Lael Rides Alaska (Film)

Lael Wilcox is a fourth-generation Alaskan and she began her ultra-endurance cycling career on the endless gravel roads of her home state. Back in 2017, Lael spent the summer riding the entire state road network, connecting the dots between places unknown to her and traveling completely self-supported for a total of 4,500 miles (7,300km). She rode mostly solo on that initial trip, and wanted to return to capture the beauty and truth of Alaska. She also wanted to inspire more people to ride there.

The pandemic of 2020 provided a unique opportunity to revisit this project, to ride from home, spend time with her family, bring them along, and tackle all these roads once more. Along the way, Lael’s partner and filmmaker, Rugile Kaladyte—who made Ruta Chingaza with us earlier last year—shot and produced this film to showcase the project. Watch it below, along with a selection of photos from Rue and a map of the road network that Lael rode on her trip.

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Lael’s Alaska Routes

After setting the women’s record on the Tour Divide in 2015 and outright winning the Trans Am in 2016, Lael returned to Alaska to ride all of its roads; a mix of pavement and gravel on 12 major roads (and many spurs) for a total of 4,500 miles (7,300km). Find the map below and click a particular road segment to link to Lael’s Komoot collection.

LAEL RIDES ALASKA 2021 FEMME-TRANS- WOMEN’S SCHOLARSHIP

Just announced, the Lael Rides Alaska Femme-Trans- Women’s Scholarship is designed to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000 mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. This scholarship is open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience. Lael and partners are looking for positive energy and a strong desire to experience the remote roads of Alaska and have some fun.

The recipient of the scholarship will receive a Specialized Diverge bicycle, Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, PEARL iZUMi apparel, a premium subscription to Komoot, Easton wheels, a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS, Big Agnes camping equipment, Rene Herse tires, a year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly, Trail Butter, and a $1,500 travel stipend provided by Easton.

Find all the details and learn how to apply over at LaelWilcox.com.