UPDATE: Please use the password “thereabouts” if prompted when trying to view the film.

A few months ago we published the photo feature “Thereabouts” by brothers Gus and Lachlan Morton. It told the story of their 2500km journey from Port Macquarie to Uluru in just twelve days and how they attempted to reconnect with the simple pleasure of riding their bikes.

After many months of production the brothers have released a documentary about their journey. This film gives an refreshing insight about how Lachlan Morton feels about his career as a professional cyclist and why Gus quit the sport altogether.

Gus was on his way to a career as a professional cyclist but gave it up completely a few years ago and never touched the bike again until this trip. Perhaps the best way he describes the point of this journey is by saying, “Sports have been reduced to statistics – the number of yards run for a touchdown, the number of goals kicked in the fourth quarter, the number of watts you put out per kilogram of body mass. And these things remove the larger than life elements of sports. What we’ve done on this trip is re-engaged that. We never raced those distances. We’ve tried to go down roads and go through places that are far more interesting than the number of watts we’re putting out and the speed we’re averaging.”

It’s a selfish sport and Lachlan describes it as a “necessary evil so that I can ride my bike every day.”

In the film Lachlan also talks about how hard it is to stay grounded. He says, “So I’ve had a girlfriend for a couple of years now, and we’re really close. I really love her. There’ll be times in the season you’re compromising things and you’re putting bike riding like ‘I really need to do this’ and you’re like, ‘maybe it would be easier if I didn’t have a girlfriend’? Then as soon as I say that I think ‘what the f**k are you talking about? That’s all you’ve got! That’s the best thing you have. You’re f**ing out of touch.’ Then all of a sudden you realise that you are out of touch…”

I encourage you to set aside 45 minutes and have a watch. If nothing else, it will make you want to go away on an riding adventure.