Ground Report: Riding solo for 4 years, she now inspires other women

Having had all the fun doing solo rides on her bike for the past four years, Ambika Sonia (47) now wants young women from the city to have a slice of the joy. Sonia has started a new enterprise — Punj-Aab Riders — and a motorcycle training school for women.

Its been a month and she already has 32 women learning to ride the motorcycle. Of these, 10 have become well-trained and were taken by her for a 56 km ride to Nurmahal last Sunday. “It was such a rewarding experience going on a ride with them. More so, it was satisfying giving wings to the dreams of these women who always wanted to ride a motocycle but were circumstantially not able to do it,” Ambika said.

Sharing the profile of the women taking training, Ambika said, “They are aged between 25-45. Some are school teachers. One of them has even bought a new Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650, a bike mostly used by men. The rest use bikes of their husbands, sons and brothers. For those who do not have a bike, I have three of my own: Meteor 650, Honda and a new Hunter. I have procured the Hunter for coaching since it has a low riding height. Hence, it is easier for women to take up riding on Hunter.” Ambika has also been providing her new trainees with all the safety gear, including helmets, knee guards, jackets, gloves, etc.

Ambika had started riding the bike in Covid times. Her husband, who is a banker, had gifted her the Royal Enfield. Prior to that, she had been cycling with local clubs. But once she got her hands on the bike, there was no looking back. Within a year, she was able to do a 7,725 km Kashmir to Kanyakumari trip in 18 days. She has done over seven trips to Ladakh.

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Jalandhar