Lachlan Morton has completed his loop of Australia in the fastest known time, arriving back in his hometown of Port Macquarie at 1:54pm (local time) on Saturday to complete his 14,210-kilometre epic in 30 days, 9 hours and 59 minutes – a little over a week faster than the previous record.
In taking on ‘The Lap’ with EF Education-EasyPost, a ride that is double his longest previous effort as part of the ‘Alt Tour’ and the first benefiting from the support of a camper, Morton has raised over $122,000 AUD ($83,000 USD) – and counting – for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Morton set off from his home in New South Wales on 5th September, rolling out at 4am and heading towards Queensland as he began his anti-clockwise loop. By the end of the first day, he’d pedalled 486 km before committing to a good chunk of rest – with early starts and early finishes to avoid traffic – taking cues from previous efforts by planning eight-hour stops each night. At the ride’s culmination, Morton’s tracker had logged almost exactly a third of elapsed time as stationary.
It was not without obstacles and mishaps, with headwinds, snakes, nocturnal kangaroos, the heat of the outback, and desolate roads making an already gruelling challenge all the harder. Most notably, a nerve-rattling close call with a lorry prompted changes to the route towards the end to incorporate quieter roads, including gravel and more climbs, but with the help of a support team and a number of locals who joined Morton on the road, he stayed on track to break Dave Alley’s 2011 record of 37 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes.
I had some incredible experiences by myself in the outback, riding through the night, seeing sunrises, close calls with trucks, wildlife, hot days, cold and long days.”
This is just the latest in a series of ultra-distance adventures that Morton has taken on as the figurehead of EF’s ‘Alt Tour’, including last’s year’s Divide, the entire 2021 Tour de France route and all its inter-stage transfers in advance of the race, and an unsupported ride from Munich to the Polish-Ukrainian border in early 2022, raising awareness and funds for Ukrainian refugees.
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