Lachlan Morton has set a new record for riding between Auckland and Wellington, covering the 648km course in a staggering 18 hours and 26 minutes.
Morton completed the ride in honour of Brian Fleck, who set a fastest known time between the two cities in New Zealand’s north island in 1983.
Post officer worker Fleck was 43 when he set a time of 20 hours and 9 minutes between the cities. He rode a steel bike, relying on time checks from a support van and fuelling himself with bananas.
Morton’s attempt is documented in the new Rapha Film Chapter 1: In One Day, where the 33-year-old EF Education-EasyPost professional reflects on Fleck’s ride.
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Bigger than local folklore
“This was a ride that was bigger than local folklore, it was a ride that should’ve been known internationally,” says Morton.
Of his own attempt, Morton says: “This wasn’t just chasing a new record; it was chasing a legend. Attempting to bring the past into the present.
“To me these kinds of records are fascinating. A pure test. To see how far and how fast we can go on a bike in one day.”
Morton completed his ride on 18 January, setting out just after 4am and finishing in Wellington shortly after 10.35pm. He averaged 35.1kph on a route that followed Fleck’s as closely as possible.
The Australian has become well known for his ultra-distance rides. Last year, he circumvented Australia, completing the 14,200km in just over 30 days, as documented in the feature-length film The Great Southern Journey. This followed his Alt Tour, where he raced the Tour de France peloton to Paris self-supported.
Whereas Fleck completed his ride on a steel bike, Morton was riding his EF Education-EasyPost, team-issue Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71 road bike.
Morton’s bike setup was fairly conventional for his record attempt. Without needing to carry any kit or equipment, it was free from the frame bags we usually see him carrying on ultra-distance rides. He didn't use clip-on aero bars or an aero helmet, both of which he used for his Around Australia Record.
A hotly contested record
The Auckland to Wellington fastest known time was hotly contested in the 1980s. David Horner set a time of 25 hours in 1981 before the late Brian Lambert first broke the record in 1982, in a time of around 23 hours. Fleck surpassed Lambert’s time a year later.
Lambert was determined to win the record back with a time under 20 hours.
In the months leading up to the 1984 record attempt, he cycled more than 1,000km a week. One regular training ride saw Lambert ride 290km from his home in Masterton after work.
He is said to have fuelled his second attempt with pies and Coca-Cola, measuring stages by the number of pies it took to fuel the distance.
Crashing on wet railway lines in the last kilometer nearly ruined his attempt but he managed to reach the finish point in 19 hours and 59 minutes.
This record stood until Morton beat it by over 92 minutes.
