As Lachlan Morton continues his self-supported 5,500-kilometer Alt Tour, two weeks of riding are taking their toll, and the Tour de France Peloton is gaining ground… and he had to switch to riding in sandals once again! Find more updates on his monumental effort here…

Photos courtesy of EF Racing

Since our last update on Lachlan Morton’s self-supported attempt to beat the Tour de France peloton to Paris, he’s run into more hurdles as he pedals across the Pyrenees Mountains. On Wednesday, after multiple big days, Lachlan ticked off a massive 4,800-meter climb and was back to riding on platforms in sandals! As reported earlier, this was likely due to ongoing knee issues. However, his current apostle-esque footwear isn’t any ol’ pair of sandals. On Tuesday night, a friendly dot-watcher was kind enough to hand over a pair of carbon fiber insoles for Lachlan to cobble together a pair of race-ready, ultra-stiff Birkenstocks.

  • Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour
  • Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour
  • Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour
Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour

Since then, he’s pulled off two more huge days, but it’s clear he’s feeling the effects of the now two-week-long Alt Tour through France. At kilometer 3,833, Lachlan was quoted as saying, “I’m on a knife-edge, I could pull the plug at any moment.” All in all, according to EF Racing, Lachlan’s legs are feeling the effects of two punishing weeks of riding a grand total of over 4,000km, which averages out to more than 305 kilometers (190 miles) and 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) of climbing per day. He described his body as feeling “broken”.

  • Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour
  • Lachlan Morton, The Alt Tour

As of this morning, he’s crossed the 4,000km mark, finished up with Stage 16, made quick work of the transfer route to Muret, and begun Stage 17. However, his progress will probably be slower over the coming days as he continues to tackle the big Pyrenean climbs on stages 17 and 18. Meanwhile, in the regular Tour de France, the latter stages toward Paris are looming as the Peloton takes on Stage 13 today and is working toward Lachlan’s dot in the Pyrenees. According to EF reports, he has admitted to feeling intimidated by it over the last few days.

Fortunately, Lachlan’s mood has shifted over the last 24 hours after meeting his wife at a café for lunch and getting surprised by teammate Jimmy Whelan, who rode with him for part of the afternoon.

Keep it up, sir… we’re all pulling for you!

During his “Alt Tour,” Lachlan Morton plans to pedal every stage of the Tour de France—plus every transfer—completely self-supported. This effort is a fundraising initiative for World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bikes to young people in developing countries in order to help them access education. As of this writing, the Alt Tour has raised over 278,000 Euros ($330,000 USD). If you wish to support this effort, click here. You can also follow Lachlan’s progress here.

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