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Chuck Stearns became the first and only American to ride Paris to Dakar.
LON{ .AMfRlaiN
IN .AtRIal
By Kit Palmer
Chuck Stearns did not WIn th e p restigious
6500-mile Pa ri s-to-Da kar race, but in a way
it doesn 't really matter - he fin ished , and
finish ed a very res pectable sixth o vera ll.
Stea rns, th e first America n ever
to fin ish (o r start) th e Paris-toDak ar race, spe nt 22 co nsecu ti ve
da ys o n hi s hi ghl y-m o dified
16
Tr600 Yamaha ridi n g through th e
deserts a n d m ou nta ins o f Northwestern Afri ca . We ca ugh t up to Stea rns a
few d a ys befo re he h eaded ba ck to
Europe to co mpe te in rnore ra ces. and
he told us a bo u t what it is lik e 10 ride
Pari s-to -D ak a r.
" T he ra lly i tse lf sta rred right a t th e
Ei ffel T ower in . Pa ris . Fr ance: a nd
hea ded dow n pav ed roads to the Med irerranean - a bo u t 684 miles." said
S tea rns. " I t was a long haul. T IH"n we
loaded u p our bik es o n a bo at a nd
hea ded to Alg eri a , where we a ll spent
th e n ight in a hotel.
"Of th e first th ree specia l res: sections . I h a d fuel pump p ro blem s in
two of th em . I h a d to tr ansfer gas
from th e fro m ta n k to th e rear ta nk
w ith a ball lr a n d lo st a bo u t a n h ou r.
Th e third specia l test sec tion wa s 32S
miles t h ro ugh wry . very Ia st desert
-I won it bv ' h a lf a n hou r. T he
fourth special tes t was a shu n one it ran through th e mounta in s for
a bo u t 100 mi les. T he co u rse wo u nd
a ro u n d the mountain s, son o f like
the Pi ke's Pea k ra ce (he ld in Colora do), b u t I ha d fue l p ump p ro blem s
agai n .
"The next day we-went 373, mil es
thro ug h Ih e Te ne re d esen. I kind 've
had a n eerie feel ing through Ih ere.
becau se it is ver y, very fla t a n d you
ca n see 360° o f th e h or iLOn , The lerrain is Ih e sa me co nsistem co lo r and
o ll o t h j l) ~ put fla~ pOIil on allih ' )I.'ay .
a ro u n d. I was g o in g 100 m ph fo r
hou rs on end - dcf ini rc ly a weird
feeling .
" O n this day. I co u ld see Gasto n's
( Ra h ier) trac k's . b UI I co u ld tell h e
wa s go ing 5° off co u rse , I kn ew my
co m pass wa s right . so I lo ok m y o wn
directi on . I feel prett y co n fide nt when
I'm o u t th ere al on e, so I d on 't ha ve
much problem being a way from o ther
riders.
, " T he n we had wh at was ca l led th e
m arnrh on secti o n . I t wa s 746 mi les
that was broken up into two specia l
test sec tions . There wa s a lot of sh r u berv. th e gro u nd was soft a nd il wa sn ' t
very fast.
" T he next specia l test section was
249 m i les th ro ug h ro ll ing m ea dows
th at ha d stra nge- looki ng trees. T he
co urse we-n t around a n d arou nd.
ki nd of like a motocross co u rse. For
th e past few days. we were o ut o f th e
desert , th en we headed hack into th e
desert th at turned OUI to be the hard es t pa n of th e ra il v, bec a use wh ere
rh ev sen t u s, th ere wer e n o roads , and
a t tlJis point, it was a ll navi gati on b y
the wa y o f co m pass a n d ro ll cha n.
" O n th e cha n , th ey ga ve us pi ctures o f m ounta in s, a nd yo u had 10
wat ch vo ur odo me ter and fo llow th e
m oun t;Iin s. At one poi nt , th ey had to
stop the rally becau se o f severe sand
storm s a n d continu e the secon d ha lf
th e next da y. il was really had .
" After th aI . we headt'd inlO St' negal where Ih ere wa s th ick veg t'tati on,
lots o f sh ru b be ry , a nd th is is wh ere
we saw a lot o f a ni ma ls. I saw m onol
