New Delhi: Fifteen years after she first began riding motorbikes, 31-year-old Sara Kashyap is now leading an all woman bike team to the Himalayas. Kashyap has teamed up with biker Urvashi Patole to lead the 13th edition of the Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey, which has an all women's component this year.
In its maiden voyage the HO-W flagged off here took off with 20 women for a 17 day adventure ride that is set to traverse approximately 2200 kilometres in some of the roughest terrains and highest mountain passes in the majestic locations
across Himalayas and come to an end on July 23. "Be it man or woman irrespective of gender, negotiating the terrain of the mountain is very difficult. It is not like riding 100 km on a straight road. On a mountain it is more extreme," says Kashyap, who now lives in Chennai.
She was also the first girl from India to finish the coveted Raid-de-Himalaya, one of the country's oldest international motorsport events. Kashyap's fellow biker Patole is from Pune and began biking as a 14-year-old. After having been on numerous rides she particularly remembers her first all woman ride. "In 2011, I went on a journey with Royal Enfield and 9 other women to Leh-Ladakh which was a feat that was a turning point in my life... We scaled the passes together and opened our eyes to many other things we could achieve and overcome. It really was a big moment of our lives," says Patole.
Patole had undertaken the trip as part of 'The Bikerni' an association of woman riders she formed in 2011. Hailing from different parts of the country, the women riders in the Odyssey come from varied backgrounds and objectives. Jilmil Kakoti Alimmyan from Guwahati has her eyes set on cross country riding, after securing motoring highpoints around the North East territory, Indo-China border and a solo
ride to Bhutan amongst others.
A mother of two, Alimmyan took to riding motorcycles at a very young age and was taken by surprise recently as her husband gifted her a Standard 500, her second motorcycle! Sowmya Narayanan, who hails from Kerala who has alway been fond of bicycles and motorbikes as a child was gifted a scooty while she was in school. After her marriage the instructional designer by profession was gifted a bullet by her husband, on whom she says she eventually aims to ride solo from Kanyakumari to Khardung la.
