Lachlan Morton beats 160-year-old Pony Express record by more than 19 hours across eight US states

Morton's finish in Sacramento

Australian cyclist Lachlan Morton rolled into Sacramento, California, at 11:19 p.m. PDT on Sunday night, completing a 1,998-mile (3,217-kilometre) east-to-west journey that retraced the historic Pony Express trail across eight U.S. states. He finished in six days, 21 hours and 15 minutes, according to reports on the record attempt.

Beating a 19th-century benchmark

Morton's time eclipsed a 160-year-old record held by riders on horseback by 19 hours and 45 minutes. The original Pony Express mark of seven days and 17 hours was set in 1861 by a relay of riders who changed roughly every 150 miles and swapped horses every 10 to 15 miles while carrying mail, including the inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln's first term. Morton started his attempt on Monday, October 5, departing St. Joseph, Missouri.

Route, equipment and conditions

The ride crossed plains, sagebrush high country and the Sierra Nevada, with Morton navigating terrain where the unused path sometimes disappeared. He rotated between a Cannondale TopStone gravel bike, a SuperSix lightweight road bike and a Scalpel full-suspension mountain bike, reloading nutrition and swapping bikes with support from his EF Education-EasyPost team. The first 500-kilometre leg averaged 17.3 kph (10.75 mph), compared with the historical 16-19.3 kph (10-12 mph) moving speed of the horses.

Morton's account of the effort

At the finish in Sacramento, Morton told his EF Education-EasyPost squad that the route was something he had "been dreaming about for years." He said he "wasn't desperate for it to end," describing the final 120 kilometres from Middlegate Station, Nevada, across the Sierra Nevada into California as the toughest stretch, complicated by a tropical storm moving in from the Pacific. He added that, despite the difficulty, he was able to enjoy the ride more than he expected.