- Posts
Ultra-endurance icon Lael Wilcox is about to embark on the ultimate battle of ultra-cycling. On June 7 at 4:00 a.m., the 39-year-old will roll away from Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, Illinois, with a singular, historic goal: to become the fastest person ever—male or female—to bicycle around the globe.
Photo: Lael Wilcox Instagram While Wilcox already holds the women’s Guinness World Record for the feat, setting an 18,125-mile time of 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes in 2024, she is hunting the outright world record held by Mark Beaumont, who completed his circumnavigation in 78 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes. To break it, Wilcox needs to shave a massive 30 days off her previous time.
Pune Girl Vedangi Kulkarni had set the youngest female to bicycle around the globe record in 2018.
The Math: 240 Miles a Day for 11 Weeks
To eclipse Beaumont’s nine-year-old record, Wilcox must return to Chicago by 6:40 p.m. on August 24. To qualify for the Guinness World Record, riders must cycle a minimum of 18,000 miles in one direction, start and finish at the same spot, and cross at least two antipodal points.
Wilcox’s meticulously planned route is broken into seven riding sections and six transfers:
Section 1: Chicago to Halifax, Nova Scotia
Section 2: Lisbon, Portugal to Istanbul, Turkey (across Europe)
Section 3: Across Kazakhstan
Section 4: Bangkok, Thailand to Singapore (through Southeast Asia)
Section 5: Perth to Brisbane, Australia
Section 6: Across New Zealand
Section 7: Anchorage, Alaska back to Chicago
To hit her 77-day target, Wilcox will have to average roughly 386 km every single day.
Marginal Gains: Wind Tunnels and Buzz Cuts
Her 2024 record ride was fun-first, community-driven, and highly social. She chatted with people, stopped for the view and enjoyed herself.
This time, it is all business. As for the first time in her career, she will be fully supported by a dedicated crew, maximizing her time in the saddle.
She even spent extensive time optimizing her aerodynamics inside Specialized’s wind tunnel in Morgan Hill, California. Her dedication to saving time is so absolute that she recently shaved her head, so she could save 10 minutes a day not having to wash and brush her hair.
Inside Wilcox’ Custom Specialized S-Works Roubaix
For a task this monumental, Wilcox is running a highly customized, ultra-optimized setup.
Component Specification Frameset Specialized S-Works Roubaix with Future Shock suspension. Custom-painted by Emily Hallewell, featuring her route, signature, and the reminder that “we’re all connected and just a bike ride away.” Drivetrain SRAM RED AXS with 48/35T chainrings, 170mm cranks, an integrated power meter, a 10-36T cassette, and wireless blips. Wheels & Tyres Zipp 202 NSW and 454 NSW wheels wrapped in Specialized Mondo tyres. Cockpit Zipp Vuka Evo aerobars with a one-of-a-kind custom carbon mount block fabricated by Ruckus Composites to hold her Wahoo computer, phone, and lights. Accessories Exposure lights, Wahoo ROAM computer, Quadlock phone mount, and custom bags by Revelate Designs. Kit Rapha’s new Brevet kit, Specialized helmet and shoes, and Roka Oslo 2.0 sunglasses. With a fine-tuned bike, a full support crew, and a fierce determination to redefine what women can achieve in ultra-endurance sports, Wilcox is ready to make history. Follow along as she rolls out of Chicago this June. You can read more about her 2026 attempt here.
Source: Cycling Weekly
A Flying Start: Lael Wilcox Launches World-Record Attempt
At 4:00 AM on a crisp Sunday morning, ultra-endurance cycling legend Lael Wilcox rolled away from Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain to begin her monumental quest: breaking the overall around-the-world cycling record. To eclipse the current 78-day benchmark, Wilcox kicked off day one with a jaw-dropping 454km journey, proving from the very first pedal stroke that she is chasing history.
Wilcox’s ambitious strategy requires her to average 231 miles a day across four continents. On day one, she blew past that target. Her route snaked out of Illinois, cut through Wisconsin, and finished in Michigan at Kleinke Park.
“Conditions have been pretty good: great weather, a little bit of head-crosswind, but otherwise really beautiful,” Wilcox shared on her daily podcast, recorded right from the saddle.
Beyond the physical grit, day one was defined by an overwhelming wave of community support. After waking up at 2:00 AM, Wilcox was greeted by over 100 cyclists waiting in the dark to escort her out of Chicago. Many rode alongside her for significant stretches of the day, and an equally enthusiastic crowd welcomed her at Kleinke Park. “I could have cried, to be received by that,” she admitted.
With 17,749 miles left to go, day one set a flawless, inspiring tone for the 39-year-old cyclist. As she pushes toward the Canadian border on day two, Wilcox has already demonstrated that she possesses both the unmatched stamina and the massive community backing required to redefine the limits of global ultra-cycling.
Source: Bike Radar
Extreme European Heatwave Forces Lael Wilcox to Abandon Around-the-World Record Bid
In a stark reminder of the escalating impact of climate change on outdoor sports, ultra-endurance cycling star Lael Wilcox has been forced to abandon her historic attempt to break the outright around-the-world cycling record due to severe heat exhaustion.
The 39-year-old called an end to her epic ride on Sunday in Fontainebleau, just south of Paris, exactly 14 days into her ambitious quest. The decision followed two weeks of punishing conditions, culminating in severe nausea and acute heat exhaustion brought on by Europe’s second major heatwave of the year.
A Record-Breaking Pace Cut Short
Wilcox, who holds the women’s circumnavigation record of 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes set in 2024, was aiming to usurp Mark Beaumont’s 2017 outright record of 79 days. To achieve this, she needed to shave more than 30 days off her own previous time.
Departing from Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain on June 7, Wilcox initially battled heavy rains and head winds across North America, even riding a massive 282 miles on her first day. However, upon arriving in Spain, she rode directly into what she described as a “heat dome.”
Despite pulling out all the stops, including carrying out aerodynamic wind tunnel testing at Specialized’s headquarters, utilizing a full support crew for the first time, and even shaving her head for efficiency, the oppressive European temperatures ultimately compromised her safety. At the time she withdrew, Wilcox had covered 3,075 miles at an incredible average speed of 15.75 mph.
Another Climate Change Lesson
An emotional Wilcox detailed the grueling final days of her ride in a video posted to her Instagram account.
“I’ve been nauseous every day and finally threw up in the first hour of my ride this morning – heat exhaustion got the better of me,” Wilcox stated. “Concerned for my health and safety, my team asked me to stop my ride. I hate to quit, but it’s the right choice this time. I just can’t manage race pace in the heat.”
The ultra-endurance athlete, whose career includes legendary wins and records at the Tour Divide and Trans Am, noted that meteorological forecasts showed the heatwave would continue to track along her exact route trajectory across Europe.
“This one, I feel, is another climate change lesson and every year I’m having more and more of those,” Wilcox added. “With this, my biggest concern was smoke in the west, and we’re two months away from that… We were expecting a big challenge but not health problems.”
For Wilcox, the race pace is over for now. She and her support crew are currently traveling to Switzerland before heading back home to the United States.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.