Chatter Marks EP 96 Around the world with Lael Wilcox

Crude Conversations

crudemag

Society & Culture

5 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2024

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance cyclist and racer, and she recently set a women’s Guinness World Record for fastest time cycling around the world. The trip was 18,000 miles long and it took her 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes to complete. She averaged 166 miles a day. And with the help of some friends, she planned her own route. She wanted it to include the kind of riding she likes to do, which is a lot of climbing in the mountains. It’s slower and it’s harder, but it’s the riding that inspires her. Her route was intense, rewarding and challenging. She was especially grateful for finishing without any injuries. Considering how much road Lael covered, staying safe around vehicles was among her top priorities because regardless of what happens, her main goals are to always stay safe and to finish regardless of her standing. She says that each race is an opportunity to prove something to herself. Sometimes that’s overcoming her fear of the route — like with cycling around the world and the Iditarod Trail. Other times it’s about being capable of doing these increasingly long and difficult rides. Her desire to chase these rides, these proving grounds, is all-consuming. To the point that when she finds herself thinking about them, she stops eating or she stops talking to focus on the idea and her intent. She imagines it all fitting together like a puzzle — every piece is important and it all fits together to form a bigger picture. Sometimes that involves spontaneity — she loves that. Adjusting to weather, keeping an eye out for places to sleep, seeing wildlife, meeting new people, experiencing other cultures and visiting new places.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I mean just right when you said that I was thinking of this guy that pops out in
0:16.0	New Zealand when it's like 30-something degrees and he's wearing shorts and on an e-bike and he's like I'm a farmer these are my sheep and I was like how many sheep do you have he's like 800 and then he's like I've been having a really rough like three weeks so I'm so excited you came through
0:34.4	because it gave me something to look forward to.
0:37.0	Oh, that's awesome.
0:38.0	He probably rode with me for like 10 minutes.
0:41.0	But I was like, that is so cool. Yeah. And I think that was like that is so cool.
0:43.0	Yeah, you know, and I think that was like kind of the overall feeling of this project was people saying, and I recorded a podcast every day so people were following that and they were just like this time in the
0:55.4	world it seems like there's so much to kind of feel sad and disappointed about that
1:00.3	they just looked forward to either riding with me or listening to my podcast because it was like the five, ten minutes of their day that they knew would be like a positive break.
1:10.4	And I was like, oh, that is cool.
1:13.4	You know, because I mean, like, what a gift for me to get to do this ride.
1:18.1	And then for people to feel like they could see some good in the world
1:22.3	through my experience, where they could be part of it in a way
1:26.7	That was Lail Wilcox
1:29.6	She's an ultra-endurance cyclist and racer,
1:32.9	and she recently set a women's Guinness world record
1:35.9	for fastest time cycling around the world.
1:39.9	The trip was 18,000 miles long, and it took her 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes to complete.
1:49.1	She averaged 166 miles a day. And with the help of some friends she planned her own route.
1:56.4	She wanted it to include the kind of riding she likes to do, which is a lot of
2:01.6	climbing in the mountains. It's slower and it's harder, but it's the
2:06.5	riding that inspires her. Her route was intense, rewarding, and challenging.
	...

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