3 Bengaluru women to ride to Khardung La on scooters

BENGALURU: When techie Shruti Naidu isn't busy at work, she loves riding solo -being on the road on her bike is what she loves best. In February, she rode 23 hours non-stop to and from Pune. On Wednesday, she and 10 women bikers will start a road trip to Khardung La, the highest motorable road.
The 11 women riders, aged between 21 and 50 years, were picked from 50,000 applicants for a 13-18-day ride to Khardung La.Three of them are from Bengaluru. They will be riding non-geared scooters up to the mountains.
“I am an endurance rider and this is a great chance to ride with women who share the same passion. My husband enjoys sitting behind me on our Royal Enfield when I go for a spin,“ says Naidu, who is riding to Khardung La as part of TVS Motors' Himalayan Highs Season 2. The other women from Bengaluru are Surbhi Tiwari and Antara Pal, who own geared bikes and ride at least 100km every weekend.
Tiwari, 28, who works as a consultant, said, “I am apprehensive about riding so far on a non-geared bike but we are wellequipped for the ride and are set to face harsh weather conditions. Riding on Bengaluru's roads with its potholes, muck and traffic is like a trailer to the ride ahead.“
Pal, 26, owns two geared bikes and is a freelance disc jockey as well. “I love riding. I usually do a lot of solo and midnight rides.The one thing I am going to carry with me is my earphones,“ she said. The riders will accompany Anam Hashim, who rode to Khardung La last year on the same scooter, the TVS Scooty Zest 110.