BENGALURU: Breaking the stereotype that associates motorcycles with men, Shreya Sunder Iyer has become the first woman rider to be signed by TVS for the Indian National Rally Championship.
At the age of 18, Shreya rode her first motorcycle. “One of my friends had brought his bike to college and I was very eager to ride it. He taught me the basic controls and the next thing he knew, I was riding away effortlessly. It came to me naturally and my friend was flabbergasted,” she says with a laugh.
Soon, she started going on biking trips with her friends, riding extensively across India. Her first long ride was to Wayanad, after which she rode to the isolated Suru Valley in the Himalayas.
Shreya completed a rigorous southern India biking expedition of 2,000 kilometres in just six days. She has also ridden on the dunes in Dubai. “Everything I’ve learnt about riding is from my friends. I’ve borrowed their bikes and taken off on trips,” she says.
Her parents, who were initially reluctant about her biking expeditions due to their concern for her safety, are now very supportive of her.
The Indian National Rally Championship, starting on May 14, will be her first rally. “The biggest challenge is to finish the rally. The roads will be unpredictable. One has to overcome the hurdles and make good time, says Shreya, who will be riding an Apache RTR 200.
The rally will be a stretch of 100-200 kilometres and will commence from Nasik. Shreya’s fitness regime and swimming sessions start in the morning and run into late afternoon.
While more and more women are taking up riding these days, there aren’t enough doing rallies, she says. “Many male bikers think that I got signed just because I am a woman. It’s very difficult to make it as a factory rider and I think it frustrates them that a woman has achieved it. I’m hoping to overcome the gender divide and see a women’s category soon,” she says.
The thing that she loves the most about riding is that with every ride, she gets to learn something new.
Her greatest inspiration is Spanish sportswoman Laia Sanz. The Dakar Rally is said to be the most dangerous in the world and only one Indian has been able to complete it. Shreya aspires to be the second.
Reminiscing about her first off-road trip to Kalasa on a 135cc bike, she says, “There were three of us. We had to ride vertically uphill and I was terrified. I knew no tricks or throttle control. But when we reached the top and got a 360-degree view of the Western Ghats, it was surreal. Coming back downhill was even worse and I almost gave up. But looking back now, I think it was the most rewarding experience I have ever had.”
This ambitious young woman studied interior design at Mount Carmel College and is also a professional singer and photographer. “I have done many gigs nationally and sung for movies. I always dreamt of making it as a musician,” she says.
Shreya studied photography at The One School in Goa, before which she wanted to be a pilot. “But that didn’t work out for me,” she says.
When she couldn’t fly a plane 3,000 feet above the ground, she settled for zooming on ground on her beastly motorcycle.