The Australian completed 14,200 kilometers in just over 30 days
Thirty days, 9 hours, 59 minutes.
Riding for a Greater Cause: Supporting Indigenous Literacy
Turning the pedals was about more than just about setting a new record. Lachlan Morton collaborated with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, an organization focused on providing books and learning resources to Indigenous children living in remote communities across Australia. Lachlan’s efforts have raised over $127,000 AUD ($86,000 US) from individuals across the world. There’s still time to donate.
“Being able to use something that’s a passion for me to help people’s lives in some way is always special and I think being able to have some impact on some of the places we’ve traveled through means a lot to me. I think on the whole, the cycling community is always pretty generous. It’s an expression of that,” Lachlan said of the funds he’s raised this past month.
A Grueling Journey Through the Harsh Australian Landscape
Lachlan set out from his hometown of Port Macquarie on September 5th at 04:00 a.m. local time for a counter-clockwise loop of the country in an attempt to set the fastest known time (FKT) for the Around Australia Record. In accordance with the rules for the record attempt, he had to ride for at least 14,200 kilometers and pass through at least six of the following cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Darwin, Esperance, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. And 31 days later, he rolled back into Port Macquarie having shaved close to an entire week off the previous FKT.
To accomplish this feat, Lachy averaged over 450 kilometers a day. Most days saw him starting his ride around midnight and then hopping off around 5 or 6 p.m. when he’d grab some food, a shower, and then get some sleep, only to repeat the process again the next day. This schedule allowed him to avoid the late afternoon heat in northern Australia and helped minimize the time he shared the road with heavy trucks and commuter traffic.
Unmatched Mental and Physical Endurance
Along the way, Lachlan encountered no shortage of physical and mental obstacles. The Australian weather conditions ran the full spectrum from the pounding rain to the baking sun, from relentless headwinds to, fortunately, the occasional helpful tailwind. The road itself, some days maddeningly straight and seemingly infinite, was a unique brand of mentally tedious at times. The odd animal held up Lachy’s progress, too. In the first week, he had a close call with a kangaroo and was dive bombed by the infamous magpies. Despite this, Lachlan didn’t hesitate to pull over and help an injured bird 21 days into his ride.
Lachlan is no stranger to endurance cycling and to pushing himself – mentally and physically – but attempting the Around Australia Record was something even he found to be particularly taxing.
“Mentally, it’s a lot of time to be focused,” Lachlan said. “And every morning you wake up and your body is kind of like destroyed and you push through, it just chips away at you so definitely the last four or five days were a pretty big challenge mentally. You’re just trying to keep showing up and doing it every day. It got pretty tough. I was definitely in a state of fatigue that I hadn’t really reached before so I had to lean on the crew and rally to get home. Just dedicating such a massive amount of time to pushing yourself every day. That is the real challenge I think of the Around Australia Record. I’ve never been so relieved to finish something as I was today.”
A Support Team Behind the Scenes
But Lachlan didn’t experience this ride alone. A dedicated support crew followed him, composed of his wife – Rachel Peck, brother – Angus Morton, childhood coach – Graham Sears, his longtime mechanic – Tom Hopper, and a pair of close friends – Karter Machen and Athalee Brown. They prepared his meals, washed his kit, gave bottle hand ups, found motels whenever possible, maintained his bike, and tended to a host of additional responsibilities so that Lachlan could focus on riding.
Moments of Joy Amidst the Strain
On the road, he was joined by countless dot watchers and well wishers. Having that company boosted Lachlan’s spirits beyond words. He rolled into Sydney on Friday, accompanied by a growing throng of old friends and new, and stopped to share a coffee in the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It doesn’t get more iconic than that.
The solo hours on the bike also brought Lachlan plenty of moments to savor.
“The memories I have of riding through the outback in the north at night and having those sunrises up there is something that I think I’ll carry with me for a long time. As hard as they were, the big long headwind days were for me probably what I was most scared of and intimidated by and to be able to tackle 16, 17 hours of just riding straight into a headwind knowing that nothing’s going to change. You’ve just going to keep trucking your way into it, trying to cover as much distance as you can. For me, personally, it was a highlight to be able to manage that,” he said.
A Sentimental Homecoming
Riding into Port Macquarie was a powerful and sentimental moment for Lachlan.
“I made the route into town to take in a lot of the roads I grew up training on. I went past the house I grew up in. It just brought back a huge amount of memories that made today very special. And then just seeing lifelong friends come out, and a bunch of new faces who have all just been following my journey, it was an incredibly special feeling to be able to pull off something like that in your own hometown. It’s a feeling that I think is pretty hard to replicate,” he said.
Now that Lachlan has made it safely back to Port Macquarie, he’ll take some time to rest and let the enormity of what he’s just accomplished sink in.
Photo credit – Karter Machen (Instagram: @kartermachen)
