Her accomplishments aside, Lael is a very kind, unassuming person. I feel fortunate to have met her and ridden with her a couple of times over the years. Lael was treated rather poorly years ago by some high profile athletes and folks involved in the ultra distance bike packing community for a Tour Divide attempt where she was filmed, because they felt it violated the "unsupported" rule of the race. I don't give a lick about these races or FKTs or Strava bests, but the way that little spark of controversy spread so quickly into a wildfire of prejudice and nastiness was quite sad to see in this little bike world. It seams bike nastiness only pops up when there's competition involved so I'm mostly spared from it thankfully. Fortunately Lael and her partner Rue (who is also very nice and talented) seem to have taken it all in stride and keep on doing what they do, inspiring people to be kind and ride. If I were still in Tucson I'd like to think we'd become friends.
Justin On Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 9:02:46 AM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > I only just stumbled upon her. And what you say is true. The two things I > really think are awesome about her world trip: > > 1. She put a tracking device on her bike that allowed people to come and > ride with her. Cycling can get lonely, and being in the saddle would be > hard for 108 consecutive days. The presence of other riders is energizing. > That was SMART. Plus, they celebrated her and brought her food. You can’t > quit when people are coming out to cheer you on. > > 2. She planned her route to be “safe, beautiful and interesting.” She did > not choose the most direct, fastest route. She chose beauty - and that > meant mountains and climbs and detours. And she STILL broke the record. > > > > On Jun 5, 2025, at 8:07 AM, Doug H. <[email protected]> wrote: > > Lael is an amazing person. Living vicariously through people like her > gives me joy. Some dream and plan but never do. She is a doer. > > Doug > > On Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 8:58:00 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! > wrote: > >> It has rained all day. I did “rage cleaning” and my friend said “Why is >> it rage cleaning?” and I said “Because it sounds better than just >> cleaning.” >> >> And I did rage cleaning and I did cooking and I was in a mood. And my >> husband said, “Did you get on your two-wheeler today?” And I told him no >> and he gasped and said with feigned horror, “OH NO A LOST DAY!!! DOES THIS >> DAY EVEN COUNT FOR ANYTHING?” >> >> So I am ignoring him and sitting here, trying to plan a bike trip that my >> college boy doesn’t want to take with me. He has the wanderlust and when he >> finishes summer classes he is taking his Clem, the Backabikes I gave him, >> the camping gear that dear Julian W from this List gave him, and he is >> OUTTA HERE. I want to go with him and also to amend his route so it does >> not include 1 million bad ideas and for some reason he is objecting. I >> mean, I’m not like a regular mom. I can hang! But I guess it’s not a grand >> adventure if your mom and her Platypus have to come. >> >> Anyway! I came across this video of Lael Wilcox riding around the world >> and I started it and doggone it, she is just so winsome and the footage so >> lovely that I had to stop and put this link here for you. >> https://theradavist.com/lael-rides-around-the-world-film >> >> And now I will get back to staring at the iPad and being overwhelmed by >> planning a big bike trip that I’m not invited on. >> Leah >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/bzw9iHjckjs/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3beeea98-90a1-41be-bb4a-6202bff2df46n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3beeea98-90a1-41be-bb4a-6202bff2df46n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/de61cdf6-ed17-4fd3-b44a-780a19abe5cen%40googlegroups.com.
