Earlier last week, EF Pro Cycling released its latest full-length film, The Great Southern Country. The hour and 47-minute long documentary follows Lachlan Morton as he attempts the Around Australia Record – roughly 14,200 kilometers around the perimeter of the country in grueling conditions.
When I flicked on the video, at nearly two hours long I had no intention of watching the entire thing. I thought I would just get the gist so I could write about it. Almost immediately, I was fully committed. The film vacillates between the stark beauty of rural Australia, and the inspiring ability of Lachlan to push himself well beyond the limit any of us would consider possible.
Frequently, I found myself googling km to mi conversions during the show. He just rode over 600km in one go? That’s 372 miles! Wait, he thinks 1,200km in one go is possible?
It’s one thing to ride those distances in a single ride. It’s a completely different thing to ride those distances back-to-back-to-back in 95º+F temperatures.
With the original record sitting at 37 days, Lachlan managed to smash it in just 30 days, 9 hours, and 59 minutes riding more than 460km per day, every day.
As a part of his ride, Lachlan raised over $140,000 AUD for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, whose goal is to provide books and resources to Indigenous children living in remote communities across his home country of Australia. You can still donate here.
