UDUPI: This bikerni is elated when astride her bike, and becomes one with the machine as she tears down a race track. It’s almost as if the bike breathes life into her. Apoorva Bykadi (25), whose passion for two hot wheels took her to dirt track racing, has proved that the sport is not confined to the male domain. Unafraid of bruises and scars that accompany the sport, she pursues her passion rather seriously.
Ever since she was 16, Apoorva had always wanted to take up bike racing, which she thought was an expensive sport. While pursuing mechanical engineering at Nitte, she didn’t think much about it, especially as she was also into basketball and handball. She had also won a bronze in Muay Thai Indian National Federation, organised by the Senior National Amateur Muay Thai Championship, held in Sikkim in 2017.
Yet, Apoorva never let go her dream of bike racing, though there were no options to learn it in the coastal districts. She thought she should go to Chennai for lessons, but continued with normal biking, tamping down on her enthusiasm.
In 2015, she joined the Mangalore Bikerni Group, which set her on the path of adventure. ‘‘We have a team in Mangalore Bikerni, an all-woman riders’ chapter in the coastal city. When I joined the group, I started enjoying and exploring biking,’’ she says.
After her mechanical engineering in 2018, Apoorva joined an edutech company in Udupi as a business development associate, but the 9-5 job meant giving up sports, and she began feeling listless. Quite suddenly, things changed when she came across a poster on Instagram about a TVS one-make championship to be held in Bengaluru in 2019. ‘‘In a one-make championship, everybody gets bikes of the same make to compete. It was a training and selection process,’’ she said.
‘‘I never thought I would get selected back then. But I did, and the tricks I learnt there helped me a lot. Initially, it was circuit racing, but now I am into dirt track racing as well, ’’ she said. There were 45 women of different age groups, many of them social media stars. Apoorva got selected from South Zone. At the MRF MoGrip FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2W event (ladies class) held in Chikkamagaluru, and the Rally De Mangaluru - Round 2 of MRF MoGrip FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship in Panja, Apoorva won second prize. She is confident of giving her best in the upcoming rounds as well.
She threw up her job to pursue her passion, with parents Bharathi and BK Narayan extending all support. ‘‘I’m happy that my parents accepted my preference. My father let me explore the sport independently,’’ Apoorva says with pride.She has honed many biking skills, like how to lean, turn and brake, especially after she joined ‘KAT Racing’ in Mangaluru. Superbike mechanic and KAT Racing owner Yogish helped her learn the intricacies of the machine. Apoorva also got her modified Hero Impulse from Yogish, who tunes bikes for races.
Racing is an amazing experience, she contends. ‘‘Circuit racing is all about speed and braking. The mind is completely focused. One second of distraction can play spoilsport. Dirt track racing is about body balance, endurance and managing our bikes. Both categories need different skill sets. Dirt racing is rather tough as there are obstacles like stones, gravels, mud and slush, and needs all parts of the body to focus on it,” she says.
Racing championships means spending a tidy sum of money, she admits. Entry fee is usually high, and for national rallies, each round has a fee of Rs 4,000, with six rounds in all. The rider has to get a mechanic along as the bike can break down any time, and caretakers and friends also accompany the rider.