Omar Di Felice, 4000 km by bike in the Arctic: “I was one step away from giving up”

“Hi, dear … I’m going to go for a ride on my bike”. Well, that’s not exactly how it went. Because Omar Di Felice’s “bike ride” lasted almost two months and above all led him to pedal around 4000 kilometers around the Arctic world. An incredible tour ended on 11 April when the 41-year-old ultra-cyclist from Rome “electrocuted” on the road to Cesenatico (“I was a child, I saw Marco Pantani on TV: I was ecstatic, I wanted to be a Pirate too. Even today in the most difficult moments, I think of Marco and the tiredness goes away ”) touched the line that delimits the polar circle along the Dalton Highway, in Alaska. We caught up with Omar to get first impressions of him. “It was very hard and for the first time since I have faced extreme adventures, I was one step away from giving up. It happened in Russia: as soon as I got on the bike I was surprised by a storm of wind and snow. You couldn’t see anything, after a few meters I was stopped by the police. “Are you crazy? Where do you want to go …”, they asked me. They were kind, but when I explained my plan they spread their arms and then shook their heads. go on, no one has ever done it in this period. You have a one in a thousand chance of making it, “they added.” I was about to go back, then I clung to that one hope they gave me. And meter by meter, I managed to overcome the most complicated moment “, explained Omar.

Between the sky and the frost

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But the difficulties were continuous: along his journey (crossing Kamchatka, Lapland, Svalbard Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and precisely Alaska, traveling by plane when the sea was involved) he it is found to cope with temperatures of -42, blizzards, freezing winds and icy roads. Riding the bike (actually two: a Gravel and then a Fat bike to which he hooked the transport sled with 50 kilos of luggage, essential at those latitudes) he stayed for almost 300 hours, sleeping in the various shelters found along the way. . When it wasn’t possible, Omar got by by “resting” in a tent. “Admiring the sky at night is something that cannot be explained in words and repays the effort. Eating was not a problem: the people I met helped me and then I brought everything to be independent. I’m used to the cold and more I was equipped with special clothing, specially designed for my Arctic crossing. Who makes me do it? The bike is an endless passion, nature too. I combine the two and I try with my travels to sensitize people to a behavior less selfish and more respectful of the environment: global warming can destroy our beloved land. Same thing for the war: I was in Russia a few days before the invasion of Ukraine began and there was a heavy air. what was happening, I would have avoided that area. ” Now Omar will enjoy a well deserved rest, but soon we will see him again on the bike. “Yes, I’ll find some other nice laps to do … There is no shortage of challenges”.