June 8, 2024
Tracking Lael Through Paris
Lael Wilcox is the undisputed queen of ultra-endurance cycling. She has been a hero of mine for many years and I read with delight (and a of bit envy) Ron Suchanek’s CB post describing his unexpected meet-up with Lael while cycling the Great Divide. Lael has won/set records in numerous long-distance endurance races and on May 26 set out from Chicago for a ride around the world – her goal is to complete the 18,000 mile journey in 110 days, breaking the current women’s record set by Paola Gianotti in 2014. You can read more Lael’s quest and her bike here.
Lael’s entire route is available on Komoot and she has invited the public to join her on segments of the ride. You can only imagine my excitement when I saw that the route would pass through Paris, giving me an excellent opportunity to participate in this unique event and perhaps meet a cycling legend. The online information gave no projections on where Lael would be on any given date but there were daily updates on Komoot and Instagram, a daily podcast about each day’s ride, and live tracking of her progress. All signs pointed to her cycling through Paris sometime Saturday afternoon, with the caveat that some route adjustments to might be necessary.
I woke Saturday morning full of excitement. Lael would be starting the day in Blois and a quick look online showed a new route through Paris, one that essentially went right by my apartment. Wow!!! However, when I checked a short while later, the alternate route by my house had been replaced with the original track showing Lael's position en route from Blois. Her route through Paris included a stop at the Eiffel Tower and a pass through Place de la Concorde before leaving the city and crossing the periphery road at Billancourt. I mapped her track through the city in my RWGPS, hoping I would enjoy a few miles tagging along with Lael through the streets of Paris.
I considered many options as to where I might intersect with Lael’s route, wanting to choose a spot where I could see her coming in advance and so have time to jump on my bike and pedal along. I settled on a large round-about at Rue d’Alésia where she would navigate multiple intersecting roads and make a turn up Rue de Maine. By lunchtime I was full of nervous energy and could barely get through my peanut butter sandwich. I eventually gave up waiting at home and arrived at my meet-up spot a little after 2 pm, well in advance of Lael’s projected arrival. It seemed to be a good spot, with a wide plaza fronting a church where I could see her coming and be ready to join Lael and any other cyclists who were along for the ride. I leaned Vivien George against the fence and sat on the step, periodically looking at the live-tracking to estimate when Lael might pass by. Over the next two hours or so, I moved from the sun to the shade, bought a crêpe from a sidewalk stand, and people watched.
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I’d been sitting on the stoop, monitoring the live-tracking throughout the early afternoon and watching the LW spot progress northward as Lael neared the outskirts of Paris. It indicated she was about 5 miles away when I suddenly heard/saw/experienced a rush of about ten cyclists speeding through the round-about and heading up Rue de Maine. In amongst the group was a rider in a black kit with a yellow safety vest – it was Lael!! How could that be? Despite what the live-tracking indicated, I was nearly certain it was she in the group of cyclists. I hopped on Vivien George and sped through the streets of Paris in hot pursuit.
It was an exhilarating ride – not only was there the thrill of anticipation but I rode much faster than my usual Paris pace, catching almost all the green lights and taking a few chances where I normally would have stopped. The Eiffel Tower rose in the distance as I rounded the intersection by Gare Montparnasse and headed down Boulevard Pasteur. I was in familiar territory now, more sure of my way through intersections, and it was quick going until I ran into the mass of crowds at the Eiffel Tower. Online information had indicated Lael would be stopping at the Eiffel Tower, so I dismounted and followed her track to the far side of the iconic structure.
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I scanned the crowds amassed around the Eiffel Tower, searching for a group of cyclists or some merchandising banner promoting Lael’s ride. Nothing. I refreshed the live-tracking and it now indicated she was on the quai along the Seine. I rushed over to the river, navigating through the trinket vendors and dodging wandering tourists gazing upward, not ahead. I peered over the bridge, looking up and down the quai - no Lael in sight. In near desperation, I hauled Vivien George down the stairs in a vain attempt to get a look under the bridge. Again, nothing.
Reckoning that any chance of meeting Lael would disappear if she had left the Eiffel Tower area, I pulled up her Instagram account – there was a recent posting showing her in a small group gathered across the street from the Eiffel Tower. I rode a short ways along the quai and then hauled Vivien George up the stairs to street level. No Lael, but I did spot two cyclists peering into their phones. “Are you looking for Lael” I asked. Yes, was the reply. And so began yet another race through Paris in search of Lael, this time in the company of Liv and "Mark" (I forgot his name but we’ll call him Mark).
Mark works at the US Embassy and informed us that President Biden was in town as part of his visit commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Consequently, Place de la Concorde was closed off which, in addition to all the snarls caused by Olympic preparations, necessitated last minute changes in Lael's route. By this time we had realized that live-tracking didn't do continuous tracking, it just frequently updated the spot where Lael was last “seen.” Thus we had no idea of where she was, nor where her detour route would put her. Mark proposed that we take a short-cut across Champs-Élysées and intersect Lael’s route farther north, close to the periphery. The hope was that she would get delayed and we would arrive at the intersection ahead of her.
So I was once again racing through Paris, only this time I needed to keep up with two younger and more fit cyclists. "Don’t worry", Liv assured me, "we are a team now". I managed to stay with them and by the time we arrived at the intersection “live-tracking” indicated she was only 3 km ahead of us. It was at this point I decided to cry uncle, not sure how far ahead she actually was but knowing that continuing on would take me beyond central Paris and into some sketchy parts outside the city. I shared my Instagram address with Liv and wished them good luck as they rode away.
But I wasn’t done yet. As I readied to plot a route back home, I noticed that RWGPS tracking my ride indicated the end point for this section of Lael’s route was only 1.5 km ahead. Thinking perhaps she would take a break there, I decided to give it one more go, heading north and crossing under the periphery road to her spot indicated by live-tracking. Unfortunately, she had moved on. I plotted a route back home, a bit down that I had missed Lael but still feeling exhilarated by the thrill of the chase.
My route home took me through a nightmare Paris traffic resulting from President Biden’s visit, which included a ceremony at the Champs-Élysées followed by a luncheon at the Palais de l’Élysée, the official residence of President Macron. Traffic on the Champs-Élysées was still jammed and Avenue de Montainge was nearly impassable due to a phalanx of large black vans maneuvering in front of the 5-star Hôtel Plaza Athénée. I wondered if the vans were part of a convoy of decoy vehicles used to transport the President - I wanted to stop for a photo but the scene was crazy and I didn’t want to risk the secret service confiscating my camera.
Once home, I pulled up Liv's Instagram account and saw that she and Mark had succeeded in catching up with Lael. Bravo!! In fact, Liv, an avid bike-packing cyclist and aspiring racer, rode forty miles with Lael through the French countryside north of Paris. I was elated for the both of them, and spent only a little time regretting my decision to abandon the chase. It was an epic day for me, and though I saw Lael only fleetingly as she sped by me on Rue d’Alesia, I was swept up in her spirit and her contagious love of cycling adventures. It was certainly a day to remember!
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Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 1,275 miles (2,052 km)
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