Riding a geared bike is not all that easy. You’ve to learn to hold the clutch, shift gears while you accelerate and never take your eyes off the road.
A woman on a geared bike is an unusual sight. But Deepa Radhakrishnan from Hyderabad feels it’s just the stigma attached to it that makes women think it is a challenge they cannot meet.
This 32-year-old, who has been riding geared bikes since she was 18, says that women of her city won’t have to hesitate to get their bikes out on the street any more.
Deepa has started what might be a first of its kind initiative to teach women how to ride a geared bike and she says she’s had an incredible response from unexpected quarters - homemakers!
"I had posted on Facebook about this on Friday evening and by morning I had over 30 messages already. Most of the applicants are homemakers and men who want their wives to learn to ride a geared bike," Deepa says.
Deepa points out that even if a woman in India agreed to learn to ride a geared bike, she would probably be too shy to take lessons from a man.
Deepa plans on taking 8 classes for an hour each. She says the fee vary, based on the time taken and distance she'd have to travel to reach the client. Until there are other volunteers, she can take only four to five clients in a month as she also works for a private firm. Deepa is a core member Hyderabad United Bikers, a group of various city based biking clubs.
Asked which bike she'd be using for the lessons, Deepa says that if people don't have a bike of their own, they can choose to learn on one of her bikes.
She has two RX 100, a Splendor and a bullet in her collection. Similar to driving schools, the training would include preparing people for license tests.
Deepa will also teach them how to maintain a bike during the course. "I will teach them how to fix the brake, change tyres and do basic repairs,” she says.
However, the package does not end with that, Deepa will teach her students a vital lesson - how to handle leering men on the road.
"Even now, when I’m on the road I face the problem. Ten years of experience has taught me how to handle such cases and I will pass on the same thing to the women I teach," Deepa promises.
If there is one line that can perfectly sum up this initiative, it should be 'Why should boys have all the fun?'!