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Vedangi Kulkarni circumnavigated the world by bike. At the age of 19, she rode 29,000km in 160 days around the globe. An incredible ride, and even more remarkable when you hear what happened along the way - an encounter with a grizzly bear family, being held at knifepoint and discovering the kindness of strangers.  

Transcript

Karla: So you circumnavigated the world on a bike at 20 years old. Can you tell me more about the expedition and what you did? 

Vedangi: When I was 18, I moved from India to the UK to study management, and within a few months, I wasn’t making any friends. I needed to do something to make friends. So I did this bike ride, which was meant to be a 400 kilometre ride, but ended up being like a 1,600 kilometre one. 

I was reading a book when I was doing that bike ride called This Road I Ride by Juliana Buhring, and she was the first woman to set the record to ride a bike around the world, and she did it in the fastest time. I was fascinated by it, and that gave me an idea. I set out to do a 400 kilometer ride, and managed to 1,600 with really less stuff. Maybe this could be something bigger. That was where the idea came from. 

That's where it all started, reading the book, coming back home from John O'Groats, looking at the map going right, what's this around the world thing? How many kilometers do I have to ride? How many days do I have to do it? And what's the record? What does it take to do something like this? So that's where it all started. 

Cycling Around the Globe: Where you Start

Karla: How does it work, cycling around the globe?

Vedangi: You have to ride 18,000 miles. So that's around 29,000 kilometers. You can fly in between continents. The idea is to go from one end of the continent to another, and then fly to the next one and you have to cross two antipodal points. So two points that are the exact opposite corners of the earth. So for me, my antipodal points were Wellington in New Zealand and Madrid, in Spain. 

I want to say it was really fun, but there was a lot to it. I started and finished in Australia, and I didn't know why I did that, because normally people start in Europe, but that's when they know that they're coming back to the UK. I'm pretty sure no one's ever even thought of starting it in Australia, because why would you do that if you live in Europe? I did that because it would give me an excuse to actually go to Australia again. I needed a visa for every country that I went to as I hold an Indian passport. So everywhere from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland, the whole of mainland Europe, Russia. I needed a visa for every country I went in, except India. So that meant I had to start somewhere where I would only need an e-visa, because that was the easiest way to go about it.

Facing Extreme Challenges on the Road

Karla: What do you remember most from the experience? 

The experience was life-affirming. I almost died three times. There were days when I was really unwell, especially at the start of my ride in Australia. I had a severe stomach bug and couldn't keep any food down. Every time I saw a gas station or roadhouse, I’d run inside looking for a bathroom. It was a really bad situation.

Then, in the second half of Australia, I had an incident where I was stalked by a group of people for a long time. Later, I found out they were armed. That was insane. There were also surreal moments—like when I was riding through the Nullarbor. It always felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, and I cherished every moment of it. On the 90-mile straight road, I’d play a game with myself, trying to guess how far an approaching vehicle was and how long it would take to pass me. I’d attempt mental math, knowing full well my calculations would be completely off, but it was a way to keep myself entertained.

A Warm Welcome in New Zealand

New Zealand was my first antipodal point, and I met some of the kindest people there. It started off strangely—I had ridden an exhausting distance the day before arriving, and I was completely drained. I slept through most of the flight and, when I landed, I went to buy a coffee. My card didn’t work, and I only had Australian dollars. A kind stranger noticed and just bought me the coffee without saying much. He then asked if I needed food and pointed me toward a place where I could exchange my money. That small act of kindness set the tone for my time in New Zealand.

Initially, I planned to be there for five days, but I ended up crossing the country in just two and a half to three days. I was so exhausted afterward that I accidentally booked the wrong flight to Vancouver. I was supposed to fly directly from Auckland, but my ticket had a layover in San Francisco. With an Indian passport, I needed a U.S. transit visa, which I didn’t have. That mistake cost me around a thousand dollars. I begged for a refund, but it was gone just like that. Later on, I ran out of money completely and had to ask for help. That was tough to deal with.

Battling Fires and Illness in Canada

When I finally got to Canada, it was rough from the start. There were severe forest fires, as there often are in August. My plan was to cross the Canadian Rockies, though that wasn’t originally part of my route—I had initially wanted to start in Anchorage to cover a longer distance.

I started my ride from Squamish with a high fever. I was supposed to ride 200 km that day, but I only made it about 60 km before realizing I was struggling to breathe. I stopped at a pharmacy, where they sent me to speak with a pharmacist instead of just picking up medication off the shelf. That’s when I found out I had a lung infection. Not ideal.

Later, I had a terrifying encounter with a grizzly bear. You put these things in your risk assessment, but you never think they’ll actually happen to you. I was riding, eating a Clif Bar, minding my own business, when I looked to my right and saw a family of three grizzlies. One of them, significantly bigger than the others, stood up on its hind legs. My first thought was fascination—how incredible to see this up close! But then I saw it moving toward me. I had no choice but to pedal as fast as I could.

As I glanced back, I saw the bear getting closer. At that moment, a massive truck was coming from the other side of the road. Somehow, I ended up on the wrong side, and the truck stopped inches away from me. I was acutely aware that if the bear didn’t get me, the truck could have. That moment was terrifying and unforgettable.

Making Up Distance Across Canada

Once I was out of the Rockies, I realised I had a lot of distance to make up. Instead of taking the straightforward Highway One, I had to create a zigzag route across Canada to ensure my halfway point was near Ottawa. It was frustrating because, at times, I could see the town I’d be reaching in two days just 60 miles away, but my route required me to head north, then east, then south, adding so much extra distance.

I reached Ottawa, my halfway point, in 55 days, covering 9,020 miles. That milestone was huge for me. I had started this journey when I was 19, and on my 20th birthday, I reached the halfway mark. The emotions hit me hard—I couldn’t stop crying, realising how much had gone into getting to that point.

Visa Nightmares and Setbacks in Europe

That’s when everything started going downhill. I needed a Schengen visa to enter Europe, which was a logistical nightmare. Since I was in Canada on a tourist visa, getting another tourist visa for a different country was extremely difficult. I had to go from embassy to embassy, essentially begging for a visa.

The Danish embassy kindly granted me a Schengen visa, but my entry point was in Iceland. When I got there, a severe storm prevented me from riding across the country. Determined to try, I set out, but about 150-160 km in, I was hit by a minibus. The weather was so bad that neither the driver nor I could see properly. I’m pretty sure I got whiplash—my head hurt terribly, and I couldn’t see straight. I was taken back to Reykjavík and flown to Portugal that same evening to continue my ride across mainland Europe.

The Journey Continues

Despite all the setbacks, close calls, and moments of exhaustion, I kept pushing forward. Every challenge along the way—whether it was illness, financial loss, dangerous encounters, or logistical nightmares—taught me something new about resilience, problem-solving, and the kindness of strangers.

This journey wasn't just about cycling the world; it was about embracing the unexpected and finding ways to keep going, no matter what.

Spain: A Turning Point

Karla: What happened during the European leg of your journey?

Vedangi: A significant incident happened in Spain, marking the point where everything changed. Up until then, I was still chasing the world record for being the fastest woman to circumnavigate the world. I had ridden across Portugal and entered Spain, but within a day or two of being there, everything shifted.

I was riding into the evening when I noticed a couple of people on a motorbike following me. At first, I didn’t think much of it. It had happened before—people would follow for a bit and then go on their way. But this time was different. They didn’t leave. Instead, they pushed me off my bike and beat me up. One of them held me at knifepoint while the other went through my belongings. I remember thinking, This could be it. If I'm not incredibly lucky, I could die right now.

At some point, they shoved me off the road into a ditch. I must have been going uphill because I landed hard, and when I came to, my bike was on top of me. It was surreal. I got up, retrieved my bike, and somehow made it back onto the road. Later, I found out I had a concussion—I was showing all the symptoms. That was the moment I knew the world record attempt was over. More than that, I was completely shaken. For the next couple of weeks, I couldn’t ride after sunset. Every time a car passed, I panicked, convinced it was them coming back for me.

But despite the trauma, Spain also became one of the best places I rode through. The kindness I experienced there was incredible. Every time I passed through a village, people would invite me to sit with them, share a meal—often a frittata—and drink coffee. I didn’t speak Spanish, but we still connected. Because I was concussed, emotional, and hyper-aware, I was stopping more often, which meant I interacted with more people. That completely changed my experience of Spain.

Pushing Forward Through Europe

I didn’t fully recover until I reached Sweden. After Spain, I rode through France, Belgium, a bit of the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and then into Sweden. In Sweden, for the first time since the attack, I felt strong again. I rode over 300 kilometers in one stretch. It took me 24 hours, but I did it, and that made me feel capable again.

From Sweden, I continued through Finland and stopped in Helsinki to get my Russian visa. The plan was to ride across Russia, through Mongolia and China, before flying back to Australia to finish. But by then, it was late in the year—November—so I had to make quick decisions. While waiting for my visa, I traveled to Lapland for a few days. I figured, Why sit in Helsinki when I could be learning something new? In Lapland, I met incredible people who taught me survival skills—how to make shelters out of natural materials, basic bushcraft. It was an incredible experience.

Once my visa was ready, I rode across Finland and entered Russia.

Riding Across Russia in Winter

Crossing Russia in winter was an adventure in itself. I started from the Finnish-Russian border, rode through St. Petersburg and Moscow, and eventually reached Samara. By then, I hadn’t showered or slept indoors for days. Desperate, I called a five-star hotel and asked if they could help. They were curious about my journey, so I shared my location with them. They tracked me until I arrived and gave me the most incredible welcome—cleaned my bike, gave me a warm place to rest. It was surreal, going from freezing, exhausted, and covered in road grime to being treated like an honored guest. I stayed for a couple of days before getting back on the road.

I rode to Ufa, the point where European Russia ends and Siberia begins. That’s where I made another quick decision—I flew to India to complete my final few thousand kilometers there.

The Final Stretch

In Kolkata, I hit the 29,000-kilometer mark. From there, I flew back to Australia, but my visa had expired. I had to wait two days for a new one before I could return and officially finish my journey. I completed the ride on Christmas Eve, 2018.

There wasn’t much to celebrate—everything was closed—but the next morning, the only place open was the hotel bar. So my dad and I spent the day drinking cocktails because, honestly, what else was there to do?

Looking Back

This journey was something I rarely talk about in its entirety. Usually, I just give the overview—the distance, the days, the countries, the rules. I mention that it was mostly solo and unsupported, but I don’t often share the full experience. But when I do, I realize how much it shaped me. There were terrifying moments, moments of extreme exhaustion, but also incredible kindness, resilience, and learning. That’s what sticks with me the most.

Karla: That was incredible. Thank you so much. What did you discover about yourself on that journey? 

Vedangi: I really discovered that I'm probably braver than I give myself credit for. Probably not anymore, but I've definitely struggled with self esteem and self belief. Doing this, I'm actually capable of doing more stuff. It was something that really gave me more confidence about myself. 

I think a lot about self talk, because that changed the way I saw myself and the way I spoke to myself in Australia wasn't the same way, as say, in Russia towards the end. I was definitely kinder to myself because I knew that that's the only way I was going to get through. I was looking after myself more.

Karla: That was such an insightful interview. Thanks so much for coming on. 

Vedangi: Thank you so much for having me if we would.