When Dave Alley first contemplated lining up to chase the record for the fastest ride around Australia he admits he wasn't much of a cyclist, yet he had what it took to conquer the brutal two-wheeled challenge and set a record that has endured for more than a decade.
The Queenslander forged on through brutal heat in the north and speed sapping headwinds across the Nullarbor in the south to shave more than three days off the previous mark set by Canadian Perry Stone, when he dropped the fastest time down to 37 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes in 2011.
Now, 13 years later, professional cyclist Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) has set out to drop the target even lower and, judging by his early progress, Alley's days as the record holder may be soon at an end.
"I was certainly striving for the record," Alley said as he reflected on his 2011 effort in a phone interview with Cyclingnews the day before Morton set out. "But the most important aspect for me was to be able to come back and to be honest, and to be able to look in the mirror and say, 'hey, look, I did the best I could'.
"You know, I crossed that finish line and I had nothing left in the tank, and I did everything I could to get around as fast as I could. And to this day, that has always meant more to me than the record itself."
It is far from the only record set by the personal trainer and youth mentor who manages Mindset Health and Fitness.
Alley also went on to grasp the record for running around Australia in 2015, though that has since been topped, and last year the father of five also turned to the water to break another, becoming the fastest to kayak the 2268 kilometres of Australia's longest river, the Murray.
Alley – who says he became 'great mates' with the man who broke his around Australia running record – sees the process of setting the mark ever higher as an inevitability. There will be no regrets or wishes that he's had another go to try and set an even better time, just enjoyment in the fact that others are going out and chasing his effort as a benchmark and bringing all the good memories back in the process.
"I love cycling, I love the bike, but that urge to go and do it again just wasn't there," said Alley. "I feel like I've ticked that box now, and I feel like I've given my all. I think it would have been a lot different if I'd have come home from any of the adventures and and felt as though I'd left something in the tank, or we'd made a poor decision, or something like that.
"I think then maybe that desire would have been there to have another crack or do better. But because of the way it was, and I came back and was honest with myself and went, 'you know if someone can beat that, I hope I'm the first one to congratulate them'."
The adventurer and the cyclist
The potential record holder and the current record holder couldn't come from more different backgrounds, but there are also common threads.
Both had raising money along the way as a target – with Alley collecting for the Royal Flying Doctors and Morton the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Both relish the challenge of a new adventure and both have spoken warmly of the experience of sharing this individual challenge with people that they are close to among the support team. Alley's team included his father and 'best mate' behind with a caravan and for Morton will be friends and family following in a campervan.
The biggest difference, however, is that while the 32 year old Morton has dedicated his career to two wheels – even though much of it has been via an unconventional path – when Alley decided to take on the lap of Australia he did it at a time when long rides just weren't something he did.
That completely changed when he warmed to the idea of the challenge, but once he finished it he has never had the desire to ride long again.
"With the bike, with the run, with the kayak, all three records at the time when I went there, were with people that dedicated their life to that particular sport, that was their thing. Whereas I kind of just blew in and made a real focus for three or four years, and then went on to other things," said Alley.
Morton has had other challenges on his plate this year, including the events of the Life Time Grand Prix Series, but on the other hand has a greater depth of experience with riding long distances, fuelling and with his bike set up. He has tried and tested this over many years over a variety of circumstances, ranging from racing on the WorldTour, going on adventures documented in the Thereabouts series and winning Unbound Gravel to his Alt Tour and speedy time over the Tour Divide route.
He has also had a chance to test out a rest regime to see if long distances could be quickly achieved without sacrificing too much sleep.
Morton at the time said the self-imposed 12 hours of rest in every 48 hours during the 2,671 mile challenge (4,299 km) route of the Tour Divide, was a 'game changer' and he has made rest a priority again on his lap of Australia. The aim is to rest at least eight hours every night and a stop for a proper lunch.
A week into the effort, which started on September 5, Morton is well ahead of the current record and even his own targets, so far having averaged over 470km a day, though as he has moved through Queensland and into the Northern Territory the heat is ratcheting up.
This was the point in Alley's journey where he recalled the temperatures on the road soaring into the 40's and the heat haze made it so hard to see that the sports dietitian and physio on his team were questioning whether it was safe to continue.
The solution was to rest in the middle of the day, with Alley retreating to the air-conditioned caravan and sleeping in the hottest part and then riding in the cooler evening conditions.
"It's inevitable that there'll be bad days," said Alley, who also had to grapple with crawling across the Nullarbor Plain as the usual tailwind on the 1,256km long road flipped to a vicious headwind the day he arrived. "But it's just sticking with the plan and and just finding a way to keep just chipping away and chipping away and not giving in."
That is something Morton has plenty of practice, but 14,200km of persistence will take it to a whole new level.
Dave Alley’s 2011 record
- Time - 37 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes
- Start date - September, 2011
- Start location - Redcliffe, QLD
- Direction - counter clockwise
- Distance - 14,251km
- Average per day - 377km
- Time riding each day - at least 15 hours
- Experience - Built up cycling in pursuit of record
Lachlan Morton's 2024 record attempt
- Targeted time - 35 days
- Start date - September 5, 2024
- Start location - Port Macquarie, NSW
- Direction - counter clockwise
- Planned distance - 14,201km
- Planned average per day - 400km
- Planned time riding each day - intends to stop at least 8 hours each night
- Experience - Former WorldTour pro, Unbound winner, ample long-distance experience from Thereabouts adventures to Alt Tour and Tour Divide Route but this is longest
You can follow Morton's journey via the live tracking page, and donate via Morton's Indigenous Literacy Foundation fundraising page. Perry Stone's retelling of his 2000 record can also be found on Cyclingnews here.
