support, Antarctica Logistics and Expedition, said sure.”

Just one catch: Other than a guide, Newman would be the only one on the ride.

“Apparently no one else wants to do this,” he said.

On New Year’s Eve, Newman, 73, set out on his adventure on the frozen continent.

Why do it?

“I’ve decided you either immediately get it, or you don’t get it and there is nothing I can say that will change your opinion,” he said.

He flew from Detroit Metro Airport to Dallas to Santiago, Chile, to Punta Arenas, Chile, arriving on New Year’s Day.

From there, the Thursday, Jan. 3 flight to Antarctica on an IL-76 TD – originally designed to deliver heavy machinery to remote Arctic regions – would be another six hours.

“It is a monster,” he said, of the plane.

Newman also confronted what he considered a crisis on New Year’s Day: Most of the restaurants in Punta Arenas were closed. He was saved by Domino’s Pizza, he said.

After a briefing with ALE, clothing check and safety instructions on Jan. 2, he asked, “Holy crap, what have I gotten myself into?”

He found out the weather has been terrible this season and there was a two-week window where planes couldn’t fly in or out of Antarctica.

“If we fly out tomorrow, there are people who have been waiting a week to fly over,” he wrote on his blog on Jan. 2.

Newman joked he may have been the sanest passenger on the plane.

“Others are skiing to the South Pole, others fly to the pole for a camping experience, and people climbing mountains,” he wrote. “ALE says they will wait as long as it takes for people to complete whatever crazy thing they are doing. Some are way behind schedule.”

Friends and others who heard about his journey sent messages of support before he hit the ice.

"Good Luck, Al! May you have NO Flats - from sea lion bites, sharp ice shards or penguin pecks!” wrote Dieter Hohnke, his Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society buddy.

The Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative, a nonprofit of which Newman is a board member, also cheered him on via Facebook.

Where in the world is Al? HWPI board member Al Newman is set to embark on a solo bike trip in Antarctica! With this... Posted by Huron Waterloo Pathways on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Newman flew to Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica as planned on Thursday morning.

According to icetrek.com, the camp is 1,870 miles from the southern tip of Chile and a stone’s throw from the highest peak in Antarctica.

It’s a full-service camp with food, double-walled tents and spectacular views, operating during the Antarctic summer from November through January. Tents are naturally heated by 24-hour sunlight and interior temperatures range from 25 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Antarctica has the coldest climate on earth, with the lowest recorded air temperature being negative 128.6 degrees.

“It’s not only the temperature, it’s the wind,” Newman said, noting it’s one of the windiest places on earth.

It was about 5 degrees when he was there, warm enough that he stripped off some clothing layers. When they landed, he was taken by snowmobile to the camp.

“You land on this blue ice, which is really hard to even stand up on,” he said.

He wasted little time before getting to riding.

“We had perfect weather,” he said. “I had a guide with me. He knew where to go. They had a bike there for me. The riding was – you’re riding a big, fat-tire bike on snow, but it was no issue.”

Newman said he wasn’t going for distance and it wasn’t like some of the grueling cycling trips he’s done before.

He was only in Antarctica for about three hours before the return flight to Chile. He spent about two hours cycling in the snow and can now say he’s cycled on all seven continents.

“Antarctica is special. It’s so pure,” Newman said, noting his guide pointed out a glacier that looked like it was a mile away.

“He says, ‘That’s 23 miles away.’ There are no visual cues and the air is so pure it looks like it’s right over there. It’s really pristine.”

When they got a call from the plane saying they needed to leave because of incoming weather, Newman said, they hustled to make it back.

Mission Accomplished I have now ridden on all 7 continents. What an amazing experience. After a six hour flight we... Posted by Allan Newman on Friday, January 4, 2019

Because he was so far inland, he never saw penguins. But he said he got to meet “some crazy people,” including a couple from Iceland who had been there nine weeks.

He also met Louis Rudd and Colin O’Brady, who made headlines recently as the first explorers to cross Antarctica unaided.

While his ride in Antarctica was special, Newman said cycling across Africa still ranks as his most ambitious adventure yet.

“The Africa thing was out of category,” he said, noting he cycled across four African countries, spending eight days riding across the Kalahari Desert, even riding through a herd of elephants. After that trip, he concluded on his blog in June 2017, “Africa is not for sissies.”

Newman, an entrepreneur who has ridden in all 50 states, also did a seven-week, 3,415-mile, cross-country trip from Los Angeles to Boston in 2009, going through Death Valley and the Rocky Mountains. Of 25 people who started the trek, only nine finished.

In addition to his cycling interests, Newman sits on several boards, including Avalon Housing, Recycle Ann Arbor, Pitch Ypsi, A Brighter Way and Offender Success, the last two of which help support ex-offenders returning to society after being in prison.

Speaking by phone on Friday from his hotel in Chile, Newman said he was looking forward to flying out Sunday and arriving back in Ann Arbor on Monday.

In the meantime, he might go for another ride.