76 CRPF women bikers kickstart their 16-day ride through five states today

GURGAON: Beginning Wednesday, 76 CRPF personnel on 38 bikes will ride through five states over the next 16 days, covering 200km daily to touch a total of 1,845km from India Gate in Delhi to Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh.
All the riders are women. And their bike rally kick starts on International Women’s Day.
For the past month, they’ve been training for six hours daily at the CRPF’s Gurgaon campus, where they are posted.
“It’ll be a challenge, but also an example to show that women, too, can ride bikes for days while performing stunt,” Meena Chaudhary, one of the 76-strong team, said on Tuesday.
Accompanying the cavalcade will be a vehicle that will carry all equipment required for the stunts, including ladders and flagpoles. An ambulance will follow the rally too.
Female bikers have been part of the CRPF for over a decade, with women as young as 19 part of the grouping before this.
A contingent of CRPF’s all-women band of bike riders made its Republic Day debut at the Rajpath parade in 2020, performing their acrobatic skills atop 350cc Royal Enfield bullets for the country to witness.
In 2021, a new batch joined this crew -- the freshers who have been training at the Gurgaon campus.
“Other than riding, we also perform law-and-order and operational duties at CRPF as and when we are required to do so. Riding is our passion, and we continue fulfilling all these duties,” said another rider Sunita Khandare.
Their bike rally will conclude on March 25 in the city of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district.
CRPF will mark its 84th Raising Day in the district on March 19, and a week of celebrations will be concluded with the arrival of the bike rally.