*THERE WILL BE A VIDEO HERE SOON OF THE BIKE TRIP- CURRENTLY HAVING YOUTUBE ISSUES*So I'm not sure if biking down a road called "The Death Road" is a great idea when you're not feeling too great, but I thought what the hell, not like I'm coming back any time soon.
So woke up just before 7am, picked up our gear... a shirt, shorts, helmet, full-fingered gloves, and a decent Trek hard-tail. It was a drive up into the mountains and into the clouds (see right).
We would start at an elevation of 4700m (15,420 ft) and bike down to 1180m (3,870 ft). The first small hour was asphalt so we could get used to
the gear (it was also really damn cold!), then we would start our decent down the Death Road.
Also known as the North Yungas Road, El Camino de la Muerte (the Way of Death), and another charmer: Road of Death, it is a 70km stretch of dirt road generally slightly wider than a lane, the only catch being there's a enormous drop off, their are no barriers, oh and yeah... it's for two-way traffic. Some 200 people die on this road a year, although [finally] in 2006 a replacement road was built.
More info on this road:
HERE- (http://www.carinfacts.com/deathroad.shtml)
HERE- (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Road)
We would start at an elevation of 4700m (15,420 ft) and bike down to 1180m (3,870 ft). The first small hour was asphalt so we could get used to
the gear (it was also really damn cold!), then we would start our decent down the Death Road.Also known as the North Yungas Road, El Camino de la Muerte (the Way of Death), and another charmer: Road of Death, it is a 70km stretch of dirt road generally slightly wider than a lane, the only catch being there's a enormous drop off, their are no barriers, oh and yeah... it's for two-way traffic. Some 200 people die on this road a year, although [finally] in 2006 a replacement road was built.
More info on this road:
HERE- (http://www.carinfacts.com/deathroad.shtml)
HERE- (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Road)
The only picture I took was of the clouds and the one right above here to the right... next to that on the left is one of the many many vehicles that did a proper cliff dive. I had taken my mom's camera with me, and it had already been acting up the past couple days... possibly due to the elevation or something. Either way, it didn't really matter because both the driver and our guide had camera's (hence all the other photos/videos).
After the ride, which lasted about 4 hours, we drove back to La Paz, just in time for a massive dinner, and some of the best sleep I've ever had. My wrists and arms were soar, they took a pounding that day. It was a great ride, I could do it weekly, although there were a couple times I was going a little too fast around a corner and my heart stopped, but still I had a damn good time. I should also note that myself and the Dutch guy I went with, did the uphill stretches too... not like the other goddamn tourists who put their bikes back on the van, drove up, and got out again... "uphill makes the downhill better" is my philosophy.
Although I had just not only seen but biked the Death Road, the next day would prove to be the most treacherous day of the entire trip, salmonella in full bloom and a 13 hour off-road bus ride to the most remote place on earth I've ever been too. It was to become "I feel like death -road."
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