Despite her 108-day record-breaking trip around the world, Lael Wilcox says some of the most inspiring and memorable experiences she has had on the bike have come on the Komoot women’s rallies she has been a part of over the last four years.
Wilcox says that on the most recent rally in Arizona – which was 394 miles (634km) long – she rode with one woman who was four months pregnant and three who had recently survived cancer.
As well as her round the world record, Wilcox is no stranger to mammoth long distance events. She has ridden a wide range of endurance races and events during her career, including Tour Divide, Baja Divide, Trans Am, Navad 1,000, Badlands, Westfjords Way Challenge, and the Arizona Trail.
She told Cycling Weekly that seeing others push through adversity and break down barriers on the Komoot rides provided her with more inspiration than any of her own personal achievements and will push her through when she takes on the Iditarod trail in Alaska once more this February.
"I'm so used to just riding huge days all the time, it's not really that crazy to me. But seeing another woman go so far out of what's normal for them is so cool and incredibly inspiring," she said. "I've seen women do some stuff that I didn't even know was possible.
"One woman on our ride was four months pregnant. I didn't even know you could do something like that, and she was fine, she was crushing it, I thought that was just so cool. Another woman, I think she was like 65, told me four days in that she hadn't gone on a bike trip in 30 years.
"The ability some people have to just show up and do something like that is just incredible."
The ultra-cyclist helped set up the rides in partnership with Komoot with the aim of increasing female involvement in cycling, particularly after realising that some may be put off by the competitive element of some long distance events.
The rallies often take place in the spring or late autumn, with the shared goal for all riders to simply make it to the end, however long that takes.
Life-changing experiences
Wilcox explained that she wanted to create a "memorable" experience for women which is more than just your average group ride with your local cycling club on the weekend.
"So many of these other things for women are beginner only, no drop, and it's just so easy that it's almost not memorable," she said. "You have a fun day, but you don't have this wealth of 'remember when that crazy thing happened?' moments and I think right now people are craving that.
"I think that's a big reason for the growth of gravel. People want to go and plan to do something epic and almost scary where they don't even know if they can finish. But whether or not they finish, it doesn't really matter because they have some kind of wild experience. That spirit is such a fundamental part of something like bike packing which I love."
Wilcox believes that the non-competitive element to the events is crucial as it allows riders to get past their own personal hurdles without the added pressure of thinking about what others involved are doing.
She told Cycling Weekly that bringing in a relaxed element to the rides is what she feels helps foster a culture of empowerment and togetherness within the female American cycling community.
"A quarter of the women told me that they wished they could keep doing similar rides all year round," she said. "I could see that they really enjoyed the whole concept of living on the bike and the simplicity of just moving forwards, seeing things and just surviving. It's hard, but there's something so rewarding about that too.
"I feel like every rally I'm learning about a new crazy story like that and also learning all the things that people have overcome to get to that start line. I think we had at least three women that have survived cancer that were at this last rally in Arizona, and I didn't even know until the end because they didn't say anything."
She added: "One of them said it was a big deal for her because she'd felt since she had cancer that she wasn’t capable of certain things anymore. And then doing something like this massive ride with us made her realise that she can still do hard things.
"I guess that's a great reminder that life is hard and things happen, but we can still have goals to work towards when we’ve come out the other side of something."
