‘The ride of my life’: Anchorage’s Lael Wilcox smashes women’s record for cycling around the world

Lael Wilcox’s list of cycling accomplishments is nearly as long as some of the courses she’s conquered.

The 38-year old Anchorage cyclist has set records at the 2,745-mile Tour Divide and won the 4,400-mile Trans Am Bike Race.

This week, Wilcox, a top endurance and bikepacking racer, completed what she called “the ride of my life.”

She arrived in downtown Chicago on Wednesday, completing her trip as the fastest woman to cycle around the globe.

Wilcox wrapped up the record-setting ride around the world with plenty of time to spare. She finished the course in 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes, smashing the previous record of 124 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes by more than two weeks.

“It’s the ride of my life,” she said. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had. I’m so grateful that it went well and I’m safe and finished. What a blast.”

In total, Wilcox completed 18,125 miles with nearly 630,000 feet of elevation. She started in Chicago on May 26 and headed east to New York City for a week before taking a flight to Portugal. She rode through Europe and the Balkans, ending in Georgia. From there, she flew to Australia and rode through that country and New Zealand.

The criteria put in place by Guinness World Records included traveling at least 18,000 miles in one direction only and passing at least two antipodal points. Traveling through Spain and New Zealand accomplished that goal for Wilcox.

[Previously: On a world record attempt, Anchorage cyclist Lael Wilcox makes hometown pit stop before the final stretch]

Wilcox passed through Anchorage last month, however briefly, before heading through Canada. While this ride covered significantly more mileage than any of her previous races or rides, she said it was less grueling. Instead of pushing herself harder in the heat of a close race, Wilcox took long, but measured rides every day.

“I kind of kept that up,” she said. “The last three days, I was even able to pick up my speed and finish a day faster than I thought, so it really all came together.”

Wilcox also took the ride as an opportunity to connect with friends, family and fans. She was regularly joined by other riders during portions of the trip and launched a podcast to keep fans updated regularly on the trip.

“It was unlike any ride I’ve ever done,” she said. “I’d invited people to come out and ride with or come say hello. It was a such a mix of being out in wild, beautiful, remote places and then biking closer to cities and more and more people joining in. It just had this incredible energy.”

Traveling across the globe also introduced Wilcox to a world’s worth of conditions. Riding in the midst of the summer, that meant heat much of the time. But in Australia it was the winter season, with colder nights and short days.

“I could never get used to that,” she said. “I’d come from 90-95 degrees in Turkey in summer and went right into the dead of winter there (in Australia), where it was dark at 5 o’clock and it just felt so strange.”

While many of Wilcox’s races are unsupported, there was no such mandate for the record attempt. Wilcox’s wife, photojournalist and filmmaker Rugile Kaladyte, joined and documented the trip for a film to be released in the future.

Wilcox said now that’s she’s completed the ride, she’ll be able to take a break. But she’s planning to ride the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational, which starts in February.

“I’m already a little bit missing all that time on the bike because it’s so much fun,” she said.