Neither cold nor darkness nor tropical storm detained Lachlan Morton, as he rolled into Sacramento, California at 11:19 p.m. PDT on Sunday night and completed his Pony Express 1,998-mile (3,217-kilometre) adventure in six days, 21 hours and 15 minutes. He eclipsed a 160-year-old record held by riders on horseback by 19 hours and 45 minutes.
The Pony Express record of a one-way, nearly 2,000-mile journey was completed in seven days and 17 hours with a relay system of daring men, changed every 150 miles or so, on horses, swapped every 10-15 miles. There was a short history of just two years for the Pony Express to deliver mail and important documents across the plains and mountains of the newly-expanding US, the fastest ride on 1861 encountering spring snow in the Sierras while carrying the inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln's first term as US president.
He set out on Monday, October 5 from St. Joseph, Missouri for his adventure across eight US states, completing the first leg of 500km with an average riding speed of 17.3 kph (10.75 mph). The average moving speed of the horses ranged from 16-19.3kph (10-12 mph). Through the adventure, the unused path sometimes disappearing among sagebrush and darkness, Morton swapped his own mounts, using Cannondale TopStone gravel bike, his SuperSix lightweight road bike and the Scalpel full-suspension mountain bike.
“I had an amazing time. I wasn't desperate for it to end, which was odd," Lachlan said at the finish in Sacramento to his EF Education-EasyPost team, which provided his support for the ride for bike swaps and reloading nutrition.
"It was something I'd been dreaming about for years, so it's great to be here. It's such a big route that it's always hard to know what to expect. You look at a map, but you just see a line. You don't really see what that line is going to mean. There was a lot that was intimidating, but I felt like I was able to enjoy it a lot more than I expected, even though it was really hard.
"There was so much riding that I loved, and it was a combination of the kinds of riding I really enjoy doing. On top of just being hard, it was really satisfying. I didn't think I'd be able to enjoy the route as much as I did, given how challenging it was. It's very satisfying.”
He said the last 120 kilometres were probably the toughest of the epic journey, as he moved from MIddlegate Station in Nevada across the Sierra Nevada mountain range into California. He was ahead of his targeted schedule, but a tropical storm was blowing into the region from the Pacific side and looking to disrupt his ride on rough, mountainous terrain.
"I really thought we were going to be bushwhacking," he said about the unexpected trail and weather ahead. Instead, he focused on " having just the time of my life".
"Sometimes if you let your brain think you're there, it can become a lot harder than it is. The day was completely special, like riding completely in the desert this morning on sandy tracks, all the way through to sweet alpine road riding around Lake Tahoe, amazing trail and some gravel roads."
The route was precarious at times, with headwinds in open prairies of Wyoming, mud and disappearing trails in Nevada, and much of his final day spanning morning and evening darkness to beat the storm.
“The scale of it still blows me away,” said Lachlan about the original Pony Express riders. “Thinking about it in a historical context, it's still hard to wrap your head around what that meant 160 years ago, piecing it all together. It's hard to do even now. When I was out there with people, a GPS, and lights, there were times at night when I was imagining trying to ride as fast as you could through that desert without being able to see where you were going. It's still unfathomable.”
In darkness, Morton rode into the old city of Sacramento carrying some mail in his saddle bag, greeted by family and friends, and carrying "an appreciation for history".
“There are so many remote locations and communities in those places,” said Lachlan “I think it requires a certain appreciation for the place you are in, and a resilience, to live in such harsh environments. It's cool to see that attachment to the past and an appreciation for history these people have.
"I feel like my mantra right now is that I'm riding home. I know tonight I'll be in my bed."
This adventure was expected to be his final in the pink colours of EF Education-EasyPost, the team providing updates for his entire ride on social and saluting him with 'Chapeau, Lachy!'.
Morton began his career as part of the Slipstream Sports development team in 2011, then moved to the WorldTour setup of Garmin-Sharp. While he turned his focus to long-distance challenges beginning in 2014, he returned to the WorldTour in 2017 with Dimension Data for two years and then returned to EF Education in 2019. After leaving road racing in 2022, he went on to win Unbound Gravel 200 in 2024.
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