Lael Wilcox

[Ted Durant]

Ted Fay asked when Lael Wilcox should be reaching Chicago. Short answer is 16 more days of riding, including today, so pencil in September 12. Remarkably, that is exactly her target of 110 days.

Longer version - she is just short of mile 15485 of her planned route, and Chicago is around mile 18200, so she has a planned 2715 miles to go. She's averaging 170 miles per day, so that's exactly 16 more days. If she gets some tailwinds coming up from LA, it wouldn't surprise me if she lops a day off of that. She only needs to average 181 miles per day to make it in 15. 

Unbelievable. I was really cooked after riding 120 miles yesterday. I've done several 300km rides. I've done 200km every day for 6 straight days. The idea of doing 300km rides every day for 110 days just boggles my mind. Never mind the logistical challenges she has had to manage. And she does it all smiling the whole way. On her daily podcast, which she dutifully records every night after she's done riding, she (almost) always says "I had a great day". 

Ted Durant

Milwaukee, WI USA

[Ted Durant]

Lael got to Chicago yesterday, 108 days, 12 hours, and change.

I managed to catch her in her final 150 kms, and rode around 50kms with her. She was very happy to be done ... and, yet, very  VERY happy to be on her bike. They say "never meet your heroes". I say, choose your heroes carefully and you'll never regret meeting them.

Ted Durant

Milwaukee WI

[Paul M]

I listened to her podcast yesterday for the first time and she had only one day to go before finishing that truly amazing feat. She mentioned that a rider was drafting her too close for quite some time and wouldn't back off. It must be that dude staring at his phone.

Paul in Tracktown USA

[Ted Durant]

On Sep 12, 2024, at 11:01 AM, Paul M <mott...@gmail.com> wrote:

She mentioned that a rider was drafting her too close for quite some time and wouldn't back off. It must be that dude staring at his phone.

No, this photo is from yesterday, her final day, and "that dude” is a very, very good rider and was (like me) grabbing a photo. He (and the guy next to him) took Amtrak downstate and rode around 200km with her to the finish and they were super respectful of both her and all the other riders.

[WilletM]

Quite a few years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Lael (and her then-companion, Nick) and give the pair a ride from the Denver area out to western Colorado.  I had been following their adventures on Nick's "Gypsy by Trade" blog, which is also where I believe I came into contact with them.  Though Lael had at that time been (I recall?) an endurance runner of some repute, it was my understanding from reading the blog and talking to them that Lael was just starting out with bikepacking and extended bike travel.  My overwhelming recollection of her during the trip was of an utterly wide-eyed young woman who was just taking it all in and going with the flow, with Nick being the more experienced traveler and planner and blogger.

Fast forwarding some years down the road, I remember following Lael's extraordinary ride in the TransAm race across the US, which I think Nick blogged about every evening nearly in real time after speaking to Lael about that day's adventure.  For those who haven't read about that particular race, the daily blog entries from Nick are some of the most exciting reading that I've ever done.  And the last couple of days and the ending had me standing and cheering and forwarding links to everyone I could think of.  

I heard Lael get interviewed on BBC radio today and it made me smile.  She's still a wide-eyed young woman and you can just hear the excitement in her voice as she contemplates getting back on her bike for the next day's ride.  What a great role model she has been with all her Tour Divide and Baja Divide advocacy.  She's definitely leaving her mark in the world, and some days it just happens to be a world record.

Willet M.

[Ted Fay]

So glad some of you had the chance and took the time to ride with Lael during this event. I look forward to what I hope is an upcoming consolidated podcast and/or book on the ride. Inspirational. 

Ted

On Sep 12, 2024, at 9:37 PM, WilletM <wille...@gmail.com> wrote:



--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/5JwCtVOQXyw/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9cbf9836-1f30-4656-84c7-f1a9d68d2be0n%40googlegroups.com.

[Drew Saunders]

Here's a gift link to the NYT article about Lael's ride (which she's finished): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/sports/cycling/bicycle-around-the-world-record.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU4.WX6-.ePmZoh9XefY6&smid=url-share

[Ted Durant]

Lael has been quoted several times talking about how good she felt at the end, and how she felt like she could just keep going. She said the same to me as we were riding and, I have to tell you, she looked like she could certainly go forever. I just looked at my Strava data from the ride, and the first 40km I rode with her was at an average of 29.9kph. That's a fast pace for me over 100km; I've certainly never done 300km at that pace. Granted, it was pancake flat, and there was maybe a slight cross/tail wind, but it was also getting pretty warm and there's no shade in the cornfields, and the last 10km of those 40km were on a gravel path. She showed no sign of effort at that speed. 

In 3 months she rode the equivalent of what I would consider 3 good years worth of biking. Maybe my favorite stat ... 630,000 feet of climbing.

Mind-boggling.

Ted Durant

Milwaukee WI USA

[Jason Fuller]

I rode with her for about the same distance a few weeks back when she passed through Vancouver BC. Totally echo your sentiments, she was as nice and genuine as I could have imagined, as well the pace was remarkable for day in - day out huge rides. It was a pace that's pretty sporty for a 200k brevet, let alone 260 - 340km every day for months. Also, being familiar with the full route she rode that day gave me newfound admiration for just how big the daily rides were and how incredibly strong she is.