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Published: April 27th 2008
One of the trips that many agencies organise in La Paz is a cycling trip down ´The World´s Most Dangerous Road´. The road starts in La Cumbre (4640 metres above sea level) and ends in Coroico (1295 metres above sea level) and is 64km long with vertical cliffs up to 600m high. Until recently the road was used for traffic and an average of 300 people died a year (mostly from cars and buses going over the edge of the cliff). A new road was built for vehicles 8 years ago, and since then it is mostly used by cyclists on tours.
10 cyclists have died cycling the road since 2001, one being 4 days before I did the trip!!! Yikes! Think it made everyone a lot more careful and less reckless knowing that the danger was real.
There are many different companies that offer the trip for different prices and therefore different quality and standards. I opted for one of the more expensive options and it was definitely worth the extra money. Not that I know anything about bikes, but the bikes were amazing!!! They were specially designed for going downhill and they have really cool bouncy suspension
Just about to set off.
Do you like my outfit?!?! Sexy!in the front and back. You are supplied with a full safety helmet, protective trousers, a very attractive florescent vest and lots of delicious snacks along the way! At the end you also get a CD with photos and videos of the day and a souvenir t-shirt!!!
The guides were really professional and briefed us all fully on the road and the bikes before we set off. There were 23 other people doing the tour the same day as me, but they split us into groups of 6 with a guide in each group. We stopped every 10-20 minutes to check that everyone in the group was ok and there was no problems. The minibuses also ride behind the groups with mechanics in case there are problems with the bikes and rescue equipment in case of disaster!!!
I was in the slow group, and I was the last one for most of the time!!! One girl in our group only managed half the road because at one of the checkpoints when she had stopped her bike, she overbalanced and fell over sideways! She bashed her elbow which meant she couldn't grip the brakes properly (pretty important) and had
to go in the minibus for the rest of the way. Only one other guy in the tour hurt himself- his bike skidded (he was going fast) and he had cuts on his knees and had to get stitches in his elbows.
The first 30km of the road was paved, so it was nice to get used to just riding on the bike. It was also amazing not having to do any pedalling at all- that´s my kind of exercise!!!! The next section was uphill, so you had the option of putting your bike on the roof of the minibus and getting a lift up. Of course that is what I did! Afterall, the company I went with was called ´Downhill Madness´not ´Uphill Madness´!!!!
When we got to the actual ´Death Road'bit the scenery was so beautiful, but I didn't really have much of a chance to appreciate it when I was cycling as I was concentrating on staying on the path!
Although I really enjoyed the day, it was a relief to get to the bottom, have a drink and be driven to a hotel for a massive buffet lunch.
Have just heard that a British
guy died a few days ago on the paved part of the road when a car hit him and went off the cliff. Yikes. Maybe not a very sensible trip to have gone on, but I'm glad I did it!
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Hannah
non-member comment
Yikes and bikes
Soo pleased you didn't mention this trip prior to doing it or would have had me majorly freaked. Please stick to tours named "gentle stroll" or "OAP friendly" from now on...