Adventure cyclist and ultradistance bikepacker Lael Wilcox is a fourth-generation Alaskan. In 2020, she took the pandemic as a call to explore her massive and wild home — of course, by bike.
In 2014, Lael Wilcox began pushing her limits in her home state, riding local roads and mapping out future adventures around Alaska. Her goal? To ride all of the major roads in Alaska.
In 2017, Lael spent a summer working toward that goal, riding some 4,500 miles on her own. In 2020, and in the midst of a pandemic, she took another chunk of time to revisit her goal and tackle more mileage than ever before. But this time, she’d do it with friends and family.
“If the finish line is home, how much farther can we go? If we bring along our loved ones, how much more will it mean?” teased the film team. This short film recaps the inspiration, progress, and experiences of Wilcox’s Alaskan rides.
This project was presented by Pearl Izumi and is in support of the Anchorage GRiT project as well as the “Lael Rides Alaska” Women’s Scholarship.
