In 1899, a cyclist left Perth with the aim of riding the circumference of the Australian mainland. It took him 245 days. In the century to follow, that record mark has slowly been whittled down. On Saturday, Australian pro cyclist Lachlan Morton smashed a new best time – finishing the 14,200km journey around the continent in just 30 days, nine hours and 59 minutes
It is a remarkable feat. The prior best time, set by Queenslander David Alley in 2011, sat at almost 38 days. But by averaging more than 450km each day, Morton has completed a lap of the country in just a month – and raised $130,000 and counting for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Morton finished in his home town of Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales mid north coast, on Saturday afternoon. “I’m pretty smoked, mate,” he told Guardian Australia a few hours later. “Nice to be done, for sure. I’m definitely feeling it.”
Every day for the past month, Morton has risen in the late evening to begin another day in the saddle on his journey around the country. The EF Education-EasyPost rider rode through the night, and much of the day, before sleeping for six or seven hours. Rinse and repeat.
But on Saturday, waking from his afternoon nap in a dazed panic, Morton had no more kilometres to ride. “I woke up in a pool of sweat thinking I was late [for another day of cycling],” he said. “I think it will be a little bit of an adjustment. Once that happens it will be nice to catch up on some rest.”
The rules that govern the record provide no official route – only that cyclists must cover at least 14,200km (Morton ultimately rode 10km more than required) and pass through eight locations: Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Broome, Perth, Esperance, Adelaide and Melbourne. Morton left from Port Macquarie in early September and rode anti-clockwise around the country. He started and finished on the roads he grew up training on – passing his childhood home on Saturday. “It brought back a huge amount of memories,” he said.
For Morton, who has undertaken a number of similar epic journeys, and contested professional World Tour races including the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia, this would prove the hardest challenge of his career.
“The last 10 days I’d say I have gone into places, physically and mentally, that I haven’t been before – and spent pretty extended periods in them,” he said. “I definitely made the pain cave a little bigger. I have never been so relieved to finish something as I was today.”
Aside from the immense physical and mental challenge, it was a relatively smooth journey – just three punctures, a minor mechanical issue on the final day, and one run-in with a kangaroo. He did, though, have a few close calls with fellow road-users – ultimately deviating his course as he headed into Adelaide, and then through Victoria and towards Sydney.
“I think there were a few moments where I questioned the safety of what I was doing,” Morton reflected. “I guess it’s a test that takes place on public roads, and it is probably one of the more dangerous things that I have done.” (In recent years, two people have been killed undertaking the Indian Pacific Wheel Race from Perth to Sydney.)
“It felt like a low moment at the time, abandoning some of my initial route to get further off the highways,” he added. “But that actually turned out to be a blessing in the end and led to some incredible, different days on the bike.”
A lengthy rest beckons for Morton – although not before taking part in a race in just over a week’s time. “I’m trying not to think of that for at least one night,” he laughed. But then the cyclist will have time to contemplate and consider what might come next. “I will have some down time, reassess and start to think about another project that excites me,” he said.
Morton’s ride has raised significant funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, which provides books to First Nations children living in remote communities. “Being able to have some impact on some of the places we’ve travelled through means a lot to me,” he said.
Asked to name a highlight from his month-long voyage around Australia, Morton settled on an unexpected choice. Much of his journey through Western Australia and into South Australia, including crossing the Nullarbor, was undertaken with the wind blowing straight at him. But in adversity, Morton found strength.
“As hard as it was, the big long head-wind days were for me probably what I was most scared, most intimidated of,” he said. “To be able to tackle 16, 17 hours of just riding straight into a headwind knowing nothing is going to change, you’re just going to keep trucking away into it, trying to cover as much distance as you can. For me, personally, that was a highlight – to be able to manage that.”
Around Australia in 30 days – headwind notwithstanding.
