For over 30 years, Bike For Bibles has raised more than $13 million for Bible distribution work in Australia and overseas. Bible Society Australia’s national events manager, Mark Lawrenson, who is himself a keen cyclist, says it has always been a popular way to combine a passion for cycling and a passion for Jesus.

He joined 12 other cyclists on Saturday to ride 53 laps of Centennial Park, a Sydney destination favoured by cyclists. They’ve raised over $3000 so far, with more donations still coming in.

Veteran Bike for Bibles cyclist Evan Elliott was amongst the weekend’s riders. Evan’s first Bike For Bibles ride was in 1990, when he rode 760km through regional New South Wales. He caught the riding bug and has gone on to raise more than $27,000 for Bike For Bibles. In 2013, he joined the ride from Broome to Perth to Sydney – covering more than 7200km.

“I thought the Broome to Sydney ride was going to be the last one, but then this one came up. And there’s no fool like an old fool!” said Evan, who will be 81 next month.

The Bike For Bibles team rode 53 laps of Sydney’s Centennial Park on the weekend. Bible Society Australia

Bike For Bibles has a string of rides coming up, including a two-day ‘Round the Bay’ ride around Melbourne’s Port Phillip and a 100km ride through the NSW Hunter Valley, from Cessnock to Wollombi.

Bike For Bibles is raising funds for Indigenous Bible translation in 2017, including the Pitjantjatjara translation project. This project focuses upon translating the Old Testament to complete a full Bible for the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia, while also recording the New Testament for an audio version.