While most people would have missed it, Williams Lake was on the map of people around the world on Aug. 17.
Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance athlete currently making a Guinness World Record attempt to be the fastest woman to ride around the world.
She will ride 29,000 kilometres on a route she has planned to meet the Guinness record requirements. She must start and end at the same point, cycle continuously in the same direction for a minimum distance and all flights and ferries count towards her total time.
The current world record is held by Scottish cyclist Jenny Graham, who did her world record solo in 124 days.
People have been following Lael’s attempt, which began in Chicago on May 26, with the help of her tracking site Lael Rides Around the World.
After riding from Chicago to New York, she flew across the Atlantic and rode across Europe, then into Turkey and Georgia before heading over to Australia, riding west to east and then north to south in New Zealand.
She is now in her final stretch across land, and is going from Alaska, her home state, and will end back in Chicago to finish.
Her route through B.C. took her down the Cassiar Highway, and then across along Highway 16 towards Highway 97, where she turned down towards the Cariboo region.
Wilcox stopped in Hixon on Aug. 16, then carried on south, riding from Hixon to 100 Mile House in one day on her bike.
She rode 275 km with 2,428 metres of climbing.
Her route diverted her around the city of Williams Lake, turning at Wildwood and taking the West Coast Road to the Likely Highway, then south towards 150 Mile House, avoiding the centre of town before returning to Highway 97. After staying near 100 Mile House, she continued on the following day, riding over the Duffy Lake Road to Whistler, covering 298 km with 3,603 metres of climbing. Next she was heading south, after having some work done on her bike in Whistler, to finish in Bellingham, Wash.
She averages over 250 km per day, nearly every day in order to stay on track to make her goal of beating the current 124-day, 11-hour record. Her goal is to complete her trip in 110 days. Wilcox was on her 84th day of riding when she reached Williams Lake, and was already in Vancouver at the time of writing on Monday, Aug. 19.
Along her ride, Wilcox is being supported by her wife Rugile Kaladyte and has been met by supporters and fans at stops along the route. People bring the cyclist treats, cheer her on and some ride along with her for stretches of her route.
Wilcox’s journey, her enthusiasm and the stunning video and photography coverage by Kaladyte, have captured many people’s imagination along the way and made people around the world feel connected to this incredible feat of endurance.
In Quesnel, she was joined by a couple followers, two women who showed her pathways through town to avoid some of the highway.
On her way through Vancouver, Wilcox had a large crowd of riders with her on her way as she headed to the border.
One follower estimated the group accompanying her in Vancouver at 50 riders.
At her turn at Wildwood near Williams Lake, the Tribune briefly met up with and rode with Wilcox, bringing snacks and taking a quick photo as she paused to say hello. “It’s been just the perfect summer day, I’m passing all these lakes and people are out swimming,” said Wilcox as she headed south, noting the air quality due to wildfire smoke had improved from the previous.
Upon returning to the vehicle, another driver pulled up and asked if we were there to see Lael Wilcox. Once the driver learned she had passed through and was just up ahead, he drove off after declaring he had to get a photo of her.
Wilcox said the temperature change into B.C. has been interesting, so soon after being in winter in New Zealand just two weeks before. Soon she expects to head into some high temperatures when she heads across Route 66 in the United States.
In her nightly podcast updates to followers, she provides regular reports on how far she went and what she has experienced along the route.
“I’m making some progress,” she said, after having completed 21,895 km on day 84.
Wilcox is also one of the founders of an organization called GRIT, which stands for Girls Riding Into Tomorrow, which provides free mentorship for young women in cycling and bikepacking.
