400km a day for a month: Lachlan Morton sets 'mind blowing' round-Australia record

Lachlan Morton has completed his record-breaking lap of Australia, taking more than a week off the previous mark.

He finished at 1:54pm local time in his home town of Port Macquarie, NSW, on Saturday, having ridden the 14,210km (8,829 miles) loop – known as 'The Lap' – around his home country in 30 days, 9hrs, 45min.

The new record was revealed by Morton's EF Education team on social media.

The 32-year-old had averaged 420km (261 miles) per day to beat the previous record, which stood at 37 days, 20hrs, 45min. He also raised $122,000 AUD ($83,000 / £63,250) for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

"A huge thank you to everyone who came out and rode with Lachlan, cheered him on, and helped him along the way," EF Education wrote on social media.

"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."

Morton, who has ridden with EF Education-EasyPost since 2019, began the record attempt on September 5.

He has ridden numerous ultra-distance endeavours in the past, including events like GBDuro and Unbound, and his own 'Alt Tour', which saw him ride the entire length of the Tour de France in 2021, including transfers, in a shorter time than the pros.

His lap of Australia, however, saw him supported for the first time by family and friends in a camper van – making it quite the feat of endurance for those driving, not to mention the van itself.

"It is definitely going to be new to me," Morton said ahead of the ride. "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.

He added: "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."

Demonstrating that he was still open to the world around him rather than laser focused on a record time, Morton even stopped to help out an injured bird during his Aussie epic.

“You might finish a day and you have a huge sense of accomplishment, of relief, and then you’re asleep within 20 minutes,” Morton told CNN sport towards the end of the ride. “And then before you know it, you’ve woken up and you’re back to zero. It’s tough.”

He added: “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."

Despite the headwinds, snakes, and colliding with a kangaroo at one point, Morton said the experience had 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?”