After spending much of the past 10 weeks biking in uncharted territory, Lael Wilcox returned to familiar ground on Wednesday.
But it didn't last long.
Wilcox arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday night after completing nearly 12,000 miles in her bid to become the fastest woman to cycle around the world.
Now based in Tucson, Arizona, Wilcox was born and raised in Anchorage and saw the quick pit stop as an opportunity to visit family and friends.
“It feels great,” she said. “I'm just happy to be back. I'm happy to be in a familiar place.”
By Wednesday morning, she was already heading north, the final third of her journey passing through British Columbia and across much of the U.S. Wilcox spent most of July traveling across Australia, then spending early August in New Zealand.
“It's been a very, very long time,” she says. “Australia is the same size as the United States[geographically]but with a population of only 22 million. It's a really big country.”
Wilcox knows what it takes to pull off a monumental ride.
She has won the Tour Divide, the Trans-Am and other long-distance solo races, was one of two women to complete the Navad 1000 in Switzerland and broke the overall record at the Baja Divide.
At 18,000 miles, the around-the-world challenge is a long way off, but Wilcox is in cruise mode. Competing only for the race dates, she's eschewing some of the competitive strategies she typically employs to win shorter races.
“I've been here a lot longer, but it's given me more time to take care of myself,” she says. “I'm sleeping a little more, eating better, and I'm feeling good. Sometimes when you're on the road, it's easy to forget that you're in the middle of this big journey. The days are just so long.”
Guinness World Records doesn't distinguish between unsupported and supported runs, which makes things a little easier for Wilcox: the current women's record is held by Jenny Graham in 124 days, 10 hours and 50 minutes, but Wilcox is aiming to beat that by two weeks.
The idea for a round-the-world race came to Wilcox in 2016, when she became the first woman and first American to win the Trans-Am.
“I think the first time I had the idea was when I was racing across America and I thought, 'What if I just keep running and go around the world?'” she says, “and I got a new passport. When I finished the race, I was totally exhausted. I couldn't go on. And I think that's when the idea came to me.”
Wilcox left Chicago on May 26 and cycled to New York City to complete the first 1,100 miles, then flew to Europe, cycling through several countries on the continent.
She headed southeast, passing through the Balkans and Turkey before finishing in Georgia, where she flew to Australia in the middle of winter, when there was little sun and colder nights.
The rules of the race required Wilcox to pass through two points that pass through the center of the Earth. Wilcox chose Madrid, Spain and Wellington, New Zealand for this race.
All this travel made the logistical most challenging part of the record attempt.
“The key is not to get overwhelmed by the big picture,” she says. “Set daily goals, persevere to them, and make good decisions.”
Being in Anchorage provided a nice break from that side of racing, and on Wednesday she got her bike overhauled at Speedway Cycle and met up with local friends and fans.
Wilcox created a podcast series about the race as a way to keep fans and interested spectators up to date, and it also gave him a platform to talk about his experiences and the people he met along the way.
“I meet someone in Belgium and then meet their family in Australia,” she says. “It's great fun. People just show up at my doorstep. People have driven 10-11 hours to find me in the middle of nowhere. It's a celebration of cycling in a lot of ways.”
The final third of Wilcox's journey will be in Los Angeles before she returns to Chicago, where she started. Though her stay in Anchorage was short, she plans to return to the state next winter to compete in the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational. But for now, she's focused on breaking the record.
“I've got 38 more days to get this done so it feels pretty tough, and then I'm going to reset,” she said.
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Previous coverage:
Faster than oil: Anchorage's Lael Wilcox bikes the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in under four days
Anchorage's Lael Wilcox slays possums and snakes to win women's title in 358-mile gravel bike race
Anchorage's Lael Wilcox overcomes health scares and harsh weather to win endurance bike race
Venture into Alaskan Cyclist Lael Wilcox's Grove of Adventures
