ames has previously cycled from Alaska to Argentina<\/a> but fancied taking on an even greater challenge with the hopes of raising \u00a340,000 for Cardiac Risk in the Young.\n<\/p>\n\n Both James and his father have suffered from heart conditions in their lives, before a friend of his at university passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a charity that\u2019s been really close to me,\u201d James said of his personal experience.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
James will attempt to cycle nearly 1,000km unsupported to the South Pole (Image: James Benson-King)\n<\/p>\n
\n CRY aims to prevent sudden deaths by raising awareness, providing heart screening and research and supporting affected families.\n<\/p>\n
\n Before tackling the frozen tundra of Antarctica, James will spend time training in Sweden to acclimatise himself to the frigid conditions.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI have been trying to see what I am actually capable of,\u201d he said of constantly pushing himself to take on new challenges.\n<\/p>\n
\n He added: \u201cThe core purpose of this is to see where my limits lie.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n A key to success, James said, is to ensure he is \u201cmentally resilient\u201d, explaining that the isolation and mental aspect of the challenge would be the most difficult.\n<\/p>\n
\n James, who describes himself as a “normal person with a high drive”, will become the first person to cycle to the South Poole unsupported if he is successful, but said that is not the motivation behind it.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really knowing that I have pushed myself,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The record itself is not the driver of it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Along his journey, James, from Corfe Mullen, will tow all his food, fuel and shelter with him and will only have contact with others through radio support. As well as the mental challenges of spending two months alone in isolation, James will overcome physical obstacles along the way too.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIn some cases, the snow will be so deep I won\u2019t be able to ride.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He added: \u201cYou\u2019re battling against it (the elements) 24-seven.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Benson-King, 33, will set off in the fundraising challenge in November, a journey that is expected to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-374751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}