Minutes or seconds.
Kilometers or meters. Miles or feet.
Those are the margins by which world records are broken in cycling. Seconds or minutes could separate a current from a former record holder on a particular course or distance. Meters, feet, kilometers or miles demarcate the difference between a new and an old record for distance pedaled over an hour or some other fixed amount of time.
But two weeks?
Well, Lael Wilcox beat a world record by that much.
To be clear, she wasn’t in a UCI-sanctioned race. I reckon, however, that her speed and endurance could match, or better, that of any rider on the World Cup circuit. Over the past three and a half months, she’s put in more miles or kilometers than most racers ride in a year—and, on an average day, she covered more ground than cyclists on a stage of a multi-day extravaganza like the Tour, Giro or Vuelta.
So, on what kind of ride did she best her nearest rival by two weeks?
It’s one that she took—or took her, depending on your point of view—around the world. Beginning and ending in Chicago, she covered 18,125 miles (29169 kilometers) over four continents in 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes.
The previous women’s record holder, Jenny Graham of Scotland, did her 2018 world tour in 124 days and 11 hours.
Her grand tour ended on 11 September. How did she celebrate? By taking a ride with her wife, photojournalist Rue Kaladyte, who took this photo when Wilcox arrived in Chicago:
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