{"id":202090,"date":"2026-06-08T13:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=202090"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:41:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:41:46","slug":"gear-check-lael-wilcox-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/gear-check-lael-wilcox-2026","title":{"rendered":"Lael Wilcox\u2019s 78 days to Circumnavigate the World | Gear Check"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: REI is title sponsor of Lael Wilcox\u2019s global circumnavigation world record attempt. Follow along on our social media channels for updates. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Records are made to fall. For ultra-endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox, there\u2019s something freeing about pursuing a margin of improvement. It\u2019s not contingent on where it happens or when it happens. \u201cIn racing, at the end of it, there\u2019s just a number,\u201d she tells REI in a phone interview. \u201cAll this adventure happens in between, but it\u2019s kind of clean: The world, 18,000 miles, 78 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years after Wilcox became the record-holding fastest woman to complete a round-the-world route on bicycle, she\u2019s lined up to attempt the feat again\u2014but faster. She set out in the early hours of June 7th to cut 30 days off her previous pace with the overall record in her sights.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between her and the speed record is more than 18,000 miles of cycling over seven stages weaving across North America, Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania. When we chatted to Wilcox as she drove to a pre-start launch party with another sponsor, Rapha<\/a>, she seemed unfazed by the scale of the upcoming push. Each day she\u2019ll attempt to hit 240 miles over 16 hours on her bike. But for now, she laughs easily and is quick to joke about how long washing her hair\u2014which she\u2019s buzzed down for aerodynamics and comfort\u2014or putting on sunscreen might add to her time over 78 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take me straight to Lael’s gear<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With ultra-distance athletes pushing their speed for days and even weeks on end, time is as often calculated by the bare few hours spent off the bike as the total time on the saddle. \u201cI can\u2019t worry about the hypotheticals,\u201d Wilcox says. \u201cI have contingency plans but, at the end of the day, I only have control over so much. I am committed to doing this ride and doing it as fast as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 12 years since completing her first endurance race, Wilcox has frequented podiums in many of the events that define the world of ultra-distance cycling around the world. Wilcox finished second overall in that first competition, a 400-mile road race in her home state of Alaska. In the following years, she broke multiple Tour Divide speed records and became the first woman and the first American to win the Trans Am Bike Race from Virginia to Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t Wilcox\u2019s first rodeo with the world record, either. In 2024, she made a bid to complete the mileage in 110 days, and did it in 108 days 12 hours and 12 minutes, beating the previous record by more than two weeks. \u201cWhat I learned from last time is, you can\u2019t look at the big picture. You just ride the days, eat something, sleep, wake up and start the next day. Otherwise, it is just too much of a monster, especially when things are hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to the Podcast<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, REI Co-op Wild Ideas Worth Living podcast host Shelby Stanger spoke to Wilcox about her first global circumnavigation world record attempt. Check out the interview here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n