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    Two-wheel adrenaline rush: For women bikers, it's passion & freedom

    Synopsis

    She was the on ly women biker among a gang of men four years ago, but now Bikerni alone has around 40 mem bers in the city.

    ET Bureau
    Rippling muscles, tattoos, rough rides and rebellion are what drive 'macho' male bikers. But for women bikers in the Silicon City, biking is more about passion and the freedom to be themselves, not so much a rebellion against stereotype.

    Twenty seven-year-old Roshini S Miraskar, who heads the Bengaluru chapter of Bikerni India's first and largest bike club for women, started in 2011 says that riding, for her, is an addiction that stemmed from the need to be independ ent. She rides an Avenger 220.

    She was the on ly women biker among a gang of men four years ago, but now Bikerni alone has around 40 mem bers in the city, each of them hav ing signed up for their passion for biking and not with the in tention of breaking gender type casts typically associated with women bikers.

    "At the Bengaluru chapter, we make it a point to organise two overnight rides every 3-4 months, planning for which begins a month in advance," Miraskar said.

    "We conduct a Facebook poll for zeroing down on the location, and responsibilities for the route, accommodation, food and first aid is shouldered by all of us collectively. We even build tents and camp out sometimes.It is all about getting along with each other, and celebrating our biking passion and sense of freedom."

    For 26-year-old independent biker and entrepreneur Shubra Acharya, who rides a Royal Enfield 500, and has been on a 21-day, 2,500 km excursion to LehLadakh and a 17-day road trip from Benglauru to Gujarat covering 5,500 km, among others, biking is an outlet for creativity. "I motivate myself with the bike as I need to keep bettering myself in the process of managing it.

    Almost every week, I love going for a 20-30 minute uninterrupted ride in the city's outskirts, which de-stresses me.“ Women bikers are also a far cry from the rough and rebellious image most male biking gangs tend to project. "For us, riding a bike is more about being responsible on the road. It is a tool for building confidence and self-awareness," says 28-year-old Bindu Reddy of Hop On Gurls, a Koramangala-based all-woman bike gang.“When we ride together, all we think about is helping one another out and having the freedom to explore. For us, it is like meditation that motives us and helps us better ourselves."


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