Lachlan Morton has completed yet another creative project: a cycle ride along a historic Pony Express route across the USA. His journey took him through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California, over a variety of terrains. In the process, he beat the traditional time set by the fast post riders. The original Pony Express riders set their record in 1861. They transported Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address from Missouri to California in seven days and 17 hours. The riders changed horses every 16 kilometres, and a new rider was sent off every 120 to 160 kilometres. In total, they used around 197 horses for the journey.
Morton set off from St Joseph, Missouri, on 5 October. He carried letters from members of the public and delivered them at various stops along the route. The historic postal route existed for just 18 months, from 1860 to October 1861. The transcontinental telegraph line replaced the Pony Express after this brief period of operation.
Lachlan Morton used three bikes
Morton used three different bikes for the various sections of the route: a road bike, a gravel bike and a mountain bike. He rode the Cannondale TopStone on gravel tracks, the SuperSix on tarmac sections and the Scalpel on mountainous terrain. The strategy was modelled on that of the original Pony Express riders, who used thoroughbreds on the plains, Pintos in the central section and American Mustangs in the Sierra Nevada.
His brother Gus followed him in a lorry. The support vehicle carried the bikes, kit and provisions. Gus also filmed the ride for a documentary and supplied Lachlan Morton with food and drink.
The route took him through some very remote areas. The section in Nevada between Salt Lake City and Carson City, in particular, presented Lachlan Morton with challenges. He described this stretch as the most difficult because it is extremely remote and exposed. In this area, he had to cover long distances on his own.
Endurance test in the Sierra Nevada
The final day turned out to be the toughest stretch of the entire journey. Morton set off from Middlegate Station in Nevada and had to cross the Sierra Nevada. He switched to a Cannondale Scalpel mountain bike to tackle the rugged mountain terrain. A tropical storm from the Pacific was approaching, which put him under additional time pressure.
The route began in the Nevada desert with sandy tracks. These later gave way to the alpine roads of the Sierra Nevada. After days of lost trails and deep sand, the terrain in the mountains came as a pleasant surprise. The route took him past Lake Tahoe onto a gravel track that ran high above a valley along a ridge.
Lachlan Morton described one trail as one of the five best he had ever ridden. He had expected scrub, but found a well-maintained track instead. That day, within the space of a few hours, he experienced almost every conceivable type of terrain: sandy desert tracks in the morning, alpine roads around Lake Tahoe, gravel tracks high above the valley and trails through the mountains.
On Highway 50, there was one last stretch of gravel road to tackle before he could set off on the final leg to Sacramento. The route took him through Placerville and on to Folsom. From there, he followed the American River Bike Trail along the river to Sacramento, just as the original Pony Express riders had done more than 160 years ago.
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Encounters with Lachlan Morton
Lachlan Morton and his team met numerous residents of the small towns along the route. Morton and his team asked people simple questions: What makes you happy? What’s great about your town? Some of the answers were incorporated into the letters that Morton carried from place to place. The encounters at petrol stations, local cafés and remote crossroads shaped his perception of the route.
Challenges of the historic route
The Pony Express route was established in 1860 with the promise of delivering post across the West in ten days or less. The 3,164-kilometre route crossed eight states. The young riders galloped day and night across the prairie, regardless of the weather or danger. Morton battled strong headwinds in Wyoming and became stuck in mud and undergrowth in the mountains of Nevada.
Lachlan Morton’s previous records
Lachlan Morton is known for his high-profile adventure projects. He cycled the entire Tour de France route, including transfer stages, faster than the professional peloton. He set the fastest time for the Tour Divide, a gruelling bikepacking route from Banff in Alberta to Antelope Wells in New Mexico. Most recently, he broke the record for cycling round Australia.
His fascination with the Pony Express route stemmed from its history. Morton wanted to understand what it meant, as a young person, to earn a living by riding 120 kilometres through the night, with a rucksack full of post, across remote, rugged terrain that no one had ever traversed before. He wanted to grasp the difficulties faced by the riders over 150 years ago.
He was particularly drawn to the diversity of the terrain. The route begins in the plains of Kansas, passes through the basin in Wyoming and on to Utah. The vast open spaces, immense plains and mountain ranges are constantly changing as the altitude and vegetation vary. Anyone covering long distances will experience a diverse mix of different riding styles.
Kristian Bauer
Editor