Death Road, Zip line and an afternoon at a Bolivian football match

What another great 2 days in Bolivia. Here's a bit of the story.

Saturday 27^th September 2014. Riding the Death Road and taking on the Bolivian Zipline, La Paz, Bolivia.

After a lot of emails and finally deciding on using 'Barracuda Biking' La Paz, the money was paid last night and now all we have to do is be picked up at 9 am today. I had organised for 22 cyclists from Bike Dreams to spend their day riding the world famous and most deadly road in the world, following by a crazy zipline over the valley at speeds of 80 kph.

It was now 9 am and the cyclists were all outside the hotel waiting for the buses to take us up to the starting point. Our guide Joubert turned up right on time and took us down to the buses and a brief run down on what we would do before reaching the starting point. The trip would take us from 3300 metres to over 4700 metres and the starting point of the infamous death road.

As we pulled out of town our guide Edwin told us what to expect and the dangers of riding far too fast or overtaking the guide on the mountain. If you did you would be taken off the road and put into the bus. Your day would be over.

As we climbed out of the city I could see storm clouds in the distance. The last thing I wanted was for the cyclists to have a wet day. As we left the small homes glued to the side of the mountains and made our way to the police check point I could see the snow on the mountains in front of us. There's only thing that comes with snow, and that freezing temperatures. We had to pay a levi of 25 Bolivianos to access the death road. As we got closer it started snowing and raining as well. We could see a group of riders getting ready to ride the paved section first but our guide decided that there was no point to freeze our ass off on pavement so drove on a little further. It looked like hell all around us. The clouds were all over the mountain and the fog was making it difficult to see the riders we were driving past.

Eventually we stopped the buses and got prepared to get wet, cold, freezing and basically drenched to the bone. We put on our cold weather clothing supplied by the company and I put on my wet weather jacket for good measure, got the bikes off the roof and were given a safety briefing. We were told all the rules of riding on the death road and to take our time and enjoy the experience.

So off we went with Edwin the guide leading the way, followed by 22 mad cyclists who could have stayed in their hotel room, kept dry, ate cake, played on the internet, or gone shopping on their rest day. The rain was pouring down for the first section and by the time we entered the dirt section we were all drenched to the bone and we still have 40 kms of dirt to take on.

There's one thing I can say about 'Barracuda Biking', they constantly stop and give us time to take photos and tell us what to expect during the next section of the ride.

As soon as you enter the dirt section you can see how dangerous it is and why so many people have lost their lives over the years. To see the road and how the edges drop away to thousands of feet below is nerve wracking. We did take a photo with our feet overhanging one of the drop off's which took some coaxing by the guides. I didn't really feel that comfortable with my legs dangling over a cliff where the base of the mountains was about 1000 feet below.

The most unfortunate part of the morning ride was the rain and fog which prevented us from that million dollar photograph. We pressed on down the road always being extremely careful not to hit a rock, or run up the back of the person in front of you. Doing any of these things could see you flying through the air and to certain death. Whilst I was researching who we should do the death road with I found out a young girl had been killed 4 weeks ago. It's pretty easy to see how someone could go over the edge if they're inexperience or freeze up when coming to a sharp corner. Although we were all fairly experienced after riding close to 4000 kms so far on this trip, you still had to be on your guard at all times.

As we got closer to the bottom the sun started to come out, so it was time to shed some of our wet clothing. The scenery today was stunning from top to bottom. Whether it be a lush green mountain side with a misty waterfall coming down on the road, or clouds floating all around us, it didn't matter because we are only a few people in the world who get the chance to ride the death road. My good friend Peter Felvus did the death road a couple of years ago and didn't stop talking about it, so how could I come to La Paz and not do it? Well, here I am roaring down a dirt, rocky, rutted road with a sheer cliff about a metre away and soaking up the adrenaline like there's no tomorrow.

We reached the bottom of the death road after a great couple of hours and now it was time to take on the Bolivian Zipline.

I decided that if I could get the cyclist to do death road I would have no problem getting them to attach themselves to a harness, hook on to a piece of wire and then be shot across a valley a 1000 feet below you, and at speeds of up to 80 kph. Now I'm a junky for adrenaline and signed up straight away. I talked 14 of us to take it on, so back up the mountain we went to the first of 3 wire ropes we would be taking on.

The first person to be strapped in in the superman position was David. When he and the guide took off over the trees and into the canyon I thought to myself this is crazy. I couldn't back out now, after all I had talked them all into it. One by one we all took our turn in leaping off the edge and out over a valley where cars looked like small toys and houses looked like a box. No sooner you leave the edge and you are roaring across this valley with only a cloth harness and a piece of wire protecting you from the ground or meeting your maker sooner rather than later.

In total there are 3 sections we took on. I managed to wear the superman harness the last rope section and I screamed out like a kid who was having the time of his life. It was just exhilarating speeding through the air and not being petrified as how dangerous this activity was.

We all arrived at the finish point with huge grins on our faces. I could see that everyone today had a great time which made me very happy. We took off our harnesses and got on the bus to head to the hotel for a very late lunch. It was not 5 pm and we were starving. A bowl of spaghetti and a nice drink and we were ready for the 3 hour drive back to La Paz. This trip would take us along the newer road that all the vehicles now take. This was a 65 km mountain pass taken on in pouring rain and in darkness. At stages the fog became so bad the bus had to crawl along. Once again you always get the idiot who overtakes around blind corners in pouring rain putting innocent drivers and their passengers at risk of death.

Finally we crested the mountain to see the spectacular lights of La Paz in the distance. I was tired, my feet were wet, my shoes were drenched and I wanted to do was have a hot shower and go to bed. And that is exactly what I did.

Tomorrow if the weather I fine I'm going out to watch the local soccer match with Hardy and a couple of the other cyclists.

Until tomorrow, safe riding. 

Sunday 28th September 2014. Bolivian football at its best.

The group for today's match was Buck, Hardy, Roberto, Maria, JR, Rien, Hartmud. We got a taxi out to the match and had a look around trying to get the best bargain on the football jersey. Like usual I had the usual challenge with one of the lady sellers and manage to get a jersey and cap for a song. I always love to bargain.

 That's the lady who I had to bargain hard with to buy a jersey and cap.

I took the above photo just before kick off. The crowd was about 5000 people with bands playing and players diving better than a diver off the 10 metres platform at the Olympics.

The game was nil all at half time and the local team were ready to lift the tempo. With the band now in full swing the local team took the ascendancy and scored a brilliant goal. The end score was 2 nil and a well deserved win. Although it rained for the last 20 minutes of the game it never damped the enthusiasm of the crowd with constant yelling at the ref or the opposition for alleged dirty play.

The photo above is me of course, riding the zipline in Bolivia. What an adrenaline rush.

After full time JR and I caught a taxi back to the hotel to end our fantastic day. Tomorrow we start a 7 day leg from La Paz to Uyuni which will certainly drain the batteries by the time we get our next rest day.

Our past 2 days have been fantastic and all off the bike. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in La Paz.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.