Watch: Lael Wilcox rides every road in Alaska

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance cyclist. In 2016 she finished first in the Trans Am Bike Race, one year after setting the Tour Divide’s women’s course record. Her latest film, Lael Rides Alaska, shares her experience returning to her routes in her home state.

Every road in Alaska

In 2017 Wilcox, A fourth generation Alaskan, came back home to run Anchorage GRIT (Girls Riding Into Tomorrow), a middle school bicycle mentorship program for seventh grade girls in Anchorage, AK. That summer, the endurance cyclist decided to ride all of the roads in Alaska—about 4,500 miles. She had started the project in 2014, borrowing her mom’s road bike to see how far she could ride. She says this initial exploration sparked her interest in long-distance cycling events.

Wilcox’s 2017 Alaska-spanning ride was mostly solo, fulfilling a dream of connecting the dots of her mental map of the state and traveling to places she’d heard of but never seen.

Despite the solitude of her year riding the state’s roads, in 2017 Wilcox also met her partner Rugile (Rue) Kaladyte, a visual journalist who was reporting on Anchorage GRIT.

Coming back to Alaska due to the pandemic, Wilcox realized it was the perfect time to revisit her Alaska roads project.

“The way I got into solo adventure riding was either starting or ending at home,” she says at the beginning of the film.

Lael Rides Alaska displays the beauty of the Alaskan landscape. “Alaska is my home, the place where I started imagining riding far and a place I want everyone to see,” said Wilcox in an Instagram post.

In the film Kaladyte, who shot and edited Lael Rides Alaska, discusses riding with her camera. She places value on being able to capture a moment despite the added weight of her film equipment. “She’s more concerned with what camera she’s bringing than if she has a sleeping bag,” jokes Wilcox. To film, Kaladyte chose to use an ebike to give her the ability to speed ahead and capture riding.

In 2020 instead of riding the Alaskan roads solo Wilcox was joined by family and friends. “It made the whole experience so much richer,” she says, and talks about the importance of getting time with her niece and nephew.

The film itself was a product of these close connections. Kaladyte created it and Wilcox’s brother, James Wilcox, produced the soundtracked.

Lael Ride Alaska scholarship

In addition to the film, Wilcox also announced the “Lael Rides Alaska” femme-trans-women’s scholarship. The scholarship is intended to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000-mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. It’s open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary people) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience

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 element 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.