What do you call 235 nuns on bicycles? It’s not the start of a terrible joke: It was an actual question in India last week as hundreds of nuns finished an epic ride for the Live to Love Foundation.
Nuns from the Drukpa Buddhist monastic order—better known now as the Kung Fu Nuns—travelled from their nunnery in Kathmandu to Delhi over the course of nearly two months 2,200 kilometers—about 1,370 miles. As they rode, the nuns stopped in a few cities to preach gender equality and environmental conservation. During the day, they split into 10 groups for group riding and cooking.
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“The cycle yatra [pilgrimage] points to the independent and collective willpower of women and their equivalence with men,” the head of their order, Gyalwang Drukpa, told local news organization the Northlines. Drupka was also responsible for teaching the women the art of kung fu, both for self-defense and to help them develop self-confidence.
Drukpa also told NDTV that the trip by bicycle “sends a strong message of conservation and environment friendliness.”
The nuns aren’t stopping at 2,200km though: A plan is already in place for a 5,000km ride next year.
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Check out this video for a closer look into their lives, and keep up with more of the coolest people in cycling by subscribing to Bicycling.
Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training with an emphasis on bringing more women into sport. She's the author of nine books including the Shred Girls series and is the founder of Strong Girl Publishing. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast and spends most of her free time biking and running on trails, occasionally joined by her mini-dachshund.