Imagine jumping on your bike and pedalling for 260km in one day.
Then imagine doing that for another 109 days, through cities and deserts — at times in the dark — across 22 different countries.
That’s what Alaskan-born and -raised ultra cyclist Lael Wilcox set out to achieve when she started her round-the-world-by-bicycle world record attempt in Chicago on May 26.
Less than two months later — after riding 1846km in the United States and 7750km across Europe — she hit Australian shores for a 9489km leg of her 29,000km journey around the globe, starting in Perth.
Just over two weeks after that, she had already put 3965 of those kilometres behind her two wheels when she arrived in Adelaide this week.
Now, she’s making her way to Shepparton. When she reaches Geelong she will turn north and travel through Murchison, Toolamba, Mooroopna and across the Peter Ross-Edwards Causeway.
When she arrives exactly is hard to predict.
The elements, pain and injuries, breakdowns and wildlife crossing roads can make already loosely estimated arrival times more variable.
But when she does hit the heart of the Goulburn Valley, she’ll have chewed up over 14,500km of road, placing her just past the halfway point of her journey.
The record she’s attempting to break was set by Scottish cyclist Jenny Graham, who passed through Shepparton on August 10, 2018, on her journey to the pages of history.
Wilcox, who turned 38 on Thursday, July 18, aims to beat Graham’s record by two weeks.
To be eligible, she has to adhere to five strict rules set by Guinness World Records.
One, she must start and finish her journey at the same point.
Two, she must travel east or west.
Three, she must travel on commercial transport between continents.
Four, she cannot zigzag across the map, meaning she can’t go backwards more than five degrees (which she says is equivalent to about 500km).
Five, she must pass two opposite sides of the globe. For Wilcox’s route, those two points are Madrid in Spain and Wellington in New Zealand.
Her full travel distance has to be about 40,000km, including her rides and commutes between riding points.
“Most people immediately think you’ll ride the most direct route, the flattest route and the fastest. Which sounds really boring,” Wilcox said.
“So this is a chance in a lifetime to get to do a huge ride and have it be both for the scenery but competition at the same time.”
Wilcox, who said she’d wanted to attempt the feat since 2016, chose to ride self-supported without a full crew.
She has Lithuanian-born photographer and videographer Rugile Kaladyte with her, who is documenting the journey. After they reach their final destination, the footage will be edited into a 90-minute feature.
Wilcox said that as far as the record went, there was no difference between a fully supported and self-supported ride.
She chose to take care of her own needs along the way, taking control of what she eats and where she sleeps, which is sometimes in hotels, sometimes as a guest in followers from cycling communities’ homes and sometimes in random places using a sleep kit she carries with her.
She said that because it was such a long project, she couldn’t just ride from petrol station to petrol station; she had to eat better and sleep better, so that keeping up the tempo to achieve her goal was sustainable.
“I can rely on myself anyway; I think it’s simpler, it’s less expensive, I don’t have to have people working for me,” Wilcox said.
“And that way, I can have people come ride with me, you know, if they bring me cookies, I can accept them; it’s kind of nice I can be a part of local culture in a way that some of these races don’t allow you to.”
She said that riding through a world full of people and places, her goal was to inspire others to plan their own trips and make them feel like they were a part of hers.
She welcomes cyclists to ride alongside her for a few kilometres everywhere she goes.
The News estimates she’ll reach Shepparton on Sunday.
When she leaves, she’ll head towards Waaia, before visiting Strathmerton and Tocumwal, where she’ll depart on the Newell Hwy bound for Finley and beyond.
Once she arrives in Brisbane after riding through the outback, she’ll say goodbye to Australia and head to New Zealand for a 1600km ride before returning to the US and Canada for her final 10,517km to secure the record.
Wilcox fell in love with the sport of cycling when she started commuting by bike in her 20s.
She began ultra-distance racing in 2015 and holds the women’s records in the Tour Divide and Trans Am.
She champions encouraging more people, especially women, to ride and organises things such as Tucson GRIT, women’s adventure scholarships and bike-packing challenges.
You can stay updated on Lael Wilcox’s journey by following her live-tracker on Rapha and listening to her daily podcasts on Spotify.