After first teasing his next epic adventure on an episode of Performance Process, Lachlan Morton’s plans have now been officially announced – and they’re big. How big? On Thursday, the popular Australian rider will set off from his hometown of Port Macquarie, New South Wales, taking in an anti-clockwise circuit of the Australian continent. The total distance – 14,200 km (8,823 miles) – is well over twice the length of his previous longest ride, 2021’s Alt Tour, which saw him ride the entire route of the Tour de France (including transfers) and beating the peloton to Paris.
Amping up the difficulty even further, Morton is targeting a record pace. The Around Australia Record currently stands at 37 days, 20 hours, and 45 minutes – a time that has stood since 2011, set by Brisbane rider Dave Alley. To save you the back of napkin calculations: Morton will need to average around 400 kilometres a day throughout his ride, through the heat and humidity of the country’s tropical north, the unseasonal heatwave currently being experienced throughout much of the rest of the country, and the challenging conditions of Australia’s remote highways and bush roads.
By the Around Australia Record rules, a rider is allowed to choose their own route, as long as it meets the minimum distance requirement (14,200 km) and passes through at least six of the following cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Darwin, Esperance, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney (sorry, Tasmania – no Morton for you). His route is below:
Attempts at the record are allowed to be supported – a first for Morton, whose ultra-endurance rides in the past have seen him sorting out his own food, roadside camps, and improvised bike and equipment bodges. A crew of Morton’s friends and family will follow him in a camper on his Australian lap.
“I’m super excited that we’ve pulled this crew of people together that are all really good friends and people that I trust a lot,” Morton says. “It is definitely going to be new to me. I’ve been able to have a lot of really amazing experiences doing long bike rides, but being able to share that with a group of people I’m very close with will be very special. There will be less to think about besides just continuing to push and push and push. I’m sure everyone will have difficult moments and I’m sure everyone will have very special moments as well. We’re going to end up with a whole bunch of stories that we’ll save forever.”
Morton typically ties his big rides to a charity endeavour – in the past he has fundraised over $280,000 AUD for Ukrainian refugees, and raised enough through the Alt Tour to donate 4,290 bikes to children in underdeveloped countries via World Bicycle Relief. In being motivated by a greater cause, this ride is no different: Morton will be raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, helping provide access to books for children in remote Australian communities, including those told in their native languages (there are hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, speaking over 250 languages). Every $10 AUD raised (you can donate here) equals a book for an indigenous child.
For Morton, it’s also an opportunity to reframe his understanding of his homeland – he was born and raised in Australia, but has been based in the United States for most of his adult life. “The last time I did a big trip in Australia was with my brother when we rode to Uluru. Through experiences like that you realise that you don’t know all of Australia. Australia is big. There are all these amazing people who live out in remote areas who you won’t cross paths with unless you go out on a big trip like this,” Morton says.
Over his years as an up-and-coming road star, turned ultra-endurance hero and Unbound-winning gravel racer, Morton has built both a sizeable following and the support of his EF Education-Easypost team to tackle audacious, intrinsically-motivated goals. On this trip, he’s again going to do things his way: rather than straining his body riding through the night, Morton plans a dawn to dusk daily schedule, prioritising at least eight hours of rest every night to minimise time riding in the dark. He’ll be fed from his support vehicle, consuming a combination of ride fuel and three square meals a day to ensure his nutritional demands are met, and will be riding his Cannondale road bike with clip-on aerobars – a balance of speed and comfort, which also extends to his usual contact points and position to avoid injury. With all of that out of the way, there’s just the small matter of riding 14,200 km in 37 days …
Morton’s big lap begins on September 5. You can follow his progress, and work out where you can intercept him to cheer him on, on the ride’s dot-tracking site.
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