A teenager from the state has defied mountainous terrain and subzero temperature as she rode her motorbike to Khardung La -- one of the highest motorable roads.
Sucheta Sati, 19, hails from Dadaun village of Joshimath. She has also claimed that she was the youngest female bike rider from Uttarakhand to conquer Khardung La situated at an altitude of 5,602 meter.
“I learnt to ride motorcycle at the age of 14 but did not ride, as I was not eligible for a driving license. On reaching the age of 18 and after securing a valid driving license, I joined a group of riders called WOW (wonder on wheels),” she said.
Before riding to Ladakh, she had under taken bike rides to Auli, Harshil, Dharmashala and some other routes.
Her journey started on June 10 from Dehradun along with a group of 10, all of whom were male. She covered around 3,000 km to reach Khardung La and back to Dehradun.
Sucheta said: “The trail was very tough, we had to encounter sub zero temperature most of the times. Roads were in very bad shape and at time ascends were very steep, also we had to go through couple of river crossing as well that caused problems.
“But the group leader Jackson Lochan and other members of the group kept on encouraging me and finally I was able achieve my goal of conquering the Khardung La and becoming the first girl from the state to do so.”
{{/usCountry}}“But the group leader Jackson Lochan and other members of the group kept on encouraging me and finally I was able achieve my goal of conquering the Khardung La and becoming the first girl from the state to do so.”
{{/usCountry}}Her parents were scared at first about the journey but they did not show it to her and encouraged their daughter.
Her father Satish Chandra Sati said Sucheta has been engaged in adventure activities since her childhood and she did her first trekking when she was 6 years old.
Apart from biking, Sucheta said she loves to trek, play cricket and listening to old songs.
She plans to travel from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari on her bike and wants to start a travel agency to promote adventure sports among the youth of the country.