Lael Wilcox has become the first woman to win the Trans Am Bike Race, taking the lead in dramatic circumstances on the very last day.
The 29-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, had been trailing Greek national Steffan Streich and slept for just half an hour on Tuesday night as she tried to catch him up, reports Alaska Dispatch News.
Her rival had a nap too – and waking up in darkness, started pedalling in the wrong direction, only discovering his error when he encountered Wilcox, who still had 130 miles to go, coming the other way.
“A woman’s never won a big endurance bike race like this, so it’s definitely a big deal for me,” Wilcox told the newspaper.
“I was never in the lead. I was just kind of holding on for dear life. I said, ‘I’m going to do the best I can and see what happens, and if I get a window of opportunity I’ll take advantage.’ “
When she encountered Streich yesterday morning, he suggested that the pair ride the remainder of the route together and share the win, but Wilcox was having none of it.
“Oh, c’mon, that’s the fun part about it,” she said. “We’d been riding for days and days and days, and a race to the end is exciting. I’m not gonna give up that chance.
“You get a one in 1,000 chance to get a race to the finish in something like this.”
A total of 62 men and women started the third edition of the unsupported 4,400 kilometre race in Astoria, Oregon on 4 June with the route passing through eight other states on their way to Yorktown, Virginia.
Wilcox won’t be taking a break from pedalling, though – she and her boyfriend Nicholas Carman are now set to cycle 700 miles to visit his family in New York.
14 thoughts on “Late drama sees Lael Wilcox win Trans Am Bike Race”
Love her attitude. What a
Love her attitude. What a warrior. Kudos to both of them though
So at the end, she and Streich must have raced to the finish? On the same route. Hope either of them blog about it, cos I’d love the exact details of how that went down!
Glad she won it. Talk about
Glad she won it. Talk about sore loser. I bet he wasn’t going to share anything when in the lead.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
Yeah, I thought that was a bit rich!
But surely she wasn’t in the
But surely she wasn’t in the lead at that point?
Either way, great result.
Looking at the live tracker
Looking at the live tracker replay she would have won even without him going into the wrong direction: http://transambikerace.com/2016-live-tracker/
“Chiiiiiccckkkeeedd!”
“Chiiiiiccckkkeeedd!”
congratulations to her. A modern version of the tortoise and the hare. Snooze you lose and keep going till the end!
Fantastic achievement! Puts
Fantastic achievement! Puts me in mind of Beryl Burton, who beat all the men on the way to setting a women’s world record for 12 hour time trial in 1967 which has not yet been beaten at 277.25 miles. Mike McNamara had wanted to set the men’s record which he did, at 276.52 miles.
As she passed Mike McNamara she casually offered him a liquorice allsort – which he is reported to have acceptde and eaten!
Herbie wrote:
The only reason that she holds that record is because nobody serious has tried to break it. Somebody like Dowsett would destroy that time.
J90 wrote:
Fantastic achievement! Puts me in mind of Beryl Burton, who beat all the men on the way to setting a women’s world record for 12 hour time trial in 1967 which has not yet been beaten at 277.25 miles. Mike McNamara had wanted to set the men’s record which he did, at 276.52 miles.
As she passed Mike McNamara she casually offered him a liquorice allsort – which he is reported to have acceptde and eaten!
— J90 The only reason that she holds that record is because nobody serious has tried to break it. Somebody like Dowsett would destroy that time.— Herbie
Yes, of course he would. But he’s a man, which kind of makes it irrelevant.
Wow, top chick!
Wow, top chick!
Lael’s partner Nick blogged
Lael’s partner Nick blogged during the event here:
https://gypsybytrade.wordpress.com/
Fantastic performance, only a few hours slower than Mike Hall.
She always wears a cotton Tee when she rides . My pockets are so full of stuff I am surprised she does not need the space.
Blackhound wrote:
Cool! Thanks!
So she caught up to him after he backtracked by mistake, then later she made a wrong turn herself and Steffen stopped her and waited and then suggested they ride together.
Interesting. Steffen did save her skin, so he sounds like a good guy. Fair play though, she wanted a race, it was a race and her incredible pace meant that when Steffen made his backtrack, she was close enough behind to save him time wasted going the wrong way.
That was the trade then. So fair play to race until the end.
Reading the details, about the distances per day and sleep.. just blows my mind. Seriously I’m like what the f**k. Terminators or what. Need to step up my game and stop being such a pansy.
Interesting going through the photos and seeing how aero her position is. Steffen too. They must have great flexibility and that helps them over the long distances.
A slightly fuller version was
A slightly fuller version was in her video interview in Yorktown:
When he suggested they ride together to the finish, she said no it’s a race. He then replied yes, but you’re losing. She said no, I don’t think so. Anyway it was very exciting to watch the event on Trackleaders. She must have finished about 2 hours ahead of him.
Ramz wrote:
So she dropped him properly on the final stretch. Love that. Wonder what their paces were. Couldn’t have been too high after going through hell. Some woman, that’s for sure. Chapeau!