Member-only story
I Ride Like A Woman? Hell, Yes!
And I wouldn’t want it any other way
The best protection a woman can have is courage — Elisabeth Cady Stanton
My motorbike license was five months old when I joined my first guided adventure tour across the Indian Himalayas in Ladakh. I was with a group of seasoned riders, all men.
Twelve of them, to be precise.
I could only imagine what was going on in eleven minds when they heard I was an utter novice. And a woman (number twelve was Bryan, so his thoughts didn’t weigh that much.)
Of course, they put me right behind the guide because that is typically where the weakest rider is. As we swung along, I did my best to keep up and not let the men’s group down.
Looking back, I can’t believe I ever doubted my riding abilities.
But I did.
I kept nagging the tour operator, quizzing him about what would happen if I couldn’t do the ride. “So far, we have brought every single woman back down,” was his brief answer.
And he was right.
During our farewell dinner, one of my fellow riders complimented me.
“You ride well,” he said but was quick to add
