Paul Carruthers | August 28, 2005
The following is from Harden Off Road…
The second annual Nevada Rally Experience will be held Sept. 23rd to 25th in Caliente, NV. Promoted by Harden-Offroad and Best in the Desert, the NRE is an authentic Rally Raid style event for large displacement dual sport motorcycles.
“Except for the fact that the event is non-competitive (i.e; it is not a race), we’ve designed the Nevada Rally Experience to be as close to participating in an actual “marathon” rally raid as there is this side of Dakar,” stated Harden.
The NRE re-traces the route of the only rally raid event ever held in the United States, the Nevada Rally (The Nevada Rally was promoted by Acerbis and Best in the Desert from 1993-95). Entrants are provided a Roadbook and GPS route data in order to navigate the 6 liaisons and 8 special tests that make up the 390 mile long three day event. The NRE will bivouac in Caliente, NV. Entrants have the option of “moteling” it in town or camping under the desert stars in an authentic bivouac setting. According to Scot Harden, “We’ve even designed the meals and bivouac experience to mirror the legendary Dakar Rally”. The only major area where we break with the current Dakar format is that we’ve designed the route to accommodate 700cc and over twin cylinder Dual Sports like the KTM 950 Adventure and the BMW GS.
The Nevada Rally Experience is not just another dual sport event. It combines the unique aspects of on and off road riding while adding the element of the Rally format. It is designed to challenge but not overwhelm the rider. Most important of all, the Nevada Rally Experience is about the shared camaraderie that can only be experienced during an actual Rally.
“With the increased awareness and interest in Dakar, we wanted to let Americans get a little taste of what a true rally raid event is all about.” This event is very authentic and will be used as a training exercise for the 2006 Red Bull KTM US Dakar squad. The route is awesome and covers a large portion of the Great Basin in eastern Nevada. The challenge will be to navigate the route we’ve laid out using the roadbook and waypoints from the start to finish”, said Harden.
A short classroom introduction to Rally navigation will be taught by Harden and is included as part of the event. The NRE is limited to 50 riders.
For more information on the NRE visit the official Harden Offroad website www.harden-offroad.com or call 951-491-1819.
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.
