Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ 00 00 0") ,.......; ~ CC':i ,.......; ;;.-...... ;j ~ Incas Rally - lcGrcn 4Iventuro en Peru by Ma rcie Berriz Riders entered in the Inca s Rally were treated to a one-day rest to v isi t t he ru ins of Machu Picchu. "Ah, dee life of dee rally, she is so tuff," Scot H arden said in his best imita tion Italian acce nt. The winner of , three Baj a IOOOs and five Baj a 500s lounged poolside at the Hotel Paracas in Peru sip ping a Fanta and admiring 'the view of th e shimmering . . bl ue Pacific ocean. 26 At the fini sh of th e eighth da y of racing in th e In cas Rall y, ice cold . drinks and a sumptuous feast rang- ing from roast pig to marinated lob ster greet~ th e riders. ~d i Ori oli, the 1987 Pans-Dak!1r Winner, had completed the special test th rough 71 miles of Peru vian sand dunes in 36:26 minutes forfirst p lace and now, stripped to his Jockey shorts, dove into the pool. Looking unperturbed by hi s II th pl ace finish after following veteran Itali an rid er Alessandro Gritti off th e co u rse , Harden ordered an other Fanta. Of co urse, not all da ys were as relaxed as this one. On the third day traveling from Arequipa to Cuzco, th e riders covered 336 mi les, ascend ing to a 14,400·foot pass wh ere doctors adm inistered oxygen to those wi th altitude sickness. Au stra lian Steve Chapman, two-time winner of th e a rduous Wynn Safari, forfeited that day due to heart palpitations ca u sed by altitude sickness. Jiri Stodulka, a former member of th e trop hy-win n ing Czechos lovaki an ISD E team, Thierry Magnaldi, a French Na tional Enduro Champio n, and 11 other riders m issed a tum in the roa d boo k loggi ng an extra 30 m inutes. At the rid e's end in Cuzco, the unflappable, legendary Malcolm . Smith described for the support crew . the maj esti c And es mountain peaks, th e i ngen io us terracing for farming al ong th e shee r cliff sides and admitted th at he did have a bit of a headache fro m th e al titude. Day two thrilled an d cha llenged the riders. After leavin g Arequipa they dipped in to the Canon del Co lca, o ne of the deepest ca nyo ns in the world. Malcolm Sm ith said.-"I had to sto p and take a look it was so beau tiful. " Also that day the riders burrowed th rough a long tunnel that veered to th e right so no light could be seen at its end. Several riders cra shed into the tunnel walls. " Even with the headlight wo rk ing, the contrast was too g rea t coming from the day light," Austra lian journa list-rider Geoff Eldridge sa id. " I lost my balan ce in the darkness and bounced off the wa lls . Then, wh en Harden came through, we bo unced off each other." Aventura! Abenteuer! Adventure! Riders, organizers, .support people agreed this was the Incas Rally mo tto . When Franco Acerbis and Danilo Arizzi of Acerbis Promotion conceived this event the y had Mr. Toad's wild rid e in mind not a Herculean torture test. During th e 10 da ys of th e rally from June 6 to June 16 (with one da y of rest to visit Machu Pi cchu ), th e riders tra versed a total of 2180 miles; easy 70- and 100-mile days altern ated with hard 360-m ile stages . in giant sand dunes, over And ean peaks and through th e Amazonian jungle. And at day 's end, the riders ' bags awaited th em in four- and fivestar hotels, wh ich offered laundry service and prepared Peruvian gas tronomical deli ghts. This, of co urse, after most of th e riders had worked on their own bik es to read y them for the next day. The 10 rally stages con sisted of transfer sections and special tests. Comprising a bou t on e-third of the total mi les, transfer sections were mostl y on aspha lt roads that tra ns ported the riders to a nd from the specia l tests. Riders were allot ted a generous amo unt of tim e to cover the transfer sectio ns . and pe nalties were assessed if th ey wen t over it. The terrain of th e tim ed specia l tests varied from slow technical sectio ns to hi gh- speed desert loo ps. This was Harden 's fifth ra lly, and he said he li ked this o ne for "the var iety of the conditio ns. " H e sai d, " This is o ne of the most incredible rides I' ve ever been on. " On openi ng day, 68 riders. including seven Americans. motored down the ceremon ial ram p in Areq uipa 's Plaza de Arm as, wi th th ou sands of Areq uipenos lin in g th e course all th e way out of town. Of these participants, about 10 to 15 were ha rd -core rac ers intent on winn ing the rall y; a few were journalists, lik e Ro n Lawson from Cycl e World a nd Eldridge from Au strala sian Dirt Bike, chasing a wild story ; but the majority con sisted of good to middling rid ers (with a large stash of disposable income) looking for a challenge, people who prefer to end ure sore bottoms, stiff limbs and Inca n revenge for the sake of adventure, instead of vegetating at a Club Med resort. As a bonus. th e turistas received a taste of stardo m, with enthusiastic Peru vians cheering as lo udl y for

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