11,000km down: Queensland rider eyes round Australia record

Queensland cyclist Stacey Duffy has continued to build her lead in an ambitious unsupported attempt to become the fastest woman to ride around Australia, pushing past 11,000km after 69 days on the road.

Duffy has spent the past week battling punishing headwinds and occasional crosswinds across the Nullarbor Plain, but has still managed back-to-back days of around 220km.

After nine weeks of riding, she is averaging more than 170km a day and remarkably now holds a more than 1,000km advantage over the existing supported women’s record pace, which is currently held by Lesa Ashford, who completed the supported ride in 92 days, 6 hours and 32 minutes in 2023.

The 14,200km attempt began on July 3, when Duffy departed Springfield, near Ipswich, Queensland.

Her latest Strava rides suggest she is now closing in on 11,500km, with roughly 3,000km remaining if she maintains the 14,200km target.

The route has already taken Duffy across some of Australia’s most demanding roads. Her course includes Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Esperance, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, which satisfies the Road Record Association of Australia’s (RRAA) requirements for a round Australia record while bypassing Darwin in favour of Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Her latest Strava updates show the effort continuing in South Australia. On September 7 she rode 100.19km from Balaklava to Adelaide, before following it with a 171.58km ride from Adelaide to Coonalpyn the following day.

Her update for the day described it as a difficult day, reporting that she lost her Garmin on a bumpy footpath leaving Adelaide and only realised several hours later.

“Lots of magpie attacks,” she also reported.

According to Bicycle Network, Duffy is Riding a Liv road bike named Bluebird, and is using Continental Grand Prix Four Seasons tyres and aerobars.

She alternates between accommodation and the limited bikepacking equipment she carries.

Speaking to BA from the roadside, she said she aims to ride 180-200km a day.

“It’s often determined by the location of roadhouses in remote areas,” she said.

Her desire to take on the challenge initially came from looking at maps planning potential adventures, and wanting to cycle as it’s such an efficient way to travel.

“I’d walked Sydney to Brisbane, and Canberra to Sydney, then rode from Canberra to Melbourne. I was obsessed with looking at maps and then the idea to just do it all at once hit me like a bolt of lightning,” she says.

“I found out later that no female had made an official record for it, and that made it even more interesting – doing something supported never crossed my mind – I do everything unsupported.”

Amazingly, Duffy is not the only rider taking on the challenge at the moment.

According to the RRAA, Shonel Daniel is tackling the route after setting off from the Sunshine Coast on July 18. She reached Darwin on Day 38, marking another major milestone on her journey.

At the same time, Anna Cicognani departed from southern NSW on July 28. She has since made her way into the Gulf Country, with more than 3,500km now under her wheels.

The three riders are taking different approaches to the challenge, with Duffy tackling the route unsupported while Daniel and Cicognani have the advantage of support crews.

On Strava this week, Duffy spoke of her approach to fuelling, which she says has remained deliberately simple.

“Go along easy, keep heart rate and wattage low,” she said, relying on muesli, bananas, sandwiches from roadhouses and plenty of high-calorie food. She says she also avoids gels and powders, instead using Gatorade, water, chocolate milk and iced coffee to keep herself going.

If you’d like to follow along with Stacey Duffy’s incredible journey, you can see her progress on Strava and via the feed on the RRAA Facebook page.