My Story: ‘When Children Of My Age Were Learning To Ride A Cycle, I Was Understanding The Mechanics Of Clutch And Gear’

Kalyani Potekar has ridden on enough rough terrains to make herself the face of India’s motorbiking club. In her childhood, when her friends were learning to ride a bicycle, she was understanding the mechanics of clutch and gear from her father.

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I was just nine years old when my love affair with bikes began. While my other friends were learning to ride cycles, I was on my father’s RX100. Even though my feet were barely able to touch the ground, my father sat behind me and taught me to use gears and clutch. After I completed my 12th board exams, my father gifted me my first bike.

I consider myself fortunate to have supporting parents who exposed me to adventure sports while I was growing up. Paragliding, skiing, mountaineering, horse-riding was something I learned early in my childhood. Also, I got interested in motorcycle riding because of my dad as he was a motocross racer. The way he talked about his early days and crazy rides was fascinating and I realized this is something I would like to do.

I Was Told I Do Not Have The Calibre

I was mocked a lot of times. I was told I’m not good enough and don’t have the calibre. Recently, in a biking event, I was told that I won’t be able to ride a bike because my feet barely reach the ground. But I did it. I nailed it. And the same person who told me came to me and took a selfie with me. All this negativity doesn’t stop me from achieving my goals in fact they help me to push my limits and rise higher.

Represented The Country In Thailand and Taiwan

In 2017, I trained at the California Superbike School and participated in the Indian National Racing Championship. I also got an opportunity to represent the country Thailand and Taiwan. Last year in September, at the age of 27, I set up a lap record of 2.08 on a Ducati Panigale V4 at the Buddha International Circuit which was never done before by any female racer at the track making me the fastest one. Two months later, at the same circuit, I broke my own record, which now stands at 2.05.

There is still a lot of sexism that comes my way, online as well as on the streets, for being a girl on a bike. My funda is to take their comments, step on them & make my way ahead.”

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