Nat Bromhead
Lachlan Morton is no stranger to taking on epic cycling adventures, his Alt Tour, Tour Divide and 2022 Munich to Ukraine ride being classic recent examples.
For some months now he has been planning ‘the big one’, a lap of Australia … an attempt to circumnavigate the continent in record time.
He set off on Thursday September 5 to take on the 14,200km anti-clockwise lap. Riding with a mobile support crew, the 32yo EF Education First rider plans to cover around 400km per day.
Where’s Lachy? You Can Follow Lachlan Morton’s progress Via The Tracker Here
His goal is to break the around Australia record, which currently stands at 37 days, 20 hours, and he’ll start in his home town of Port Macquarie.
“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 said on the eve of the ‘big lap’ record ride.
14,200km, 400km’s Each Day
“It is definitely going to be new to me,” he added. “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. 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.”
Riding to raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Lachlan said he is looking forward to supporting the organisation while meeting many fans and supporters as he traverses the nation.
“Australians have a very strong sense of community,” he said.
“People interact with each other a lot, but they also rely on each other. I think that’s born out of the fact that it can be a harsh place and everyone has to make the most of it and just get on with it. I grew up with that kind of mindset and it speaks to me a lot.
“The last time I did a big trip in Australia was with my brother when we rode to Uluru. Through experiences like that you realize that you don’t know all of Australia. Australia is big. 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.”
Choosing to fundraise for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Lachie said contributing to the regions he will be riding through was an important factor of the challenge.
“I hope that we can make a contribution that will impact the lives of kids in rural Australia, so that they can have better access to books and books translated into languages they understand,” he said. “That will better equip them to adapt to further education and life in general.”
With every $10 raised helping to put a book into the hands of a child living in rural Australia, he is urging supporters to help the cause.
“The Australian land mass is made up of hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and is home to over 250 languages,” says Indigenous Literacy Foundation CEO Ben Bowen.
“The ILF shares Lachlan’s passion for boldness and not being contained by other’s opinions. The ILF is so excited to have someone as unique as Lachlan to share his talents, skills and endurance to promote the work that we do for over 456 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities around Australia. Thank you, Lachlan!”
To donate to Lachlan Morton’s Great Southern Country Challenge visit the link here.
