450km a day, sweltering heat and headwinds, and dodging kangaroos and truck drivers: Lachlan Morton completes epic 14,210km lap of Australia by bike in 30 days and 10 hours – over a week faster than previous record

30 days, nine hours, and 59 minutes – and 14,210km – after rolling out of Port Macquarie, Lachlan Morton arrived back in his hometown at 1.54pm local time on Saturday afternoon, having completed the fastest known lap of Australia by bike.

The EF Education-EasyPost pro averaged a staggering 450km a day to set the Around Australia record, pending verification from the official arbiters of such things, beating the previous mark by over a week, after battling sweltering heat, brutal headwinds and rain, and the usual dangers on the road (close passing lorry drivers), along with the not-so-usual (kangaroos and snakes).

The record is the latest mammoth ultra-cycling feat for the 32-year-old, who in recent years has ditched the rigours of the WorldTour for a more varied, off-beat racing and riding schedule, winning Unbound Gravel in June and completing similar solo tours in the past.

These have included his ‘Alt Tour’ in 2021, which saw him ride every stage of that year’s Tour de France (plus transfers, and sometimes in sandals) ahead of the peloton, clocking 5,509km in 18 days, while he also covered 1,000km non-stop in a fundraising ride for Ukraine in 2022.

(Karter Machen/EF Education-EasyPost)

To qualify for the Around Australia record, the country’s most prestigious cycling distance record, first set in 1899, Morton had to cover at least 14,200km and pass through six of the following cities and towns: Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Darwin, Esperance, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The rest of the route was left up to him, and he was also permitted to bring a support crew of hardy friends and family along for the ride.

Before his homecoming in Port Macquarie this afternoon, the previous record, as certified by the Road Record Association of Australia, stood at 37 days, 20 hours, and 45 minutes, set in 2011 by Brisbane-based Dave Alley. However, another time of 37 days, one hour, and 18 minutes, courtesy of Reid Anderton, is credited by Guinness World Records, though Anderton’s lap covered 14,178km, falling short of the RRA’s minimum distance.

In any case, once all the paperwork is completed, Morton’s time will certainly put that particular debate to rest, with his time of 30 days, nine hours, and 59 minutes for the 14,210km loop blowing those previous marks out of the water by around a week.

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Along the way, the 32-year-old was forced to endure long, hot days in the saddle on even longer, dead-straight roads in the outback, speed-debilitating headwinds, bouts of nausea and sickness, sleepless, sweat-drenched nights, and plenty of 500km and 600km, 16-hour-long epic days on the bike.

Despite the seemingly never-ending torture of it all, Morton did find time three weeks into his ride to pull over and help an injured bird by the roadside, though that wasn’t his only encounter with Australia’s wildlife.

During one nighttime ride, he collided with a kangaroo that had leapt on the road, almost sending him over his handlebars, while he also spent a day dodging snakes on southern Australia’s Nullabor Plain.

(Karter Machen/EF Education-EasyPost)

Animals were the least of his worries, however. On the 25th day of his ride, Morton was forced to “bail off the side of the road” after an oncoming lorry driver close passed him – a startlingly frequent sight on Australia’s roads that forced the EF pro to eventually eschew the continent’s faster, more dangerous roads and seek out some quieter gravel trails.

> “The truck driver actually tried to kill me”: Lachlan Morton forced to “bail off the side of the road” as lorry driver “kept going directly at me” and “didn’t move his truck one inch” during monster ‘Lap of Australia’ effort

“I just had the first truck driver actually try and kill me,” Morton said on his daily Instagram video following that particularly bad close pass.

“He just kept driving directly at me, until I realised he wasn’t going to move. So I bailed off the side of the road. He didn’t even flinch, didn’t move his truck one inch.

“All good things come to an end, but the trucks seemed to have quieted down a bit… Basically I just get off the road when they come. There’s no shoulder and it’s just not worth taking the risk.”

(Karter Machen/EF Education-EasyPost)

“Trying to complete the route and also not get run over, it’s been a challenge in itself, for sure,” Morton told CNN towards the end of his ride this week.

“Rainy days, big, long headwind days – I think mentally they’re probably the most challenging. You’re going to spend 17 or 18 hours just pedalling in one direction straight into the wind, which is quite maddening, to be honest.

“It’s very loud. You can very quickly convince yourself that it’s someone working against you, like it’s like some sort of plot against you. Reminding yourself that you’re just on a bike ride becomes very important.”

He continued: “It can be very monotonous. The mind games and tricks you kind of have to play on yourself become a lot more intense, and it’s a challenge in that you could be peddling essentially straight in one direction for 16 hours, just thinking of different ways to make it go by quicker or to make it more enjoyable, which is tough.”

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Nevertheless, Morton – who has also raised $120,000 AUD (£62,000) so far for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, an organisation which helps children in remote Australian communities gain access to stories and books, especially those in their native languages – admits the experience has been “mind-blowing”.

“The different experiences you can have just using bikes are pretty remarkable,” he said. “I don’t value any more above the other. It’s just been a journey, you know?”

After he completed his ride on Saturday, finishing at the lighthouse in Port Macquarie, his EF team added: “A huge thank you to everyone who came out to ride with Lachan, cheered him on, and helped him along the way.

“There is so much good in this world, and so many more beautiful corners yet to explore. We hope this inspires you to go out and explore the world.”