iStockphoto / torwai
Lael Wilcox recently completed the impossible when she set a new cycling world record for the fastest trip around the world, an 18,000-mile trip, and she shave two weeks off the previous record.
According to Guinness World Records, who maintains this specific record, in order for it to be a complete around-the-world trip the cyclist must travel all in the same direction, travel at least 18,000 miles, and must start and end at the same spot.
For her world record, Lael Wilcox began and ended her cycling trip in Chicago. From Chicago, she road to the East Coast, then across Europe, then across Australia and New Zealand, then back to Alaska where she’s from, and from Alaska she rode down to Chicago. In total, it took her 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes to complete the 18,000-mile journey.
Her journey toward a new world record began years ago and it was fueled by her haters. She told CNN it started back when she used to work in a bar and the men in the bar would “tell her she was lying about her achievements.” Lael Wilcox said “That infuriated me, They didn’t believe I did the rides! It’s crazy. Like, You think I’m lying about what I’ve done?”
That was a huge part of how she stayed fueled for this world record-setting achievement. Wilcox said she wanted to prove her doubters and haters wrong, saying “It lights a fire under me because I get this kind of fight in me, where I’m like, ‘I have to prove it.’ his is important. I want them to see that we can do this. And, you know, that pushes me to race. Maybe, they’ll read about it and it’ll change their minds. Maybe, they won’t doubt the next woman that said they did a ride.”
Here she is in Chicago completing her 18,000-mile journey:
Imagine wanting to prove your haters wrong so badly that you ride your bike 18,000 miles around planet earth and you do it 2+ weeks faster than any human in history.
As for the 18,000 mile thing… I get it. They are accounting for the width of the oceans. But the circumference of the earth is 24,901 miles. I feel like someone needs to get out there and ride that distance for a record.
Lael Wilcox is clearly the best candidate for this feat. She became the first American and first woman to ever win the TransAm Bike Race from Oregon to Virginia, a race that set her on the path of her cycling world record around the globe.
Interestingly, she said that race was her ‘lightbulb moment’ that she needed to ride around the world but the *only thing* she says she needed to do before going around the world was get a new passport.
Cycling World Record: Around The World In 108 Days
During her cycling world record, she did face plenty of adversity. She says on Day 4 she was throwing up all day. Wilcox got poison ivy in Germany that spread all over her body for three weeks. She believes something she ate in Turkey made her sick for 2 weeks in Australia, unable to keep food down.
There was also extreme weather events. Her ride from Chicago to NYC was full of lightning storms. And she was riding in 90 degree weather in the Pyrenees mountains.
For those curious, she has an incredible bike for her journey:
Ultimately, she stayed fueled in a steady diet of haterade. Wanting to prove her doubters wrong was enough to get her across the finish line 2 weeks faster than the previous cycling world record. And for that, we must applaud her.