New Delhi: Black biking gloves, knee and elbow pads. Check. A black jacket and mirrored sunglasses. Check. A helmet with stickers of flowers, a pink bow, a white swan, and a cactus. Check. And to top it all, a sticker that read: “Bad decisions make the best stories.”
This was how Chitra Chakroborty got ready for her 50th birthday in March. Her present to herself was a Royal Enfield Hunter 350. And it wasn’t a bad decision.
She didn’t just gift herself a motorcycle, she gave herself a taste of unbridled freedom like never before. And with that, she joined a growing army of Indian women bikers. Training academies for women bikers are mushrooming in big cities, and so is their in-group community. It’s a sisterhood of travelling bikes.
Besides offering biking lessons and workshops on road safety and gear, these communities bring together women from different age groups, professions, and backgrounds. They form bonds that last even when their helmets are off. They make new friends, plan trips together, and swap stories over coffees and lunch.
Chitra, once a banker, is now living a wilder, more carefree life. On a balmy Friday, she celebrated her newfound passion with her longest ride yet— a 360-km trip from Delhi to Agra. Along with her, ten other women bikers rode into the wind on Yamuna Expressway. Reaching the iconic Taj Mahal was the goal.
It was a first for everyone in the group—women ranging in age from their 20s to 50s. The adventurous pride was palpable.
“The 50th birthday is always a milestone. I wanted to show people that there is no age to follow your passion and start something new,” said Chakroborty, showing off her pixie cut, which she now wants to grow so she can feel the wind in her hair when she hits the road. She also wants to appear unapologetically feminine when she rides a bike.
“People should know a woman is riding a heavy bike,” she said.
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Thrills and spills
The first stop on the ride was Masala Restaurant on the Yamuna Expressway. Just as the women pulled over for a break, a thud turned all heads. Forty-seven-year-old Neelam Singh had toppled off her bike. Everyone rushed to her side, but their coach, Kuldeep Sharma, stopped them: Neelam had to pick up her bike on her own.
“In the beginning, I used to feel conscious after falling and would need help, but not anymore,” said Neelam, who learned biking in February at LetsRyde Academy. “After learning all the techniques, I’ve realised there’s no shame in falling if it can take you to your dream destination.”
Aspirations like hers aren’t so unusual anymore. In the last 10 years, the number of women bikers in India has steadily grown, along with all-female biking communities and riding schools just for them.
LetsRyde, First Gear Women’s Motorcycle Riding School, Enfield Riders, The Bikerni, Riderni, Lady Riders of India, Biking Queens, and Biker Babez—these are just some of the women-only training outfits that have emerged in the past decade. They teach beginners, organise trips, and create close-knit communities of women riders.
On the Delhi-Agra ride organised by LetsRyde, the squad was led by co-founder and coach Sharma, a male, but his tagline leaves no room for doubt: ‘Women in Front’.
For me, getting ready for biking is like getting ready for a wedding function, which makes me feel beautiful
-Minakshi Dhimani, 51
“The bike doesn’t know who is driving it—a man or a woman,” said Sharma, 47. “Women riding bikes is nothing special, when they can fly an airplane or go to the moon.”
One of the first outfits to spot the woman-shaped gap in Indian biking was Enfield Riders. Started in 2012 in Mumbai, it now runs training in 12 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. Over the past 10 years, it has trained over 20,000 women through its month-long programmes.
Training at LetsRyde costs Rs 8,400 for a four-day programme, including the bike, gear, trainer fees, and fuel. There’s an extra charge of Rs 500 for breakfast rides or road trips. Enfield Riders offers a two-day course for Rs 8,475. They also organise road trips and provide bike rentals, with costs varying.
“In the last five or six years, women’s interest in biking has increased significantly,” said Baljeet Gujral, founder of Enfield Riders. “The main reason for this is their growing financial independence, the ability to make their own decisions, and the support and inspiration from other women’s communities.”
Training, according to him, creates a virtuous cycle where women gain in confidence and no longer let fear or embarrassment hold them back.
“As a result, women of all kinds—housewives, working women, those in their 20s, 40s, or even 60s—are now riding bikes and, in a way, are rediscovering their passion, dreams, and freedom,” he added.
Riding over safety objections
Ghaziabad resident Upasana Bisht had spent six years as a stay-at-home mother, all the while wondering what else she might do to rediscover herself. The answer came one chilly December night in 2024 while she was scrolling through Instagram.
A Reel popped up, featuring a female trainer guiding another woman on handling a bike and advising her on body posture. In the next Reel, a group of women revved their engines to a thumping soundtrack. A long-buried passion for bikes stirred awake in her.
Realising what she’d been missing in her life, 34-year-old Upasana told her husband she wanted to join classes. He immediately encouraged her to do so and even prodded her when she delayed signing up by a few weeks. Finally, in February, she registered with LetsRyde.
But not everyone at home was onboard so easily.
One Saturday, she told her mother-in-law, Rakhi Gusai, she had a class. Gusai first assumed it must be for Upasana’s six-year-old daughter. When Upasana clarified that she was the one learning to ride a bike, Gusai froze.
“Why? What’s the need?” she asked. Her disapproval came from fear, not judgment. Bikes brought back bad memories.
“Once, my husband and I were riding a bike when suddenly it got stuck between two trucks, causing it to shake. We were about to fall off, and ever since then, I’ve found bike rides very dangerous,” recalled 55-year-old Gusai.
In the last five or six years, women’s interest in biking has increased significantly. The main reason for this is their growing financial independence, the ability to make their own decisions, and the support and inspiration from other women’s communities
-Baljeet Gujral, founder of Enfield Riders.
The last person in the family to learn about her biking classes was Upasana’s father-in-law, Harendra Singh. They told him only after her second class.
“I have seen bike accidents many times during my work, and it always gives me chills. I find it dangerous, and because of safety concerns, I didn’t want her to ride a bike,” said Singh, a retired Delhi Police inspector.
Their fears are not unfounded. According to the latest available ‘Road Accidents in India’ report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, two-wheelers accounted for the highest share of accidents as in 2022. They also made up the highest share of fatalities at 44.5 percent.
On 6 April, a 28-year-old woman riding with her LetsRyde group to Gurugram’s Leopard Trail died in a collision with a car. She was on a BMW sports bike. While her parents filed a police complaint against LetsRyde, co-founder Kuldeep Sharma called it “a natural reaction to blame us” and said the car driver was at fault.
In Upasana’s case, though, the family has set its fears aside after seeing how happy she looks in the videos, riding freely with her face lit up.
“I show Upasana’s biking videos to my friends whenever we meet in the park. They all ask questions and are surprised, which makes me feel proud,” said Gusai.
Now, bikes are part of dinner-table talk. The family’s colourful 4BHK flat is already filled with family photos, flowers, and Harendra Singh’s police awards. Soon, there will be one achievement on the wall: Upasana on a bike. She rent one now but plans to buy soon.
“We will definitely put her biking photo on the wall,” said Gusai. “She’s the best rider for me in the whole family. Now, I will only ride with her on the bike, something I haven’t done in ages.”
Upasana’s husband Ankit Singh, who is often away at sea with the Indian Merchant Navy, had always known about her interest in bikes, but never realised how deep it went.
“Before my marriage, I knew that my wife was interested in biking, but it was just information to me. However, when she told me that it was her passion and expressed her desire to learn how to ride professionally, I supported her,” he said.
The two share driving duties as a couple, but when it comes to bikes, he prefers going pillion.
“I drive cars but learning to drive a bike with proper gear feels like I have found my inner soul and happiness,” said Upasana.
Women on track
On a 40-bigha patch of land in Noida’s Sector 135, 38-year-old Rinchin sat astride a Royal Enfield Himalayan as coach Sifar stood beside her, calmly explaining how to roll the handle to accelerate and decelerate. A few metres away, another woman practiced on a Honda CD 110 Dream.
“I have a dream of riding my bike all the way from Delhi to Arunachal Pradesh, my hometown,” said 38-year-old Rinchin, a programme manager at Adobe. For her birthday this year, she gifted herself biking lessons. “I now have the opportunity, and will take my parents on a trip as well.”
Today is Rinchin’s second day at LetsRyde. After learning to sit in the correct posture and hold the handle properly on the first day, she’s now learning how to roll the handle to accelerate and decelerate the bike. Nearby another woman is prcitising on a Honda CD 110 Dream.
It was her second day at LetsRyde’s training field. On the first day, she’d learned how to sit in the right posture and grip the handlebar correctly. Now, she was moving on to more active drills.
That Sunday, about eight women were training under the guidance of five coaches. The women arrived at the ground, greeted their coaches, and headed to the changing room to get into their gear. During breaks, they chatted about their experiences. Some mentioned back pain from sitting on the bike too long, others spoke of aching fingers from handling the throttle.
LetsRyde, which started in 2016, offers a four-day professional motorcycle training programme, comprising 16 hours in total.
“We are teaching biking to 70–80 women every month,” said co-founder Sharma. The course covers everything from basic mechanics to honing the skills required for navigating challenging roads and hills.
On day one, a session titled ‘Break the Ice Theory’, focuses on teaching the fundamental techniques of handling a bike and how to connect with the machine. Day two, ‘Rock & Roll Practice’, brings in gear work, accelerator and clutch practice, progressive throttle control, and start–stop drills. On day three, ‘Maneuvering Practice’, riders take on potholes, speed breakers, and obstacle tracks. The final session, ‘Obstacle Track Practice’, introduces lane changing, U-turns, road awareness, basic motorcycle maintenance, and preparing for real-life on-road scenarios.
“The reason I joined LetsRyde is that they have female trainers here,” said 24-year-old Priya Dey. “The best thing is that they don’t teach you by sitting on the back seat but by standing beside you.”
Dey, a Delhi-based beautician, regularly travels across the city for events. Zipping through traffic on a bike makes practical sense to her, aside from being a long-standing aspiration.
“I have always seen my brother riding a bike. Whenever he feels like it, he takes the bike and goes out. After learning biking, I will buy my dream bike, a Royal Enfield, and ride it through the streets of Delhi,” she added.
Beginners to riders
At LetsRyde’s training ground, the layout resembles an obstacle course. One section has tyres scattered across the dirt, another has a small breaker made of soil, and there’s a small track for riders to go in slow, determined circles. But this is not the only training model. Enfield Riders, for instance, doesn’t even have a fixed address.
For two years since its launch in 2012, Enfield Riders organised biking tours exclusively for male riders. Wives, sisters, or girlfriends would sometimes tag along, but only as passengers. The outfit shifted gears when the founders noticed something: a lot of the women wanted to ride too.
“Whenever we asked women on these tours if they wanted to ride the bike, they would say yes, but they didn’t know how to ride—they didn’t have anyone to properly teach them biking ” said founder Baljeet Gujral. “So, in 2014, we started India’s first academy that provides proper biking training for women.”
The academy started small in Mumbai, with Enfield Riders initially training only 15 to 20 women for two years. By 2017, they expanded to four cities, doubling it to eight over the next three years, and now 12.
Rather than running a fixed training centre, they follow a flexible model. Coaches travel to the learners’ preferred locations—usually an open ground or a quiet road—and train small groups of five or six women in weekend sessions. The standard format is two six-hour classes, though some women opt to spread it over four Sundays. Every woman who completes the training gets a certificate—and the confidence to conquer the highways.
Social media is a way to keep track of my (biking) journey. Every time I open it and look at my videos and photos, it brings even more happiness to see how far I’ve come
-Neelam, 47
“Seventy per cent of the women bikers in our academy had never even ridden a cycle before,” said Gujral. Most, he added, have one dream biking destination: Leh.
But not everyone wants to ride alone into the sunset. That’s where the Bikerni Association of Women Motorcyclists comes in. Founded in Pune in 2011, it’s India’s first and largest all-women motorcycle collective—a platform for riders to connect, ride together, and kick up some dust.
“Bikerni brings together women from all walks of life who are passionate about biking, giving them the opportunity to engage in group rides, training sessions, and various biking-related activities,” said 36-year-old Urvashi Patole, co-founder of Bikerni. She learned to ride a bike at 14.
Bikerni now has more than 3,000 registered members in 14 cities. Some members have also biked abroad in countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, and Australia.
Bikerni has even caught the attention of Bollywood. Dhak Dhak, a 2023 film about four women who embark on a motorcycle trip to Ladakh, was inspired by their story. A sequel, Dhak Dhak 2, is in the works.
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Flaunting freedom
Motorbiking women are also building up social media momentum. First rides, receiving completion certificates, and even slow-mo turns are all fodder for Reels, complete with on-trend music, filters, and glamorous poses.
On her first long ride from Delhi to Agra, Neelam Singh made sure to document every highlight in an Instagram montage—photos with her coach, other women bikers, solo shots, all set to the song Ilahi. “First bike trip, endless thrill! Freedom, joy, and a deeper connection with my soul. Can’t wait for the next adventure,” read her caption.
In another post, she’s seen cruising down the Yamuna Expressway, with Ye Dil Deewana from Pardes playing in the background. The caption— “It feels like I have found my inner self”— was accompanied by a red heart emoji.
“Social media is a way to keep track of my journey. Every time I open it and look at my videos and photos, it brings even more happiness to see how far I’ve come,” she said.
For some, like 30-year-old Kamal, riding brings inner peace and a sense of freedom. Even gearing is like a sacred ritual for 51-year-old Minakshi Dhimani. The gloves, glasses, helmet, jacket, and shoes all feel no less valuable than expensive jewelry to her.
“For me, getting ready for biking is like getting ready for a wedding function, which makes me feel beautiful,” she said.
But the 10 women’s ride that Friday didn’t go exactly to plan. They never got that perfect photo with their bikes in front of the Taj Mahal.
The sun was beating down, the mercury in Delhi was nearing 32°C, and energy levels were dipping. Just 30 minutes from their destination, Sharma made the call to turn back for safety reasons.
“This ride wasn’t the end—it was only the beginning,” he reassured them.
For many, it was their first long ride, and their courage had already been proven. It wasn’t just about the kilometres or destination.
“This is just a pause, a stepping stone to go farther and achieve even more in the future!” piped up another voice from the group of tired women bikers.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)