Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1491840
my bike and pull it out by the front wheel all by myself—it was very tiring. It was pretty hot, too; about 90°. That day lost 35 bikes and a lot of cars, too." Although Stearns had a mechanic that followed him in a four-wheel vehicle on the racecourse, he still had to fill up his bike with fuel every night and leave a note on the bike if any - thing needed fixing. After that, it was getting food and preparing for the next day. "Immediately after I ate, I would go to some private place and pull out my roll book and my papers that I roll on my roll chart and translate the French roll book into English. I can under - stand French, but I rewrote it in my roll chart in English so I can read it faster. It would take an hour to an hour-and-a-half to do the translation." The safety of the competitors was a priority like it is today, but the technology back then was a little different when it came to protecting the racers. "I carry a backpack that contains certain mandatory items," Stearns said. "One of them is a walkie-talkie that you use when you get lost. If you pull this cord on the walkie-talkie, it turns on a silent beep that they pick up in the helicopter. You are only allowed to use it if you are very, very lost, and if you do use it, you are out of the race automatically. Plus, you have to carry with you a day/night signal flare, an energy lantern, a small first-aid kit, a mirror, and two metallic blankets to break the wind. I also carry a little water." Finally, after 22 straight days, the race was over and Stearns had just become America's first Dakar finisher. "At the finish, I had an excel - lent feeling within me—a feeling of accomplishment," he said. "Many people thought that I couldn't and wouldn't do it. Be- ing the first American and the only one really made me feel good. The only real feeling of disappointment came during the last 10 days. I picked up three hours on the leader, and I won the most special test sections, so I was a little disappointed I didn't win and that I didn't do a little better. I wanted first place real bad. Shortly thereafter, I felt really good that I made it—really good. "I think riding Paris to Dakar is the ultimate off-road experi - ence," he said. "I want to do it again." Unfortunately, Stearns never got the chance. He died just sev - enth months after our interview. We reported in Cycle News that he had succumbed to leukemia on October 6, 1985, in Newhall, California, at the age of 25. It was, however, later revealed he had contracted HIV following a blood transfusion (after hav - ing crashed his motorcycle) in 1983. Harden once wrote of Chuck Stearns several years ago: "[Chuck's] amazing achievement went mostly unnoticed in the U.S. but represents a milestone for America even if no one knew about it or cared at the time. America not only lost its first potential Dakar champion but a great young man, a true gentle - man and sportsman." CN CNII ARCHIVES P98 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives "Many people thought that I couldn ' t and wouldn ' t do it. Being the f irst American and the only one really made me feel good. " —Chuck Stearns