Potholes are common on Indian roads, and so is prejudice. As a male biker, I never had to ask if the road would turn hostile simply because of who I am. But what happened to Gurugram biker Shivani Chauhan made me face a uncomfortable truth: on two wheels, a woman is still expected to sit on the pillion seat. Step off it, and what awaits isn’t just catcalls and harassment—it can end in a crash.

Two recent incidents—one in Gurugram, another in Raipur—have stripped away the illusion of equality on asphalt. For years, when I saw a woman biker, I just saw a “fellow rider on two wheels”. I never realised how much extra armour a woman has to wear just to blend in, or how deliberately women riders have to hide in plain sight until I began reporting this story.

Indian biking is exploding. Driven by higher disposable incomes and the rise of motovlogging, thousands have turned riding from a weekend hobby into a full-time passion—including women. But as their numbers grow, so does the target on their backs. Visibility has brought vulnerability.

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Biking is supposed to be freedom—an escape from the daily grind. But for women, that freedom is exhausting. It is weighed down by the constant, hyper-vigilant tax of navigating fragile male egos on the open road.

A chase and apology in Bhopal

Abida Rana, a 22-year-old International English Language Testing System (IELTS) trainer in Bhopal, too, had her share of the “male ego on the road” last month. “On August 2, I took my bike out for a spin in the evening. I was riding peacefully in the Navi Bagh [Bhopal] when a car suddenly emerged from a lane and tried to cross a median. I was taken aback but managed to hit the brakes just in time. But the car, too, stopped right in the middle of the road. The driver took one look at me and challenged me to go past his car,” she told .

“The angle at which the car blocked the road was such that it left little space for others to pass. After requests to let me pass failed, I told him that he was being uncivilised. He shouted back at me. But I didn’t react to that and just squeezed through a tiny gap,” she said.

She further narrated: “This probably hurt his ego and he came after me. He changed direction and chased me through the streets. Twice, he overtook me and tried to block me. He chased me to within 100 metres of the local police station. I was scared and in tears on the way back home.”

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On August 4, Abida reported the incident. “The police asked me what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to get into the legal hassles. The other party had money. I thought filing an FIR could even make me a target. The police were, however, active in pursuing the case when I told them about it. The accused were warned and they were made to issue an apology letter,” Abida said.

She said she has faced multiple safety concerns on the road. So now, she goes mostly on group rides.

“We have to be cautious of not hurting male egos. That’s an extra burden. Safety should not have to be demanded; it should be a norm. If someone is speeding or taunting me, I let him pass and have his two seconds of joy… and I look for a crowd for safety,” she said.

Referring to the Gurugram hit and run, Abida said many girls don’t even have a camera. So such incidents go unreported and only women are blamed. “News goes viral; a lot of noise is made for a few days, but nothing changes.”

 

 

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Speaking about the kind of support she received from her family, Abida said: “I have progressive parents who don’t object to my motorcycling. But they are concerned and to allay their fears is a challenge. Many girls are forbidden from riding altogether.”

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She said that she has now been forced to take precautions as a girl. “I can’t overpower a man. I keep a small knife and a pepper spray, especially on long rides. And I have my camera for evidence.”

Questions after a death in Raipur

It’s not just the everyday woman trying to get a breath of fresh air, who’s facing the heat. Even influencers with a massive following feel intimidated in certain situations. Castrol brand ambassador Tanisha Arora said: “In India, we women have come to accept harassment and provocation by men as normal. We need to have a contingency plan for certain situations. I can’t always speed away from them, nor can I slow down on empty stretches. You can feel cornered if a man is intimidating.”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry. Better not escalate situations at that moment, even if it’s not your fault. If it is getting out of hand, raise your voice and draw bystanders’ attention,” she advised.

 

 

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Tanisha, who organises rides in India and abroad, also raised questions over the Riddhi Thakkar death case. Riddhi, a 24-year-old rider from Mumbai, died in August after a crash during a group ride on National Highway-30 near Markatola Ghat in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district.

There were several “unanswered questions” surrounding her death, said Tanisha. “How was Riddhi allowed to ride a bike with a malfunctioning brake? How did an ambulance arrive in the middle of nowhere in 5 minutes as claimed by the organisers when there was no such facility nearby? Who is accountable?”

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“The organisers are politically connected. Otherwise, how did they get sponsorship from the Chhattisgarh government? And why has no action been taken against them,” she asked.

Tanisha further alleged that two girls in the same group were “held captive” by the organisers on the pretext of keeping them “safe”. “The riders, Simple and Ayeshna, called me and sought help. I pulled strings and arranged for them to be taken out of the place,” she said.

She alleged that when she raised her voice online and posted clips that showed negligence by the organisers of the Chhattisgarh ride, she got “fake legal notices” from people trying to intimidate her.

 

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Late night harassment in Gurugram

For another Gurugram rider, Aisha, however, the experience of riding bikes has been much less forgiving. She told this author that she gets a lot of respect from the biking community. She said: “I met a lot of beautiful people during my short rides in and around Delhi-NCR. They stop to admire my bike, click photos, and chat.” But… there’s always a ‘but’. “The male ego never goes off the road… Two days before the Sia incident, I had an unpleasant experience on the road,” she shared.

 

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“This was when I was riding from Delhi to Gurugram. A car suddenly pulled up too close to me, trying to intimidate me. There was even a woman in the front. At first, I ignored it. I tried to overtake a truck in front of me. But he was still too close. After a while he again pulled up beside me. That was when I took a stand and shouted, asking him to back off. A man in the back seat then started making some not-so-polite gestures at me,” she said.

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Narrating another incident, she said: “I had an accident three months ago near Ambience Mall in Gurugram. It was between 10:30 PM and 11 PM. A cab suddenly swerved from the extreme left to the right and screeched to stop right in front of me. I tried to brake, but I crashed into the cab after he cut me off. I suffered several injuries. When I asked him to pull over to the side, he fled. Some of the passersby who had gathered at the commotion later told me the driver was drunk.”

Aisha said that it was due to this male ego that she keeps her hair completely tucked inside her helmet “so that people don’t know that I am a woman”. “Being a female rider, even if I am riding a 300 kg machine, I cannot beat a man at hand-to-hand combat. So, it’s best to avoid escalation.”

 

Aisha, who rides a Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650, also knows Shivani Chauhan aka ‘Sia’, the biker who was hit by a car in Gurugram on Sunday. Aisha said: “When I spoke to her after the Sunday ride incident, she was completely shaken. She said ‘I am thankful to God. I could have died’.”

Aisha said part of the blame for such incidents lay with the administration as well. “Instead of blaming bikers all the time, police should increase patrolling and strictly implement existing rules. You can find numerous cars with tinted windows across NCR. Many of the drivers are drunk on most of the days. These need to be checked.” “The administration knows there is an increase in ‘Sunday riders’. They should make provisions for them, instead of chasing them away from gathering spots,” she added.

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Why a record-holding rider avoids Bengaluru

Be it an influencer or a record holder, the theme remains the same for women riders across India.

Imagine a woman with thousands of kilometres under her belt who is now apprehensive about riding in Indian cities. It’s hard right? But that’s exactly what has happened with Candida Louis, who has an entry in the India Book of Records for being the first Indian woman to ride solo on a 400 CC motorcycle from India to Australia through 10 nations.

 

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Candida said she, too, had encountered men behaving aggressively on the road. While speaking to , she said: “It’s mostly the uneducated or young boys who turn out to be the troublemakers. Sometimes, after riding hundreds of kilometres, when I enter Bengaluru, I am challenged by young boys to race for a kilometre. They would call me names if I refused.”

Candida narrated another incident. “Four years ago, I stopped at a red light when a cab suddenly came and rammed my bike. I fell on the road due to the impact. I couldn’t even get up as my bike was stuck under the car and I was stuck under it. What enraged me more than the hit was the fact that instead of helping me, the cab driver stood there laughing, watching me struggle.”

But her ordeal was far from over. She said that after some passersby intervened, she managed to get up. She had only stood up when bystanders started blaming her. “‘If you don’t know how to handle a bike, why even ride,’ they questioned me,” recalled Candida. “That was when I decided, I shall ride anywhere but in Bengaluru.”

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And just like Aisha, Candida tucks her hair into her helmet when she rides “so that I look more like a man”.

She further said that the “difference in adversity is stark in the north and the south”. “In the South, people are friendlier and more helpful. But in the North, it’s way too risky for a woman to ride. But again, it all boils down to the individual,” she said. Candida, who has ridden in 45 nations, also said that India needs to follow traffic rules and stick to speed limits as in Europe, where riding is a much better experience.

A single mother’s ‘freedom’

Saloni Tyagi, a single mother from Delhi, told that separation hit her hard. “Coming from a conservative family, I barely stepped out. I did learn driving, but after my divorce I took to biking… and I experienced true freedom.” She said biking was so “magical” that she made it a point to ride “all big bikes in India”. “You name it, I have probably ridden it,” she said.

But the euphoria of freedom was soon overshadowed by fear. Saloni recalled an incident, again in Gurugram, when a man on a bike hit her and fled. The impact of the hit sent her skidding for nearly 50 metres on the asphalt. “All my riding gear was destroyed; I couldn’t feel my toes. That incident scared me so much that now I go out mostly in my car.” Such incidents of “pinching” or rash overtaking and blocking of lanes have happened to her even after that.

 

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Now, she avoids long rides. She travels to a region, rents a bike and explores the city.

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Saloni, now a stock market trader, has a 12-year-old daughter. “Although I don’t ride too often, I haven’t given up my passion for bikes. I now have a friend ride behind me when I ride. I want to instill the same confidence in my daughter… to face the challenges in life like her mother.”

She said: “When men see a woman driving, they get into race mode. This is especially true for men in Gurugram. Most of the road rage incidents take place because of ego. If you give up your ego and treat women bikers as fellow riders, such incidents wouldn’t happen.”