The air thins as the road climbs. Engines hum against mountain silence. Wrapped in riding gear, five women stand at over 14,000 feet, smiling into the cold wind at Nathula Pass.

Among them is a 76-year-old woman who has just completed one of India’s toughest high-altitude rides.

For this group of women bikers from Bengaluru, the journey was never about proving a point. It was about showing up, riding on, and trusting their bodies and minds to take them where they chose to go.

High-altitude routes are often seen as unforgiving terrain, demanding peak physical endurance and years of riding experience. For women riders, the doubts tend to arrive even earlier.

Challenging these assumptions, five women bikers from Bengaluru decided to ride all the way to Nathula Pass, a demanding mountain route near the India–China border........

© The Better India