Motorcycle Stories — By a Lady Rider!

 

I began on this wondrous trip of my life, called ‘motorcycling’, at an early age of 16 and have been riding ever since! What began as a teenager’s excitement later developed into a hobby and turned into a profession over time. Today, I am a professional motorcycle rider – doing motorcycle reviews, group tours and travelogues is how I earn my bread.

The day I mounted a motorcycle, I was astonished to see the number of stares I got! Most couldn’t digest the fact that a woman can or should be riding, while others in sheer disbelief. Ignoring the gender bias, I increased my pace and space of travelling. From the hills of Maharashtra, I travelled to the beaches of Goa and to the lofty mountains of Ladakh. Scanned the length and breadth of Rajasthan before moving on to the Eastern Himalayas. Everywhere I travelled, one thing was in common – the uncomfortable stares!

Once, in Kashmir, I was stopped by a cop who began poking at my luggage, which itself was quite bizarre,  and the moment he doubted that it was a woman behind the helmet, he began touching my arms to verify – thanks to my armoured jacket that he didn’t really ‘feel’ me!

itemmom_post_sheetal_bidaye_imageMy experience of the 2010 Kashmir riots was quite challenging. I had to lead my group past Srinagar towards Leh and all routes had been cordoned off but one, which had a massive outrage. I knew going past this one would be tough but that was the only way out. Commanding my group to match pace and not to blink an eyelid, we progressed. There was a mob with swords, hockey sticks and bottles about 50 metres ahead and they realised I was a woman. They came closer to hit but neither did I reduce my speed nor did I look at them. All I did was ride…once the leader goes past, safety of other members is assured. We crossed Srinagar unharmed.

Experiences keep happening on every ride and many of them are funny. For instance, I had once stopped at a Government Rest House to use the restroom. To my surprise, I was served tea and biscuits just because the caretaker thought I was a lady cop. When I humbly clarified that I wasn’t, he seemed happier and brought me a plate of hot ‘poha’ as well, saying “high respects to the lady on bike!” and offered to host me on my way back!

Daily commutes aren’t as bad as earlier. Today I find a large number of people who respect lady bikers and even bow to me in respect or show a ‘thumbs-up’ while at signals, yet there are those who question and I leave them to ponder as I find my way through rush hour traffic humming a merry note!

 

 

 

 

25 Comments

  1. Kristen says:

    Everyone loves what you guys are up too. This type of
    clever work and exposure! Keep up the awesome works guys I’ve added you
    guys to my personal blogroll.

  2. Srushti Srushti says:

    Sheetal, you are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your story on this platform.

  3. 42.Herber.pl says:

    Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed
    reading it, you are a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and may come
    back down the road. I want to encourage one to continue your
    great work, have a nice day!

  4. g-S.Us says:

    Well I sincerely liked studying it. This tip provided by
    you is very effective for proper planning.

  5. For newest news you have to goo to see world wiide web and on world-wide-web I found this site as a finest web page for most recent updates.

  6. Sweet blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News. Do you
    have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Cheers

  7. Norberto says:

    Verifique detalhes ϲomo se а população cobija muitas fotos е se elas
    batem сom a descriçãο passada, se cobija vários amigos е conhecidos e ѕe frequenta lugares
    ԁе boa índole. …. Se integralmente deres оѕ filhos ɗe Amom na minha mãо, aquilo que, saindo da porta ⅾe minha mansão,
    me sair ao encontro, voltando eս dos filhos Ԁe Amom em paz, isso será do e também Salvador ɗе sua vida
    deveria sеr uma moça dedicada ao na ɦora certa no momento certo еⅼe enviará
    não estou cⲟm pressa nem estou pensando quero սm namorado maіs na һora dо Se no esboço formando pelos pingos ⅾa cera formar ᥙm círculo ou esboçо dᥱ umɑ
    cruz, é porԛue você νaі ϲonseguir ѕe casar.

  8. Thank you for this post, I am a huge fan of this website would really like to go on up-to-date.

  9. Gisele says:

    Its such as you read my mind! You seem to understand so much approximately this, such as you wrote the e book in it
    or something. I believe that you simply could do with some p.c.
    to force the message house a bit, but instead of that, that is magnificent blog.
    A great read. I’ll certainly be back. http://rhoda33k0997245.webgarden.com/blog/car-games-guide

  10. Good post. Didn’t know this, thanks for letting
    me know.

  11. Touche. Great arguments. Keep up the good work.

  12. BZR says:

    These are truly great ideas in concerning blogging.
    You have touched some pleasant points here. Any way keep up
    wrinting.

  13. Hello to all, it’s genuinely a good for me to pay a quick visit this website, it includes useful Information.

  14. Whoa I enjoy reading your articles, saved to favorites!

  15. Chester says:

    I have been reading many of your articles and i must say very good stuff.

    I will certainly bookmark your site.

  16. Very good post! We are linking to this great post
    on our website. Keep up the good writing.

  17. Margarita says:

    Thanks for publishing this.

  18. Excellent data is found on your blog. Continue the great work.

  19. Audra says:

    Excellent write up, i surely love this website, keep it up!

  20. I really enjoyed reading this site, this is great blog.

  21. Hello, just wаnted to tell you, I enjoyed this blog post.

    It waѕ funny. Keep on posting!

  22. Keep on working, great job!

  23. Bandar88 says:

    I constantly spent my half an hour to read this blog’s articles or reviews daily along with a cup of coffee.