Vedangi Kulkarni is Riding Around the World… Again!

Photos by Vedangi Kulkarni, Callum Howard, and Faisal Qadir

In 2018, 19-year-old Vedangi Kulkarni from Pune, India, set out to ride some 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) around the globe, pedaling largely solo and unsupported. Her mission was to become the fastest woman ever to circumnavigate the planet by bike, besting the standing record of 144 days set by Italian Paola Gianotti in 2014. British cyclist Jenny Graham went on to establish a remarkable new fastest time of just under 125 days while Vedangi’s ride was underway, and when she completed her trip 160 days later, she wasn’t the quickest, but she was the youngest woman to circle the world.

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Nearly six years later, now 25, she’s back at it again. At the time of publishing, Vedangi is somewhere in western Mongolia, about 15 days and 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) into her ride. In bits and pieces over the past few days, I caught up with her through a jumble of WhatsApp messages and emails at odd hours to learn more about her past and present rides. Find an assortment of photos from her various adventures, a recap of her 2018 ride, and an overview of her 2024 motivations, route, bike, gear, and more below.

First Ride Around the World

As a teenager living with her parents in India, Vedangi remembers hearing the story of 19-year-old Tom Davies’s around-the-world bicycle journey and feeling the first inkling of wanting to undertake such a ride herself. About a year later, she completed a daring solo ride across the Indian Himalayas at age 17, though she admits thinking it would be a one-off that would scratch the bicycle travel itch. When she moved to the United Kingdom to attend university a short while later, she reconnected with cycling as an affordable means of transportation. Far from her friends and family, the bike quickly became a constant companion for navigating a new place and culture.

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Motivation for a ride around the world struck again when 18-year-old Vedangi rode across the UK in 2017. She did so despite not yet having any camping gear, instead sleeping under bus shelters in all her layers to keep warm. Each night, she eagerly turned the pages of Juliana Buhring’s book, The Road I Ride, about establishing the Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to circumnavigate the planet by bike in 2012 with a time of just 152 days. Buoyed by a successful ride across the UK and inspired by Buhring’s book, Vedangi remembers arriving at John O’Groats in the UK’s far northeast and phoning her dad in India. She confidently told him of her new plans to attempt the record. The following day, she awoke to a volley of links from him with stories of rides circling the globe. She credits him as one of her most ardent supporters.

Nothing could stop her; she was going for it. Vedangi laid the foundation to begin her circumnavigation a year later when she’d be a smidge older, wiser, and better able to handle the journey’s intense mental and physical challenges. The ensuing 2018 ride started and ended in Perth, Australia, taking her on an eastward journey across New Zealand, Canada, Western Europe, Russia, and India to accrue the necessary miles.

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Her ride brimmed with incredible experiences, setbacks, and lessons, all meshed together into an intense five-month expedition. She was chased uphill by a grizzly bear in Canada’s Glacier National Park, frantically spinning the pedals to avoid it narrowly. She was shown extraordinary kindness from people in all corners of the planet. She was also robbed at knifepoint and knocked unconscious in Spain, the thieves taking her money but thankfully leaving her bike. The head injury she suffered during the mugging made covering the necessary miles to break the record particularly challenging. Visa issues plagued her ride, too.

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Despite these setbacks, which would be reason enough for many riders to quit, Vedangi was unwavering. She maintained a bright outlook that enabled her to make it back to Perth. When I asked if she still carries a particular lesson from her 2018 ride today, she said, “I learned that absolutely nothing is ever the end of the world. There’s always a solution to every problem.” Reflecting further on her wild ride, Vedangi reported that one of the other essential lessons she learned was that people are full of more good than bad, and it’s better to believe the best in everyone than assume the worst and live in a constant state of anxiety—words to live by.

Second Circumnavigation

Back on the bike in 2024, Vedangi aims again to break the record, but she’s quick to point out that it’s not her singular goal. Being the fastest won’t define her ride as a success or failure. “Cycling around the world is so much more than simply riding the bike,” she said. Part of her reasoning for taking on the circumnavigation challenge again is that she feels more capable and brave than she did at 19. She’s also more acutely aware of the transformative power seeing a young Indian woman attempting such a feat can have for young people. As such, whereas she somewhat haphazardly documented her last attempt, she’s more intentional about capturing and sharing her story this time.

Reflecting on her ride ambitions, Vedangi said a primary goal is to feel strong and ride efficiently. To help accomplish this, she’s spent years working to train her body and mind by working active time into her daily routine in her current home of Inverness, Scotland. Strength training and conditioning have helped her build overall resilience. She’s tracked her progress and consulted several coaches to help her work out effectively. And she starts most days with yoga and meditation to develop a deeper connection between her body and mind. Mental preparation has been key.

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Beyond her training, Vedangi has taken on many other challenges since her last circumnavigation, chalking up impressive feats and experiences that have surely helped prepare her for her current ride. These include attempting the Silk Road Mountain Race in 2019, designing and riding a 1,000-kilometer bikepacking route in the UK in 2021, crossing the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on skis in 2022, and setting the Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to cycle the famed Manali-Leh Highway in India last year.

An Unconventional Route

Notable among the many variables that have changed from Vedangi’s 2018 ride, she has an all-new route. Unfortunately, with her Indian passport, she wasn’t able to secure all the necessary visas to ride what would have been the best possible route, so she’s had to get a little creative to piece something together that stays within the bounds of “circumnavigation of the globe” set by the World Ultracycling Association (WUCA) and Guinness World Records. By their joint rules, the ride must cover at least 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers), be unidirectional (e.g., east to west), and cross two antipodal points (locations on opposite sides of the planet). Vedangi is riding unsupported; Guinness Records doesn’t distinguish between supported and unsupported attempts/records, but WUCA does.

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Explaining her unorthodox but entirely valid circumnavigation route, Vedangi said, “As an Indian citizen, I need to apply for visas for different countries and submit a ridiculous amount of documents. I remember once submitting a 70-page file for a visa application. My route is utter chaos purely because certain countries could provide appointments in time, while others weren’t able to convey their decision before I needed to leave. I applied for everything in good time without waiting until the last minute or leaving anything for on-the-go, but it just wasn’t good enough.”

Not one to be held back by political prejudice that riders from many other countries wouldn’t have to navigate, especially those from, say, the United States or European Union, Vedangi designed a route traversing countries that grant e-visas or have easier visa processes for a broader group of nationalities, knowing full well that the resulting path would be rife with added logistical complexity. “Just because it’s slightly harder for me than it should be doesn’t mean I don’t belong here,” she said defiantly.

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After various modifications, her final route started at INS Chilika, a naval base in India. From there, it crosses Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden (up to the Arctic Circle), Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Oman before returning to India and terminating back at INS Chilika. She’s traveling eastward, and her antipodes are Wellington, New Zealand, and Madrid, Spain. Vedangi anticipates the final mileage total coming in well over 18,000. Find her full route collection on Komoot below.

On The Road

Despite all her preparation and having the best laid plans, in reality, Vedangi’s 2024 record attempt is off to a rocky start. Two weeks in, she says the ride is already testing her patience as she deals with various logistical hurdles on top of the demands of meeting daily mileage goals. Her body hasn’t been adapting to the increased strain as well as she’d anticipated, and her gut health is proving to be a complicating factor.

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All things considered, Vedangi says the start of her trip has been almost comically hectic, writing, “I suffered from awful heat exhaustion to the point of throwing up anything I consumed for the first few days in India. We’re talking 48°C (118°F) with the heat and humidity. Then, I got offloaded from my flight to Hong Kong en route to Mongolia. And then they wouldn’t take my bicycle on the next flight. The security at Delhi airport opened my whole well-packed bike box for no good reason, but that seemed like a minor inconvenience after everything else before.”

In the face of these early mishaps and a slow start to her ride, Vedangi remains committed. Rather than dwelling, she’s working to accept things as they come and take her crossing day by day—essential skills for such an expansive and elaborate venture. She’s focused on being kind to her body and mind and building up to where she needs to be to set a record rather than burning out early. Humbly summarizing her approach to this second circumnavigation, she said, “I’m learning that, at 25, I’m still young and figuring out how shit works in the real world. A record attempt is about riding strong, not rushing through everything. So, I’m trying to stay a little calmer through the chaos!”

Bike and Gear

Vedangi is riding a mostly stock Canyon Grail CF SLX 8 AXS in size XS for her 2024 ride. It’s built with a wireless 1x SRAM Force drivetrain with a 40T chainring and 10-44 cassette, a set of the newly launched DT Swiss GRC 1100 Dicut 30 wheels with a SON dynamo front hub powering a set of Exposure lights, Schwalbe G-One R tires, and a Hammerhead Karoo 3. All her luggage is from Tailfin, including a custom-made aero bar bag and a prototype top tube bag. Various stickers with messages from family and friends adorn the frame, including notes such as “मी शूर आहे, मी वीर आहे / I am courageous” and “It’s just around the corner.”

She’s wearing several pieces of clothing from the Rab Cinder Collection, a handful of items from Canyon, and QUOC Gran Tourer XC shoes. Her camping gear is from Rab, including a Trailhead Bivy, Mythlic Ultra 180 down sleeping bag, and Ultrasphere 1.5 sleeping pad.

Wrap-Up

In closing, it’s worth mentioning the other ongoing circumnavigation record attempt that has garnered considerable media attention, including here on the site. Having departed from Chicago this spring, celebrated ultra-cyclist Lael Wilcox is currently in New South Wales, Australia, around 58 days and a whopping 10,075 miles (16,215 kilometers) into her blazing-fast ride. She’s also going after Jenny Graham’s 124-day time and seems on track to beat it if she continues at her current pace.

Early in our correspondence, I asked Vedangi if she’d been following Lael’s spectacular trip, half-expecting her to express some sense of competitiveness. Instead, in what I’d learn is true Vedangi fashion, she responded, “Lael’s ride is incredibly strong. I look up to her and draw so much inspiration from her. We chatted on the phone a few weeks before she started her ride, and we both couldn’t believe how lucky we are to get to do this. I am excited for us!”

Similarly, I draw great inspiration from Vedangi’s intrepid spirit and how she’s helping to normalize the idea of cycling around the planet alone at 19, 25, or any age. Especially amid a tumultuous first couple of weeks of her attempt, her positivity and openness are unquestionably sincere, and I think she’s exactly the kind of figure we should elevate in our community. Whether you aspire to set records or, like me, are actively working to slow down, we can all learn something from her unwavering approach to riding and, more broadly, life.

If you have any questions or comments for Vedangi, we invite you to leave them in the Conversation below. She’ll chime in as time permits. In the meantime, you can follow along with her ride at Vedangi.info and on Instagram. Thanks for inspiring us, Vedangi. We’re rooting for you!

Further Reading

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