The Ride Around Australia Record isn’t a random ultradistance ride for Lachlan Morton. Lachy is well-versed in undertaking incredibly arduous two-wheeled adventures. Most notably, his insane “Alt Tour” coincided with the 2021 Tour de France, but all similarities ended there.
Morton cycled the entire route, including all the transfers the racers made by motorized vehicles. He was also totally unsupported, carrying all supplies, finding and cooking all his own food, fetching his own water, and camping along the way.
Amazingly, Morton beat the pro peloton to Paris, doing so in 18 days. The Alt Tour by the numbers was staggering: 3,424 miles, and 224 hours in the saddle, and 220,000 feet of climbing. Most importantly, Morton’s efforts raised more than $600,000 for charity.
Lachy has also stunned the endurance sports world with mind-blowing efforts on the Tour Divide, the Colorado Trail, and other often whimsical things he and his supporting team, EF Pro Cycling, dream up. But now, Lachy will push his body and mind to the limits in his home country.
The Lap
Incredibly, the Ride Around Australia route will be more than double the distance of the Alt Tour, a whopping 8,824 miles. Morton will start and end in his hometown of Port Macquarie, New South Wales. He will need to ride about 249 miles per day to beat the current Ride Around Australia record of 37 days, 20 hours, and 45 minutes.
“I’m excited to be back in Australia,” Lachlan says. “I grew up in Australia. I am from Australia and this is the biggest ride you could do there,” states Morton on the EF Pro Cycling website.
This effort also marks the first time Morton will ride supported. A small crew of friends and family will follow along in a camper to assist, keep him safe, and share the record attempt.
“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,” Lachlan 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.”
You can follow Morton on his big lap around the Great Southern Country on a dedicated page on the EF Pro Cycling site.
Lachlan Morton: Riding for a Good Cause
Lachlan Morton grew up in small-town Australia, but he will ride through parts of the country he has never seen, and connect with people on the fringes of the bush.
“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,” he says. And he’s aware that life for people in small villages and towns in these remote locales can be tough.
Morton is using his Ride Around Australia record attempt to raise funds for the Indigenous Literary Foundation. This organization helps children in remote Australian communities access stories and books, especially those told in their native languages.
“Any cause that supports children in rural communities is super important,” Lachlan says. “People in remote Australia face a lot of unique challenges and don’t always have the amount of support they need. Being able to contribute something to the communities that we are going to ride through is important to me.”
Every $10 raised will put a book in front of a child living in rural Australia. You can donate on this dedicated web page.
Lachy’s Ride Around Australia Plan
Morton will circle Australia in the counterclockwise direction to take advantage of prevailing winds at his back more often than not. At his planned goal of 249 miles per day, he should finish The Lap in 35 days. He plans to start at just before first light on most days, which lets him finish as the sun is setting.
The amount of calories Morton will churn through is immense, and he will consume bars and gels (mostly carbohydrates) while on the bike. Additionally, he will eat three square meals a day. This will help ensure he takes in enough protein-, fat-, and nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables to maintain his overall health.
Longtime team sponsor Cannondale will supply a road bike with clip-on aero bars. Cycling pundits may question the choice, as an aerodynamically superior time trial bike seems to make more sense.
Morton prioritized comfort due to the extreme length of this effort. And all his bike touchpoints are the same he uses all the time, to help reduce the chances of overuse injury. Such setbacks have struck him in the past due to equipment problems and changes.
Lachlan Morton may know his equipment well, but he’s riding into so many unknowns. New roads, or lack thereof, new cultures and people, and a doubling of distance over the Alt Tour. He will have to manage the infamous Aussie heat and mental ups and downs, and he’ll figure out ways to bolster motivation for an extreme challenge that will last over a month.
Good luck Down Under, Lachy.
