All-girls cycle riders’ club pedals its way

Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, November 18

A group of 15 girls from various parts of the city have formed the first all-girls bicycle riders’ club. Named ‘Ride to roar’, the girls participate in a cycle expedition twice a week.

Getting together near BMC Chowk or other suitable centre points in the city, they ride 40-50 km towards Haveli, Lovely Professional University, Pushpa Gujral Science City, CT Institute and even Kartarpur.

Sharing the details, chief of the group, Disha Sachdeva, said, “During the lockdown, I got inspired from the Hawk Riders’ Club and developed a passion for cycling and covering long distances. I had never done this earlier. When my friends got to know about this, they also showed keenness in cycling with me. Slowly the number of girls started increasing. We started enjoying more among ourselves and took out our separate girls’ ride around August. We actually felt quite emboldened and motivated.”

Sachdeva, who is an undergraduate, said since then they were planning a girls’ riders’ club, which they formed recently. “We have also started putting our pictures on facebook and other social media platforms and our pages run by the name ‘Ride to roar’. Getting a good response, we have opened our registrations for girls and women between 12 and 50 years of age. Our youngest rider is Bhavleen.”

Simran Arora, a founder member, said they had also formed executive members for their club appointing Manu Gupta, Khushi Marwaha, Surbhi, Liza Verma, Vinita Goswami, Venus and Ruchi Walia.

The girls said in the last two months, they had improved on speed, planning and coordination. They said since the Unlock happened and winter season had set in, they were also appeased over fewer vehicles on roads. “This makes our passage clear and rides smooth,” girls said.