The trio’s 25,000km journey has been beset with hassles

SURAT: The city-based Biking Queens faced yet another problem after their two expedition bikes were stolen from the parking of a hotel in Amsterdam in The Netherlands on Sunday.

The KTM Duke 390 bikes on which Dr Sarika Mehta and Rutali Patel reached Amsterdam got stolen from the parking of the hotel where they were staying. The Biking Queens are on an expedition of 25 countries covering a distance of 25,000 kilometres to spread the message of ‘ride for women’s pride’ and ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’. The expedition was kicked-started from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on June 5.

Dr Sarika Mehta told TOI on phone from Amsterdam that, “We were staying in a hotel in Amsterdam and our bikes were parked in its parking lot. When we got up in the morning to move ahead on our expedition from Amsterdam to Paris, we saw that our bikes were not there.”

Mehta added, “We inquired with hotel staff about our bikes, but they did not have any answer. We filed a police complaint with local authorities and also informed Indian embassy in The Netherlands about the incident.”

Few days ago, when the Biking Queens were in Morocco, one of the member’s passport and other important documents were stolen. Jinal Shah’s passport, bike visa and other important documents were in her wallet until July 22. Without passport and other documents, Shah had to cut short her journey and return to Surat.

Mehta said the biking expedition will continue. “We have rented bikes to complete our journey from Paris to London. Our destination is London where the expedition will come to an end. This show must go on. We are on a very important mission to propagate the message of ride for women’s pride,” she said.

Mehta added, “As per our schedule, we will celebrate the Independence Day on August 15th in Barcelona in Spain with Indian community. The ride will end on August 25 in London.”

