Anchorage cyclists cheer on Lael Wilcox as she bikes across the world

A group of cyclists of all ages eagerly gathered outside Speedway Cycles bike shop in Anchorage on Wednesday. They were excited to meet Lael Wilcox, an ultra-endurance cyclist from the city who has been biking around the world for the past two and a half months.

“What she’s doing, I think, baffles the mind, I can’t even understand it, the stamina to keep going every day,” said Lisa Wiley, who has been following Wilcox’s journey on her podcast and on Instagram. 

Wilcox is trying to break the Guinness World Record for fastest bicycle circumnavigation of the globe by a woman. To do that, she has to bike 18,000 miles in less than 124 days. As of Wednesday, she had already biked over 11,000 miles and was on day 74. 

Wilcox started the journey in Chicago and biked to New York City. Then she biked from Portugal through 11 other countries in Europe, and through Turkey and Georgia. Most recently, she biked across Australia and New Zealand. Now, she’s biking from Alaska down through Canada and back through the Lower 48 to finish where she started in Chicago.

“She’s riding like 10-plus hours a day every day, she’s so fast and so strong and she isn’t getting tired!” Jason Katz-Brown said. 

Katz-Brown joined the crowd on Wednesday in his roller skates, and said he was eager to see how long he could keep up with Wilcox. 

“I really wanted to see her and cheer her on because she’s such a hometown hero,” he said.

Ilanna Carroll was also excited to bike alongside Wilcox. The 15-year-old is in the middle of her own cycling challenge: biking the three miles to school everyday, no matter the weather. She didn’t miss a single day this past school year, and she hopes to go through all four years of high school with less than 10 days of driving. Carroll said listening to Wilcox’s podcast has been inspiring for her and her sister. 

“We started listening to her, and then when I found out that she was from Anchorage, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Carroll said. “It’s just like, really cool that we have people from Alaska doing something, like, historical.”

Inside the bike shop, mechanics worked on Wilcox’s bike. They replaced the chain, the rear derailleur, the cassette and the rotors – things that tend to get worn down, especially after thousands of miles.

By the time Wilcox arrived back to pick up her bike, over two dozen people had gathered outside the shop. Many brought Wilcox protein bars, homemade muffins or cookies to fuel her  journey. Wilcox said she was surprised by how many people came out to support her, especially since she announced last-minute that people could come ride with her.

“It’s so kind of thrown together, I didn’t know if anybody would show up, and so it’s pretty cool that people made it,” Wilcox said. “The most fun part of this trip is people of all ages and backgrounds come out to spend a few miles with me. I’ve seen them all over the world, so it’s pretty cool to do it in my hometown.”

When planning her trip, Wilcox picked her start in Chicago strategically, so that her stop home in Anchorage would be a little boost. 

“I thought, ‘Okay, if I leave this for kind of the last third, it’ll give me kind of a pick me up for the rest of the ride,’” she said. “It’s incredible to be home. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, so I’m so happy to be back. And it’s summertime. I just came from about five weeks of winter in the southern hemisphere, so this is much, much better. Longer days, warmer weather. So good to see my family.” 

Wilcox’s mom, Dawn Wilcox, was also thrilled to have her daughter home, even if she was just passing through. She picked Lael and her wife and videographer Rue Kaladyte up from the airport at 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Oh my goodness, we’re so thankful to have both Lael and Rue here for a minute,” Dawn said. “And we’ll catch up with them soon, they’ll be done before you know it. So it’s really been special to have an overnight.”

After chatting with a few more cyclists, and testing out her turned-up bike in the parking lot, it was time for Wilcox to head back out. The group cheered as they started down Northern Lights Boulevard with Wilcox leading the way.