Four feet wide and carried five above the ground by a seemingly endless series of stanchions, the Alaska Pipeline is, for most of its 800-mile route, the only mark humanity has made on the pristine wilderness of this last frontier. The only mark, that is, except for the road that accompanies the pipeline on its long journey south from the Artic outpost of Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.

She started out riding her bike to work, then discovered she could get across town before eventually travelling all the way to the next city to see her sister. Now, Lael Wilcox is an ultra-distance racer renowned as a fierce competitor on the bike and one of the friendliest people you’re ever likely to meet off it.

Lael Wilcox is a 4th generation Alaskan and an ultra-distance cyclist. In 2014, she began pushing her limits in her home state and dreamed that one day, she’d ride all of the major roads in Alaska-- connecting the dots and traveling under her own steam to places she’d heard of but never seen.

Endurance athlete Lael Wilcox has set out to ride the Tour Divide in 2019. Lael would be attempting to set a new course record and in the process win the race overall. With the high levels of snow on course this year the record is unlikely but the goal to win overall is still up for the grabbing.

The Navad1000 is a 1000-kilometer-long self-supported mountain bike race that climbs 30,000 meters through the Swiss Alps. Lael Wilcox chose the race as her first ultra-endurance competition in Europe, crossing nearly the entire country of Switzerland by bike.

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.

For bikepacker and ultra-long-distance racer Lael Wilcox, taking on the Arizona Trail—800+miles of desert singletrack—is a challenge unlike any other, and it will test her to the core.