American cyclist Lael Wilcox has shaved more than two weeks off the women’s around the world record, completing the journey of more than 18,000 miles (28,968km) in 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes, according to a post on her social media.
The experienced ultra distance racer who holds the women’s records in the Tour Divide and Trans Am set out from Chicago on May 26 and arrived right back where she started on Wednesday evening, finishing in front of a welcoming crowd at the Buckingham fountain.
“Getting this close to the finish I feel like I’m flying,” said Wilcox in her regular podcast update yesterday as she looked ahead to her final day of riding for the around the world challenge, which she completed under her target time of 110 days.
The effort which took the Alaskan across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand saw her cut nearly 16 days off the former mark for the fastest circumnavigation of the the world by bicycle of 124 days, 10 hours and 50 minutes set by Scottish endurance rider Jenny Graham in 2018. Graham, who started and finished in Berlin, too had beat the previous best time by a significant margin when she set her record, taking 20 days off the previous time.
The tracking page put Wilcox’s total distance at 18,865 miles with a daily average of 174 miles and a relatively even split between moving time and time off the bike.
More to come …
