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Lachlan Morton completed a solo bicycle ride of 3,217 km (≈2,000 mi) from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, finishing in six days, 21 hours and 15 minutes. His time was 19 hours and 45 minutes faster than the historic Pony Express relay that carried Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address across the same route in 1861, which relied on roughly 197 horses changed at stations. Morton undertook the challenge as a modern‑day tribute to those 19th‑century riders, noting the sheer scale of their effort still amazes him, especially when he considered riding through deserts at night with only a GPS and lights.
Morton began the trek on October 5, 2026, and arrived in Sacramento just before midnight on October 12. He described the experience as enjoyable rather than grueling, saying he was “not desperate for it to end” and that he was “having just the time of my life.” The ride presented a series of formidable obstacles: relentless Wyoming headwinds, treacherous Nevada mud flats, early‑morning starts that stretched into the night, and a sudden Pacific storm that forced him off‑track near Lake Tahoe. To navigate the technical Sierra Nevada sections, he switched to a Cannondale Scalpel mountain bike, while a support crew supplied food, mechanical aid, and morale boosts.
The effort fits into Morton’s pattern of ultra‑endurance cycling projects. In 2024 he circled the perimeter of Australia in 30 days, 9 hours and 59 minutes (14,210 km), breaking a 13‑year record. In 2021 his “Alt Tour” reproduced the Tour de France route—including transfers—beating the professional peloton to Paris by five days. Though he carried no official message across the Pony Express Trail, Morton said the journey fulfilled a long‑standing dream and gave him a profound sense of satisfaction, despite the physical and mental demands. Friends, family, and online followers greeted him at the finish, celebrating a feat that blended historical homage with contemporary athletic achievement.
