A 38-year-old from Alaska has become the fastest woman to cycle around the world. Lael Wilcox finished her 29,000-kilometer ride in 108 days, breaking the previous record by more than two weeks. The American, who is waiting for her record to be confirmed by Guinness World Records, started and ended her journey in Chicago. However, to break the record, Guinness doesn't ask cyclists to actually ride all the way around the world. They must start and end in the same place, and their whole journey — including flights — must be at least 40,000 kilometers. That's the circumference of the Earth's equator. Cyclists must travel at least 28,970 kilometers by bicycle. After leaving Chicago in May, Wilcox rode to New York before flying to Europe. She then cycled from Portugal in the west to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in the east. She flew to Perth, Australia, and cycled east to Brisbane before cycling across New Zealand and then flying to her home city of Anchorage. She cycled down to Los Angeles, and then back across to Chicago on the famous Route 66. Her wife, Rugile Kaladyte (pronounced "RUE-gil-ay KAL-ah-dee-tay"), is a filmmaker. She traveled with Wilcox, taking videos and posting updates on social media. Wilcox is an experienced cyclist, but the first woman to cycle around the world had only learned to ride a bike a few days before her journey began! In 1894, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a mother of three young children, left Boston and cycled around the world in 15 months — all to win a bet!