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An Australian cyclist has broken a long-standing New Zealander's record after riding 648km from Auckland to Wellington in 18-and-a-half hours.
Lachlan Morton, 33, is one of the world’s foremost ultra-endurance cyclists, with a record-breaking 30-day lap of the Australian continent, a 14,200km journey, among his feats.
The monumental ride between the City of Sails and the capital late last month was inspired by a long-standing record held by a New Zealander and documented in a short film.
In 1982, Brian Lambert of Masterton set the record with a 23 hour effort, and a year later, Brian Fleck of Te Awamatu set the Auckland-Wellington record in 20 hours with a 19-hour, 59-minute and 55-second run.
Employed as a post office worker and training for an hour before and after work over a year before the attempt, Fleck completed the ride on a steel bike accompanied by a support van.
Lambert, a long-distance cyclist, managed to reclaim his record in 1984, shaving around 30 seconds off of Fleck's time.
Morton discovered Fleck's story via his friend and former professional racer Hayden McCormick and said the 1983 ride was one that should have been known internationally.
"The fact he was 43-year-old with a full time job — even disregarding the context — this was a ride that was bigger than local folklore."
Morton and his support crew set out to recreate the conditions of Fleck’s ride, he said.
"Obviously, modern equipment is significantly better, but we weren’t dialing in all the nutrition, doing all the one percenters, it was more just trying to get on the road and have a crack at it and see where that got us."
The ride was an "unbelievably difficult task" and his "biggest day out ever" on the bike, Morton said.
He was making good time as he approached Wellington, having only stopped once, but headwinds with 200km remaining challenged him.
"It could be my undoing," he said in the short film.
"My calm is gone, my legs are faltering, my back is giving out, my swollen feet ache in my shoes."
Ultimately, he reached the finish line at 10.36pm, 18 hours and 28 minutes after he left Auckland.
"It’s a battle against myself. My own self doubt, the screams from my body to relent. In the same breath, I want to hold this moment forever," Morton said.
Editor's note: This article has been amended since first publishing to reflect Brian Fleck's record was surpassed in 1984 by long-distance cyclist Brian Lambert.
