Lael Wilcox hits Chicago to finish record beating around the world effort

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 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.

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 first woman’s record under the Guinness rules was set by Juliana Buhring, who in 2012 threw herself into the challenge – despite having little cycling history at the time – and finished the circumnavigation in a solid 152 days.

The current men’s record holder is Mark Beaumont, with a time of 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes set in 2017. Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), who is currently chasing the record for the fastest supported time around Australia has flagged interest in a potential attempt at the around the world mark in recent years, though concerns over riding through Russia have added an extra element to the challenge.

After starting in Chicago and flying out of the United States in New York, Wilcox opted to take a path through Europe that started in Portugal, headed to the Netherlands and the tracked through to Georgia via Turkey and then left the continent behind in Portugal. She then headed to Perth, making the journey from Western Australia and across the Nullarbor Plain before working her way up the east  inland before flying out from Brisbane to take on a route up through New Zealand.

After that it was a return to home territory, with Wilcox flying into Anchorage, Alaska, crossing down into Canada and onto Los Angeles before heading inland to finish her journey in Chicago.

The around the world record rules outline that the effort should be a continuous journey in one direction, with a minimum distance of 18,000 miles, and include two antipodal points.