Female motorcyclists in India are increasingly reporting a range of challenges, from harassment and dangerous driving to victim-blaming, which they say make riding a constant exercise in vigilance. Saloni Tyagi, a Delhi-based stock trader and single mother who rides under the name Wanderess On Wheels, faced a traumatic crash two years ago on a Gurugram highway when another motorcyclist hit her bike from the side. Though she escaped serious injury, the incident changed her relationship with riding. Similarly, Shivani Chauhan, 27, was allegedly followed and rammed by a man in a car on Golf Course Road in Gurugram. The incident was captured on camera and went viral, leading to the man's arrest on an attempted murder charge. Chauhan described the psychological impact and has since decided to take a break from riding. Priya Mahadik, a Mumbai-based HR professional who rides a BMW GS 1250, says male riders often treat her presence on such a large motorcycle as a personal challenge. She reports that male riders have cut in front of her at traffic signals, honked, followed her, and even challenged her to race. Mahadik, who is 5 feet 2 inches tall, says she sometimes faces ridicule from men who question why she is riding such a big bike. She suspects this is meant to intimidate her or cause her to lose control and fall, so they can claim that women cannot handle large motorcycles. Ankita Arora, 35, a marketing head at the motorcycle community xBHP, recalls an incident three years ago when a white car approached her from behind in Gurugram, honked continuously, and hit her motorcycle. She was dragged for meters before being thrown off the road. Her safety gear was torn, and she said she did not feel her legs or hands. The case is still in a local court three years later. Arora now keeps a camera running while riding, believing footage can provide crucial evidence when incidents are disputed. Tyagi says the absence of footage can leave female bikers facing another kind of hostility—online victim-blaming. She says more than 50 per cent of the comments on her posts are judgmental, questioning why she was in a particular lane. She says similar attitudes are encountered on the road, where other drivers slow down to look at her, block her path, and repeatedly honk. She says bias against female riders on Indian roads is "deep-rooted," noting that for boys, riding is easy, even if they are underage, but for girls, it is a challenge. She says girls who ride bikes today have to fight for consent from their families and friends, which does not come easily. Mandeep Merwah, 55, has travelled across the Indian subcontinent since she started riding 10 years ago. She says she has noticed a sharp difference between riding in smaller towns and rural areas and navigating major cities. She says she doesn’t ride after sunset as a precaution and complains that female riders are often forced to think about precautions that male riders don’t. Merwah, who started India’s first training academy for female motorcyclists in 2016, says many male motorcyclists are happy to see women riding, offering a "thumbs-up, a wave or a smile." She says the bigger challenge lies in deep-rooted cultural beliefs about gender, which will take time to change. For many female riders, the pull of the open road is worth the challenges. Tyagi says motorcycling is a way of reclaiming her independence, and she doesn’t want to leave it. Arora says giving up is simply not an option, and she will not leave her passion behind just because of "bulls*** people." Merwah says riding isn’t about proving anything for her. She says it was never about anybody else, just about wanting to ride. She notes that riding is not like in the movies, where you take off your helmet and show flowing hair and glowing skin. When you have been riding for 6-7 hours, you just have dust and grime in your hair. Still, she lives for that "goofy grin I have the whole time I am riding." For female bikers like her, that is perhaps the pull: the freedom of being on the road, of going places and looking at the world slip past the handlebars—despite the barriers on the road.