lael wilcox tour divide bike setup

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Packing for the Tour Divide with Lael Wilcox

Revelate ambassador and 5-time Tour Divide racer, Lael Wilcox, breaks down her bike and bag setup, packing list, and a few tid bits about the race itself.

Lael currently holds the women’s record for the Tour Divide at 15 and a half days. This year, she’s aiming to break the men’s record at 14 days!

You can follow Lael on her 2023 Tour Divide journey here.

Special thanks to Lael and Rue for taking the time to make this video 🙌

Lael is based out of Anchorage, Alaska. In 2017, she was named “Bikepacker of the year” by  Bikepacking.com . She holds the women’s records in the Tour Divide and the Trans Am Bike Race and is the second woman ever to complete the grueling Navad 1000 course through the Swiss Alps. She has ridden over 100,000 miles in 35 countries and there is so much more she wants to explore. As an advocate to get more women on bikes, her current favorite project is  Anchorage GRIT , a middle school girls cycling mentorship program. This summer she is racing the Tour Divide and The Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan. Follow her adventures at  laelwilcox.com  and on Instagram  @laelwilcox .

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How Lael Wilcox Crushed the Tour Divide

A conversation with the new women’s record holder on the world’s hardest mountain bike course

Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

The men’s record on the Tour Divide wasn’t the only one to fall this year. Lael Wilcox, a relatively unknown 28-year-old woman from Anchorage, Alaska, shattered the three-year-old women’s record on her rookie attempt. Wilcox shaved more than two days off the previous fast time, stopping the clock on the 2,745-mile event in 17 days, 1 hour, and 51 minutes. And despite her lack of experience and a nasty chest infection for the first half of the race, she finished sixth overall out of more than 150 starters.

But those stats are only part of the story. Leading up to the race, Wilcox rode—solo—the 2,100 miles from her home base in Anchorage to the race start in Banff. The whole journey, from Anchorage to Mexico, was the culmination of 10 months of bike touring, mostly with her boyfriend Nick, in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and Israel. It’s the couple’s longest stint in eight years of on-again, off-again travel that sees them home for a spell to work and save money and then away for as long as they can ride and support themselves.

We caught up with Wilcox a few days after she completed her record-setting ride. She seemed neither tired nor bothered by the fact that she was headed home to Alaska to work for a while. “It’s all just part of the ride,” she said.

OUTSIDE : For most people, a 2,745-mile race is the biggest thing they will ever do. But this was just a stop along the way for you, right? WILCOX: My boyfriend, Nick, and I have been on the road for the past 10 months touring. We heard about this route in Israel called the Holyland Challenge , so we went over there to tour it. But the timing was right, and we decided to go race it. That was my first bikepacking race. And I thought, “If this goes well, maybe I’ll do the Tour Divide.”

So it went well? It was rad. Actually, it sort of turned into a shit-show. They happened to have a lot of rain, and the terrain just turned into crazy, crazy mud that you couldn’t ride through at all. So they had to stop the race, transfer us down south, and then restart it. When they stopped it, I was 40 or 50 miles ahead of everyone, but we restarted all together. I was the only woman, and you know these guys were like, “We’re not going to let her beat us again.” In the end, we rode about 600 miles of the 800. And I got second. I had a lot of fun.

You had only done one bikepacking race before the Divide? Yeah, and before the Holyland Challenge, I had never used a GPS. Nick would navigate, and I’d just follow. I was always really bad with navigation. So during that race, I learned how to navigate, and that changed my life. I was like, “Hey, I’m never lost anymore. I have this GPS that tells me where I am. It’s awesome.”

But before the Divide, you figured you’d just do a 2,100-mile prologue. Doesn’t that seem like a bad idea? I wouldn’t have raced the Divide without first doing the ride from Anchorage to Banff. I’m from Anchorage, and I had never taken that road down to the U.S., so I just saw it as an opportunity to see that connection. Everyone told me, “That’s too much,” and “Don’t do it. Just take the ferry.” But I didn’t want to hear about it. I just want to do my thing. Obviously it’s a hair-brained idea… [Lael laughs out loud at herself, as she does repeatedly through the interview.] But I mean, you know, go for it. I figured if it doesn’t work out, who cares? I’ll just move on. I could just ride somewhere else.

How was the tour down? It was a lot of alone time, even more than the Divide. I’d go 100 mile stretches and see no people. It’s all paved, but it still feels more remote. I saw like a hundred bears.

Actually, the ride from Alaska was mentally a lot harder than the Divide. No one really understood what I was doing. I was on the fringe. You’re this weird girl out on a bike sleeping on the side of the road, and people look at you strange. For the Divide, people know what you’re doing. They understand it. But when you tour by yourself, you’re a loner. It’s a cool experience, and I liked it. But it’s nice to know that there’s an end date, that I wasn’t going to go on forever like that, being alone, passing through the world. You engage with people more quickly because you’re alone. But it’s the northern country up there. For a lot of people, it’s like the end of the earth. There’s a lot of weird stuff going on. Like people hiding from society. 

After that ride, you spent a week recovering and then started the Divide. How did it go? The first day, I was riding really hard. I did 183 miles, and I was having so much fun. The weather was pretty bad. We had rain, freezing rain, and hail, and it was cold, and I felt that my lungs were starting to hurt, just burning. At first I thought they were just opening up, but then I got really short of breath, I was sort of gasping. I developed this sort of infection, though at the time I didn’t know what it was and I just kept moving along. But I couldn’t breathe, and after that first day I went slower. I walked a lot. And I was so tired that I had to stop early, like 9 p.m. every night.

In Helena, maybe six days in, I went to the urgent care. They took a chest x-ray and said I had some form of bronchitis, but that’s sort of an overarching thing. It was just some sort of respiratory infection. So they gave me an inhaler, which really helped, and antibiotics. And in a few hours, I was feeling so good that I rode until 3 a.m. I wasn’t better immediately, but in two days I finally felt better. I still had a pretty bad cough, but at least I could breathe. That was something like eight days in, at the end of Montana.

When you started, what was your goal? And did the sickness change that? I wanted to ride as hard as I could. I planned to sleep four or five hours a night and just see how it went. I didn’t have specific mileage or time goals. I knew about the women’s record, but I didn’t have a smart phone and couldn’t monitor it. Sometimes when I saw people along the way, they’d tell me I was ahead of it.

And then you had some route issues in Wyoming? I loaded the track for the racecourse before I left Alaska. That was on May 16. And I guess while I was en route to Canada, they updated the track. But they never posted anywhere that it had changed. So I was following the 2014 track, but I had no idea. I got to Pinedale, in Wyoming, and I got all these texts from Nick saying that I was off route and that I needed to go to the outdoor shop and get the new track.

Nick has been in touch with the guys who monitor the race. They were like, “I don’t know about the race standings, but we’ll definitely honor your course as the record because it’s the same one that the previous record-holder rode.” But I didn’t think about going back. This was when I had just started feeling healthy again, so I wanted to keep moving forward.

How does it make you feel that your record will count but you won’t get credit for the win?  I don’t know if it’s been decided yet whether I’m in the official standings or not. And the whole thing makes me feel a little sad. I was really doing my best to ride the route and stay true to the spirit of the race. And with a technicality like this…I don’t really want to engage in it because it hurts my heart. While I was riding, I was really worried that I was going to get disqualified. You feel like a kid who’s in trouble, which is terrible because I was working hard to be honest and stay true. I did everything I could. And I guess I’m just grateful that I got to ride. I still got the record, and I guess that’s more important than the race.

“It actually doesn’t matter that you have a piece of shit bike or that you’re a girl. The riding speaks for itself.”

So do you think you would have been a lot faster if you’d not been sick? If I had been healthy, yeah, I definitely would have gone faster. When I started, I just went as hard as I could and I figured that if I blew up, I’d work out something else. I guess that’s sort of what happened with getting sick. It made me ease off. But yeah, without that illness I definitely would have gone a lot harder. 

So will you try again? Yeah, I might. It could be cool. Not next week, but… [Lael trails off in laughter.] But this year the weather was good, too. The passes were clear. So harder conditions would be a different race. I don’t know, it kinda creeps into your head, and then you have to just do it again.

Endurance racers always want to try again, but it usually takes awhile, especially after a big race. You definitely seem chipper for having just raced 2,800 miles. I’m always chipper. [She laughs again.] I don’t know. It’s just obsessively riding. It becomes almost like breathing. Riding is how I learn about the world. It was great just to see all that terrain, to take it all in and be outside so much. The weather was so good that I was able to just sleep out every night. 

Did it ever feel dangerous to you? Not on the Divide, but in Canada. There’s this stretch of road from Prince River to Prince George, like 300 miles called the Highway of Tears. Lots of women have been abducted there, and there are signs that say stuff like, “She’s gone. Why risk it on the Highway of Tears?” It feels terrible to be out there, and I was riding by myself. You look at the pictures and you think, “That girl looks like me.” So by the third day I just had to get off that road. There was a huge rainstorm, and trucks were sending big waves of water over me, and I should have stopped. But I just had to get out of there.

Is doing a race like the Divide different for women than men? People want to be more involved with you when you are a woman. They want to help you more, which is nice, but it can also be kind of frustrating. On the Tour Divide, people would come out to see me, and it’s like they felt like they were my friends already even though I didn’t know them. I guess people can relate to me more than they can to the men. It’s easy to look at these racer guys and think, “Man, I don’t have that kind of ability.” But they look at me, and they’re like “If this little girl can do this, maybe I can do something.” And that’s good. I want to empower people, to inspire them. I mean stop making excuses. At least try.

So do you consider yourself the race’s fastest woman or just a fast racer? Results speak. People talk a big game about what they can do and what somebody else can or cannot do. People would treat me like a joke, especially in Israel, where women aren’t as active and I was racing on really crummy equipment. But that’s the exciting thing about a race. You enter, and you get your result. And no one can take that away from you. That’s just how it is. It actually doesn’t matter that you have a piece of shit bike or that you’re a girl. The riding speaks for itself.

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I Just Want To Ride – Lael Wilcox and the 2019 Tour Divide

by Hannah Dobson November 27, 2019 2

There was a bunch of controversy around this year’s Tour Divide, with the lead up to it marked by the kind of kerfuffle that the internet breeds best (or worst). In short, Lael Wilcox planned to make a film about her Tour Divide attempt, and disagreement ensued over whether this was in keeping with the spirit – or rules – of the Tour Divide.

It’s not the first time there’s been debate over what constitutes support on a long distance event – indeed our own mile muncher Jason Miles has railed against the self-appointed, solo bike ride Council of Elders written about the topic .

Whether you think that Lael should have been able to have a film crew on the route in order to make a film of the Tour Divide, whether the organisers should have allowed the film crew there, or you really don’t care either way, the documentary is now out.

The launch blurb says:

Lael Wilcox loves the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

She loves the climbing. It’s pass after pass. She loves the roads. They’re not too technical. She loves the landscapes. Traveling from Canada to Mexico, all on your bike. The Tour Divide, it’s her kind of race and she’s done it twice before.

The 2019 edition was set to be truly unique as she attempted to be the first woman to be the overall winner the race. But would the weather cooperate? Would the race and route play out as it had in her previous attempts?

Follow along as Lael takes on the most notable bikepacking route in the world and has to overcome natural and human barriers to embrace the true reasons for why she rides and inspires others to ride. Go Lael.

Does this make you want to race the Tour Divide? Or just ride the Great Divide route, at a more leisurely pace? One where you can pause to savour the pies in Pie Town, stop to sink beers with locals in small, dusty towns – maybe just camp an extra night because the stars are so beautiful?

For another perspective on long distance racing, check out Greg May’s take:

Comments (2)

I remember the debate at the time, and the film makes some (justifiable IMO) points abouts double standards. I think Lael comes across as a honest story-teller and the fim is even more watchable for all that goes along with it. I’ve no interest in doing like what these folk do, but their determination and athleticism is inspiring . Worth 40 mins of anyone’s time,

Well worth watching, Kudos to Lael and “f*ck you” to the armchair **** on Facebook.

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Lael Wilcox: How to Prepare for a Bikepacking Race

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Learn how ultraendurance bicyclist Lael Wilcox utilizes komoot to guide her on biking adventures.

Not all ultraendurance riders have the luxury of riding the full race route pre-event. But Lael Wilcox believes it’s an important ingredient to her success.

As the overall winner of the 4,300-mile Trans America bike race in 2016, and the overall record-holder for completing the 2,750-mile Tour Divide in 2015, Lael knows a thing or two about covering big distances on a bike.

Here are five things she does to perform at her best.

How Lael Wilcox Prepares for a Bike Race

Ride to the Start

Gearjunkie: you’re known for a habit of riding to the race starting point — no matter how far that is. why add all that extra biking right before a big race.

Wilcox: I like to fit in a big tour a week or two out from a big race. I feel like the best way to prepare for long days in the saddle is to spend long days in the saddle — both for physical and mental preparation. Riding to the start of a race, my body gets used to being on the bike all day.

It’s not just muscle preparation or fitness, but also physical positioning and the stamina required to be on my bike for up to 20 hours a day. I also have time to think about what equipment I’ll need along the way, and time to feel mentally ready for the challenge.

Are you pushing yourself on these pre-race rides or taking it easy?

I always ride by feel. If I feel like going fast, I do. If I want to take it easy, I don’t give myself too much of a hard time. In some ways, riding to the start of races is a little relaxing because there’s no pressure.

I don’t have to rush; I just have to pedal and enjoy myself and I’m heading for the start line. I get so excited along the way. I love to ride and I love to race, and if I get to do both, I feel like there’s no compromise.

Gear Planning

How do you decide what gear to bring.

Every race requires different kit. I try to go as minimal as possible while still covering all of my needs. For example, on a time trial of the Arizona Trail 300 last spring, I knew it’d take me about 2 days. And I wasn’t planning on sleeping, so I didn’t bring any kind of a sleep system beyond an emergency bivvy.

For the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan, I expected nighttime temperatures to be well below freezing, so I brought down pants and a down jacket, as well as a down sleeping bag, a weatherproof and breathable bivvy, and a sleeping pad — more kit than I’ve ever carried during a race. But I needed it.

I’m big on monitoring the weather going into a race. I don’t want to plan for the worst-case scenario, but I also don’t want to be stuck out without necessary gear. It’s a tough balance to strike.

I’m also not afraid to be unconventional when I find something that works really well for me. For example, for the Arizona Trail 300 time trial, the route is an extremely technical hiking trail.

I wore running shoes and platform pedals because I knew I’d be walking a lot. For the Silk Road Mountain Race, I brought an extra pair of sandals to change into for the many stream crossings. This saved my feet.

Route Navigation

What tools do you use to find your way along the race route.

I began using GPS in 2015, and it changed my life! I have a horrible sense of direction — I get lost inside of buildings. Navigating with GPS gave me the confidence to be more adventurous, to ride more places because I no longer had to worry about getting lost.

The second huge piece of this is route building. I went on my first long komoot -planned ride over Christmas in 2017. I made a 500km route from Tucson, Arizona, to Pie Town, New Mexico — a point-to-point trip. It’s so much fun!

I’m currently riding from LA to Tucson on a komoot route. I flew into LA for a video shoot with Specialized. Instead of flying back the same evening, I decided to take a week to ride back. I love fitting in adventure rides whenever I can.

Mistakes Happen

These multiday bikepacking races often force riders to skip sleep. how do you handle or prevent bad decisions.

Everyone makes mistakes during races, making wrong turns and wasting time. The main thing is to not beat yourself up too much. Fix the mistake, retrace your route, and move on. It’s all part of it.

This article is sponsored by komoot . Say hello to your next adventure! Use the voucher code GJSPRING to download your free region bundle at www.komoot.com.

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Interview: Lael Wilcox on Ultra-Endurance Racing & Having the Courage to Take on the Men's Field

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Lael wilcox bike setup: trans alaska pipeline time trial gear list and introduction.

By: Rugile Kaladyte & Lael Wilcox July 13, 2021

I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, as was my mother. My grandfather was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, as was his father.

Alaska became a state in 1959. It’s a complicated and very beautiful place. It’s home.

In 2017, I rode all of the major roads in the state— about 4,500 miles, a mix of gravel and pavement. By land, Alaska is huge— twice the size of Texas. The road system is very limited, many places are isolated. I wanted to ride my bike to connect as much as I could. I set out in a series of trips— riding for a week or two at a time and hitching back to town to work at The Bicycle Shop to fund the next leg. For the most part, I rode alone. It was a lot of freedom and I had the time of my life.

Reflecting on my rides later, I wanted to go back to share my experience. Both with Rue, the love of my life, and with the public through photos and videos. This is something I have thought about since the fall of 2017.

In the summer of 2020, Rue and I flew back to Alaska to ride the roads together and make a video for PEARL iZUMi. Riding from home felt like a good choice during the pandemic. Our first big stretch was flying up to Deadhorse, the farthest north you can go on the road system, and riding 500 miles (800km) back to Fairbanks. We toured it together over six days. It’s a really challenging ride— along the way there are only two places to get hot food (the Ice Road Trucker Cafe in Coldfoot and the Yukon River Camp) and no grocery stores. The road is super punchy with plenty of climbing and the surface can get rough. In the summer, there are clouds of mosquitoes and the sun never sets. It’s so far north that there aren’t any trees for the first 240 miles (385km). Sightlines are expansive. This is the land of the grizzly bear, muskox, caribou, and moose. And there’s a road that runs through it.

The road was built in 1974 as a supply road for the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and was initially called the North Slope Haul Road. It was opened to the public in 1994.

If the road wasn’t there, I couldn’t ride through it. It exists because of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. I am grateful to be a visitor, to see this land from my bike seat. The more I experience places for myself, the more ideas I get.

I thought of riding a time trial on the roads following the pipeline, about 860 miles (1380km) from Deadhorse to Valdez last August. I ran out of time. It’s a great ride to come back for— a chance to spend some time in Alaska this summer, visit my family and go out for a real ass-kicker.

I’ll begin my ride on Tuesday, July 13 at 9am Alaska time. Follow my progress on trackleaders.com .

Rue will be there to document my ride and will be shooting a video for Rapha. We’ve hired Ana Jager to be her driver. It’s pretty awesome to have a full female crew.

My main motivation is to see how fast I can ride it and encourage others to both come break my record and just come ride the roads. They’re remote and gorgeous.

There was talk a few years back about hosting a race that finished in Deadhorse. I think the Dalton Highway is much more suited to touring and time trials. Although the road is public, it is still primarily used by long-distance truckers and North Slope workers. There is no cell phone service, so they communicate with CB radios. If there’s a cyclist on the road, they let each other know. They are worried about our safety, but can easily work around individuals or small groups. Sending dozens of cyclists on the Dalton Highway, particularly in a bikepacking race-sleep-deprived state could cause bad blood between truckers and riders. I’ve toured this route twice. Both times, truckers stopped to check in on me, even offering me water, juice, and fresh fruit to keep me going. I’d like to try and maintain that camaraderie. We’re all passing through a very special place.

Notes on gear and route:

I’m carrying a tent for the first time in a race or time trial because of the mosquitoes. I usually carry a bivvy or just a sleeping bag or nothing at all. I plan to sleep about four hours a night and know I wouldn’t sleep for a minute if I didn’t have a bug net. The first chance to get any food is at mile 240 (km 385) at Coldfoot Camp. They have hotel rooms as well and serve food from 5am to midnight. The next chance is at mile 360 (km 580) at the Yukon River Camp. They’re only open from 12-7pm, so there’s a good chance I’ll miss the hours. I’ll carry as much food as I can— Gnarly powder drinks , Trail Butter, salami-hummus-cream cheese tortilla roll-ups, surelis, brownies and more are going in every bag and every pocket.

I’m bringing a Suunto 9 Peak watch to try and record one continuous GPX file for my ride. The battery is supposed to last for a week on low power mode. I hope to finish my ride in four or five days.

For future record attempts, I’m not worried about what route people choose. Start at the general store in Deadhorse and finish at the marina in Valdez. There are very few options for deviations. The only real choice is to ride through Fairbanks or bypass it. It’s about 30 miles longer to ride through Fairbanks, but it’s the only real city along the way with bike shops. If I need to get my bike fixed along the way, I’ll add the miles and ride through Fairbanks.

My Trans Alaska Pipeline Route on Komoot:

2021 Specialized Diverge Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels (SON dynamo front hub) Rene Herse Oracle Ridge tires with Endurance casing (700×48) Easton AX70 carbon handlebars Zipp aerobars SRAM AXS shifting SRAM Red crankset 38T chainring 10-50t Eagle cassette SRAM Red hydraulic disc brakes Zipp stem & seatpost Ergon Women’s SR saddle

Revelate Designs Pronghorn handle bar system Medium dyneema drybag Mag-Tank 2000 2x Mountain Feedbags 10L Spinelock seatpack Jerry Can Topo Designs accessory bags for organization Specialized SWAT bag for SWAT box

Electronics

20,000 mAh power bank phone charger Micro USB charger SRAM battery charger Extra SRAM battery Headlight Airpods SPOT tracker Wall plug Sinewave Cycles Beacon dynamo light Blinky tail light

Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM Iphone on Quadlock as backup Suunto 9 Peak to record the ride

2oz sealant Tire plugs Spare tube Pump Superglue Patch kit Tire lever Quick links Spare derailleur hanger Brake pads Pliers Multitool Chain lube

Rapha short sleeve and long sleeve jersey Down jacket Cargo shorts (with chamois cut out) Gore-tex rain jacket Rain pants 2x wool socks Buff Powerweave shoes Mitts Gloves Gore-tex shell mittens Clear glasses Sunglasses

Big Agnes Fly Creek HV1 carbon tent Western Mountaineering Hyperlite sleeping bag Klymit Inertia X-Frame sleeping pad

Gnarly Nutrition : Gnarly Vegan, Performance Greens, Fuel20, Pre Workout, and BCAAs Trail Butter Surelis (Lithuanian cheese cake bars) Nut & farmers cheese pastries Sandwiches 2x Rapha Bidons Metal shaker ball

Albuterol inhaler (for asthma) Caffeine pills Ibuprofen Toothbrush Toothpaste Chapstick Extra hair tie DEET (for mosquitoes) Bear Spray Topo Designs wallet

Just Ride · Season 2 · Episode 6 · 23 April 2024

Riding the globe with record-breaker Lael Wilcox

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Just Ride S2 E6

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance legend. And yet, aged 20, she’d barely ridden a bike. It was only when she started a new job 6km from her home and realised cycling was the most efficient way of commuting that she turned to two wheels. A love affair was born, and then she realised she was damn good at it. Now 36, Lael’s won almost everything she could dream of: the 6,800km Trans Am Bike Race; holds the women’s course record for Tour Divide (4,418km); has the fastest known time for the Arizona Trail… the list goes on and on. And now she wants to smash the women’s round-the-world record – and is setting off from Chicago on May 26 to do just that. She aims to complete her trip around the globe in just 110 days. Lael spoke to Rob and Eliot about her spellbinding journey to this point – and how she plans to break an iconic record. We loved welcoming Lael to Just Ride and can’t wait to track her progress.

Geraint Thomas on winning and surviving at the top

Rachel atherton on what comes after competition, annemiek van vleuten on her blockbuster career, joff summerfield on his penny farthing world tour, matt jones on competition and youtube stardom.

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Lael Wilcox: What Makes a Great Bikepacking Tire?

Long distance bikepacking is all about making equipment compromises. Generally speaking, for me, bikepacking is multi-day dirt-road riding and carrying what I need along the way. Road surfaces, conditions, and weather are ever-changing— that’s part of the adventure. When setting out for a tour, I select equipment based on what will be the most fun or make me the happiest for the trip, or simply what I have at hand that’s ready to go. When setting out for a race, I choose what will make me the fastest over time. There are a lot of different elements that factor into the time it takes to cover an immense distance, like speed, efficiency, time on the bike and comfort. Maybe the easiest way for me to dive into these aspects is through specific illustration. I’ll use the it as an example. 

The Tour Divide is a 2,750 mile (4,425 km) self-supported mountain bike race based on Adventure Cycling Association’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route that travels through the Rockies from Banff, Alberta, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico on the Mexican border. It follows the continental divide as closely as possible, on forest service roads with over 200,000 feet (60,000 m) of climbing along the way. 

I’ve toured stretches and raced the full route three times. I hold the women’s record at 15 1/2 days (set in 2015). My ultimate dream is beating the men’s record that’s just under 14 days. To accomplish this task, I have to ride nearly 200 miles (320 km ) and 14,000’ (4,300 m) of climbing every day for two weeks, while taking care of all of my own needs (eating, sleeping, and maintaining my bike), without any external help. Commercial businesses are acceptable, meaning you can buy food, stay at hotels and visit bike shops, but these must be available to the public and can not be prearranged before the race begins.

From the start, the clock continues to run. So much can happen out there. I’ve had a fox steal all of my food in the night. In 2015, I got stuck in the mud in Southern Montana for a 12-hour stretch. Last year, on the summer solstice, it snowed over 30 inches (75 cm) near Steamboat Springs. There are so many beautiful moments, like a herd of elk stampeding up to Union Pass in the late evening or owls swooping low on the hunt. Yes, it’s a race, but it’s also experiencing almost every moment of every day through all conditions from the seat of your bicycle. 

Bikepacking is really about adapting to ever-changing conditions, and yet there hasn’t been a tire that is designed specifically for bikepacking. Most racers are on mountain bike tires that are designed for technical terrain, because we need aggressive knobs to deal with mud and snow. But mountain bike tires come in many varieties, each designed for one type of terrain. The idea is that you switch tires for different courses. But we’re racing all the way from Canada to Mexico on the same set of tires.

I was excited when Rene Herse Cycles asked me for input into their new bikepacking tire. “What is your ideal tire for the Tour Divide?” asked Jan.

Nearly the entire ride would be considered gravel with fairly smooth dirt roads, and it is totally passable on a gravel bike with 38 or 42 mm tires. However, no one has ever won the race or established a time record on a gravel bike. I believe this to be the case because over such a long distance, you just get too beat-up. I’d select at least a 2” (50 mm) tire for comfort, preferably a 2.2” (55 mm). This translates into more comfort for all contact points and joints (hands, feet, butt, shoulders, wrists, knees, back, neck, etc). Larger volume tires also enable me to rest and recover more on the descents, as I don’t have to actively control the bike as much.

The tire must be versatile for different surfaces— some tread for traction and handling, but also fast rolling on pavement. You can’t ride through mud and snow on a slick, but you also don’t want knobs that fold over in the paved hairpin turns when you descend into a town for a resupply. I also prefer a medium-weight tubeless-ready tire for durability and to avoid flats and failures. It’s never convenient to fix punctures (or any other roadside mechanicals). In a race setting, this could waste time and add frustration. It’s a big mental challenge to sacrifice sleep and endure so many other challenges – and then spend time on the side of the road dealing with a mechanical. Facing adversity is definitely part of the race, but if you can avoid problems by selecting more durable gear from the outset, this could save time and mental energy.

A few months later, Jan called and told me that they were sending me prototypes of the new bikepacking tires for testing. “What shall we call it? Do you have a favorite climb on the Tour Divide?” he asked. I didn’t have to think long: Fleecer Ridge (above) is a beautiful climb with a rough, steep descent on the route in Southern Montana. It illustrates the varied challenges that this wonderful route presents, and it’s a perfect name for the new tire.

Now that I’ve been testing the Fleecer Ridge 29″ x 2.2″ (700 x 55 mm) tires with the Endurance casing, I found that they check all of the boxes as ideal for the Tour Divide . It rolls fast, it’s got great traction with its large, widely spaced knobs, but the round profile and clever knob arrangement also allow me to lean the bike deep into corners on pavement. It’s been 100% reliable, with no flats so far.

On that note, I would also select these tires for bikepacking expeditions on unknown terrain or other long-distance races where I expect mixed conditions, like our recent route-building project in Colombia, the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan, and the Hope 1000 in Switzerland. For really rough rides, I might go for the Endurance Plus casing, and for a shorter, smoother course, I might pick the Extralight’s amazing speed. To sum it up, for the riding that I love, if I had to choose one tire, the Fleecer Ridge would be it.

Depending on conditions, I might opt for a slightly narrower rear tire to increase mud clearance. For the most part, I ride a Specialized Epic Hardtail, and the tire clearance between the chainstays with a 55 mm tire is pretty tight. Muddy conditions can halt forward progression pretty quickly. For this bike, 48 mm rear tire would probably be best. In that case, I’d be compromising a little comfort for better mud clearance. Jan, can you make a 48 mm version for me, too?

Photo credits: Rugile Kaladyte, Spencer Harding (Photo 3)

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Lael Wilcox

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Lael Wilcox and her 2021 Hope 1000 Race Rig

The Hope 1000 race starts in Switzerland tomorrow, and we caught up with ever-inspiring endurance athlete Lael Wilcox ahead of time for her thoughts on the route and a detailed breakdown of her bike and kit. Find that here, accompanied by photos from Rugile Kaladyte…

Words by Lael Wilcox ( @laelwilcox ), photos by Rugile Kaladyte ( @rugilekaladyte )

The Hope 1000 is a 1,000-kilometer self-supported mountain bike race across the Swiss Alps with just over 30,000 meters of climbing. It’s possibly my favorite route in the world. Willi Felix, the Swiss-born race organizer, spent decades scouting terrain in his home country and organized 20 unique week-long mountain rallies. As a result, he has an intimate knowledge of the great number of mountain passes around his country.

The route is a masterpiece and a real beast of an effort. It begins at Lake Constance in German-speaking Switzerland and finishes at the statue of Freddie Mercury on Lake Geneva. Resupply is easy. There are fountains of fresh water nearly every 5 or 10 kilometers, every town has a bakery, and stores stock fresh, high-quality food. The real challenge is purely physical. When I last raced it in 2018, I finished in 4 days, 10 hours—that’s nearly climbing Mount Everest every day, four days in a row, on singletrack, doubletrack, gravel roads, and quiet paved lanes.

Willi says, “There’s a lot of descending too!” He’s 60 years old, he rides his own race every year, and has the record for most finishes.

The route makes a great tour as well. It’s hard and spectacular regardless of pace. Willi recommends starting at Lake Constance because much of the climbing is on quiet dirt and paved roads, while the descents generally start on alpine trails.

There was a lot of snow in the Swiss Alps this winter and some still remains at higher elevation. We’ll definitely be pushing our bikes a little. The weather is looking really hot this year with thunderstorms forecasted nearly every day. I’m looking forward to a huge, beautiful ride. We’ll see how it goes.

I last raced the Hope 1000 on a Specialized Epic Hardtail. This year, I’ll be riding full suspension with a dropper post. The descents should be much more fun!

Lael’s Hope 1000 Race Rig

• 2021 Specialized Epic EVO frame
• Rockshox SID 120mm suspension fork
• Rockshox 110mm rear shock
• Zipp wheels
• Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge tires, endurance casing
• Hope carbon handlebars
• Ergon GP2 grips with bar ends
• SRAM XX carbon crankset, 30T chainring
• SRAM 10-50T cassette
• SRAM AXS rear derailleur
• SRAM AXS shifter
• Ergon Women’s SR Pro saddle
• Rockshox Reverb AXS dropper post

• 2 x Revelate Designs Mountain Feedbag
• Revelate Designs Mag-Tank 2000
• Revelate Designs custom frame bag>
• Lupine Blika headlight
• Black Diamond Icon Polar for my helmet (powered by AA batteries)
• Blinky tail light

Navigation & Electronics

• Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS (one on bars, one spare)
• iPhone on Quad Lock mount
• Anker 10,000 mAH powerbank
• Spare SRAM AXS battery and charger
• Lupine headlight battery
• Apple Airpod Pro headphones
• Micro USB cord, iPhone charging cable

Maintenance

• 2 oz. sealant
• Chain breaker
• Wheels Manufacturing derailleur hanger
• SRAM Eagle quicklinks
• CO2 and inflator
• (Gotta find some spare brake pads)

• Rapha Flyweight Jersey
• Rapha Core Cargo shorts (with the chamois removed)
• Rapha Lightweight Gilet
• Rapha Long Sleeve Technical T-shirt
• Rapha Lightweight Gore-Tex Jacket
• Rapha Pro Team Mitts
• Rapha Wool Socks
• Rapha Explore Powerweave Shoes
• Clear glasses
• Western Mountaineering HighLite sleeping bag

Personal Items and Nutrition

• Topo Designs wallet & mask
• Inhaler (for asthma)
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Extra hair tie
• Rapha bidon
• Empty Revelate Feedbag for drinks (coke, juice, yogurt)
• Gnarly Vegan Meal Replacement, Performance Greens, Fuel20 (I’m carrying enough to drink a protein-green smoothie every night and every morning, a test run)
• Sandwiches & pastries

2018 Hope 1000 Route

You can head over to komoot to see more from Lael’s previous effort on the Hope 1000 route in 2018, including more photos, a full route map, and elevation profiles. Additionally, Lael and Rue also thoroughly documented their 2018 ride for our full Hope 1000 route guide here .

The 2021 Hope 1000 race begins at 6 a.m. tomorrow, June 19th, in Romanshorn, Switzerland. Follow along live here . We’d like to wish everyone participating in this year’s event a safe ride and good luck out there! Stay tuned for more from Lael’s ride soon…

Related Content

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more on the Hope 1000...

I’m Not Stopping (film): Lael Wilcox Navad 1000

Bombtrack at The Navad 1000 (video)

Hope 1000: A Bikepacking Journey Across Switzerland (Video)

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