We met three or four years ago in London — couple of beers at the premiere of a documentary. Since then, Lachlan Morton has become one of cycling's most fascinating figures, not because of race results, but because of what he represents: a rider who had everything the World Tour offers and chose something different.
This interview was one of the most honest conversations we've had on the podcast.
The Evolution
Lachlan's story doesn't start with rebellion. It starts with success. He was racing at the highest level, in breakaways at Grand Tours, winning stages, doing everything a professional cyclist is supposed to do. And yet something wasn't right.
The Alt Tour — riding the entire Tour de France route solo, unsupported, finishing before the actual race — was the turning point. It wasn't a stunt. It was Lachlan asking himself a question that most professional athletes never dare to ask: why am I doing this?
What the World Tour Demands
The professional peloton rewards conformity. There are team orders, race radios, schedules dictated by sponsors and organisers. The individual exists in service of the team, and the team exists in service of results. For riders who thrive in that structure, it works brilliantly.
For Lachlan, it was suffocating. Not because the racing was too hard — he could handle the physical demands. But because the entire framework was designed around external validation: race results, WorldTour points, team selection. Somewhere in that system, the actual experience of riding a bike — the thing that made him fall in love with cycling — had been compressed into a tiny sliver of each day.
Adventure as the Answer
What adventure cycling gave Lachlan was something the peloton couldn't: autonomy. No race radio. No team car. No schedule dictated by anyone else. Just the road, the bike, and the decision of what to do next.
The key insight from our conversation: Lachlan didn't quit cycling. He quit the version of cycling that wasn't making him happy. The bike was never the problem. The system around it was.
Why This Resonates
The most downloaded episode in Roadman history is the Greg LeMond interview. But the Lachlan Morton conversation generated more direct messages and personal responses than anything else we've ever done.
Why? Because Lachlan's story touches something that goes beyond cycling. It's about asking whether the thing you're optimising for is actually the thing that matters to you. It's about having the courage to step off a path that looks successful by every external measure because it doesn't feel right internally.
For the Roadman audience — serious amateur cyclists, many of them professionals in their 40s and 50s — that question hits home.
What You Can Take From This
You don't need to quit your job and bikepacking across continents. But you can ask yourself Lachlan's question: why am I doing this?
If you're training 10 hours a week and dreading every session, something's wrong — and it's probably not your fitness. If you're obsessing over Strava segments but haven't enjoyed a ride in months, the system needs adjusting.
The Not Done Yet identity isn't about grinding through misery. It's about finding the version of cycling that makes you feel alive. For some people that's racing. For others it's adventure. For most, it's the coffee stop with mates who understand.
Key Takeaways
- Lachlan Morton didn't quit cycling — he quit the version that wasn't serving him
- The Alt Tour was a catalyst for questioning why he rode, not just how
- Adventure cycling gave him autonomy that the peloton couldn't
- The story resonates because it's about more than cycling — it's about alignment
- Ask yourself Lachlan's question: why am I doing this?
- "Not Done Yet" means finding the version of cycling that makes you feel alive
- Lachlan's adventure spirit is at the heart of gravel cycling — here's how to get started
- If Lachlan's story inspires you to explore, the best gravel riding in Ireland is a great place to start
- Browse the podcast archive for more conversations with riders who do things differently
- The Not Done Yet community was built around this identity
- For more on how the pros balance training and life, see Pogacar's training story