New Delhi: Wheels of Hope. If there is anything that could best describe motorcycle to Gianna Velarde would be these words. Riding on those two wheels, Velarde was able to withstand the 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 32 radiation treatments she received to eliminate a cancer of the lymph nodes. And today, she is all set to become the first Peruvian woman to compete in the Dakar Rally in the motorcycle category.
Gianna Velarda
Gianna rode her first motorcycle at the age of 15, thereby finding the strength to overcome cancer.
“The motorcycle gave me a lot of strength, freedom and independence. Discovering all those things at that stage probably makes you a very powerful woman in a few years… The motorcycle was my escape valve, my means of feeling strong and above all, feeling that I was a winner,” Velarde told EFE in an interview, news agency IANS reported.
“I suddenly saw I could zoom up the same hills as the men. With my helmet on, nobody knew I was a woman. I was one more in the pack. And that helped me a lot,” she said.
Now 24, Gianna still has the character of the cocky girl who disobeyed her mom and learned to ride a motorcycle with her dad, an experience that turned her life around on the sand dunes south of Lima.
Whether she finishes the 2019 Dakar Rally or not, Gianna promises to keep up her university studies and her volunteer work of teaching motorcycle riding to poor children and those with cancer, to whom she wishes to transmit the same passion and feeling of empowerment that motorcycles give her.
Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally’s website describes the rally as: “entering the Dakar is, in a certain way, like climbing Everest, sailing round the globe or rowing round the world.”
The Dakar Rally 2019 will be held from January 6 – 17 in Peru.
Nearly 500 racers from more than 50 countries compete each year in the 14-stage race. Dubbed as the most dangerous race in the world, 59 people have died either participating or watching as spectators.
The rally pits drivers not only against one another but also against some of the most extreme terrain in the world. While the biggest challenge in Africa was its deserts, South America has many more obstacles. The 8,000-mile (12,875-kilometer) race winds through Argentina, Chile and Peru.
Teams participate in four categories: trucks, autos, motorcycles and quads.
Source: Newsroom Post