Leaving La Paz in the morning rush and beating the rain.

Monday 29^th September 2014. Stage 45, La Paz to Lahuachaca, 136 kms, 936 metres of climbing, summit 4080 metres. A nice day with a climb out of La Paz, rolling hills along the Altiplano.

We left our great room in the hotel at 8.30 am and commenced the ride out of La Paz through the madness of the morning rush. I think there are as many minivans in La Paz as there are motorcycles in Saigon, and they don't give a damn about cutting you off. You are a distraction to them which can cost them money and should not be on the road in their eyes./r

We kept as a group for the 10 km climb out of La Paz riding in a lane all to ourselves. The view back down into the city as we got higher and higher amplified just how huge and congested the place is. The houses look like they are sitting on top of each other from the base to the top of the mountain.

About 2 kms from the top Robert the boss came past and I decided to ride with him for a while. I felt good and continued on all the way to the 60 km mark for lunch. As we crested the summit overlooking La Paz the traffic went from bad to chaotic. The vans were everywhere and could creep on you and blast their horns scaring the living daylights out of us. I told a couple of them in good old aussie fashion what to do with their horns, assuring the driver that it would fit if he tried hard enough.

We rode together for 2 hours chatting about Bike Dreams, future trips, my trips through Africa and Eastern Europe and the joys of just going for a ride each day. It was a good opportunity to speak to Robert one on one knowing that what each other said would go no further. On that point he did mention some exciting trips he has planned for the future that go my attention. Might have to think about them when I get home.

Looking back down into the madness of La Paz.

With the lunch truck in sight I was glad to take a break, have some lunch and wait for the next group to come along. I had done all the hard work I needed to do this morning and certainly didn't want to smash myself with Robert for the next 75 kms to end the day. I took my time eating lunch picking the people I wanted to ride with for the afternoon. A nice leisurely pace is what I wanted and not a mad race to the bush camp.

Our afternoon group was Brigitta, Rien, Joost, Patrick, Michelle, Jan Willem and myself. We all took turns hitting the front and cruised along at around 30 kph for the next 2 & ½ hours. The road we were riding on was a new section which was not open to the traffic at this stage. We had a nice paved road with a couple of sections still under repair, but nothing much.

At stages Brigitta was feeling the going tough, but we never left her behind, that's not bike etiquette. The philosophy is the group you start with is the group you finish with. We all finished together at 3. 30 pm in light rain. The rain had been following us for the past 2 hours and the lightning and thunderstorms were lighting up the whole sky. You could see the lightning hitting the ground in the distance and the wall of rain chasing us was quite eerie. I knew that we were going to get wet, it's only a matter of time when it happens.

As we rolled into camp with mud all over me from the wet road and muddy sections we had to cross, it was time to put up Tent Hilton. No sooner had I grabbed my bag and the rain started to fall. It seems that when you're in a rush to do something it takes longer. I fumbled my way in putting up my tent and dragging all my gear inside. With a quick wipe down, I was dressed in semi clean clothes and now waiting for the rain to stop so I could go over and get a bowl of soup. The rain eventually eased and after a nice bowl of soup and a cuppa I was feeling pretty good about the day. Yeh it was raining at stages during the afternoon, but we had a road to ourselves, people waving to us and just enjoying riding in Bolivia.

I should mention that Barry didn't ride today. He had been feeling little unwell of late so he decided to take the express truck to the campsite.

I stayed in my tent for the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing waiting for the 6 pm fire engine siren for dinner. We ended up moving all the tables and cooking gear and relocated to the school classroom across the field. We had dinner in the classroom and it was perfect. Ellen made a superb chicken, pasta, bean dish, followed by cake and cream. Now when I get home that's what I'm cooking.

Well it back to the tent and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is a 100 km day and I'm told by Max that the weather is going to be perfect with a strong tailwind. Yeh right Max.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

The past couple of days have been riding in a baron part of the Altiplano in Bolivia, so I decided to post a photo taken last week whilst climbing out of Lake Titicaca.

Tuesday 30th September  2014. Stage 46, Lahuachaca to Oruro, 100 kms, 370 metres climbing, Riding above 3800 metres all day. A fast day indeed.

We did get a bit of rain during the night but nothing to worry the sturdy tent. Breakfast was back to the class room for some french toast and cereal, bananas and coffee. The tailwind had picked up and I knew it was going to be a fast day on the road. Still we had the chance to ride on the new bitumen just about all the way to Oruro.

We left the campsite/school football field at 8.15 am and no sooner had we hit the road and we were flying. I started with Barry, Michelle, Buck and a couple of others, but soon it was down to Alfred, Hartmud and myself. Each time we went up a small rise I was literally gasping for oxygen. I was riding at 3850 metres most of the way and these sharp climbs took every bit of oxygen in the body to get up.

As we approached the fire engine at the 50 km mark we had only taken 1 & 1/2 hours. We had been moving along so fast it didn't seem possible that 50 kms had already passed. I waited for Barry and the rest of them to arrive for lunch and took a well earned 1/2 hour to try and recover. The weather was beautiful with a clear blue sky, no dogs, and no traffic to worry about. Max our guru on the tour predicted a strong tailwind and sunny sky's today, not bad at all Max.

After lunch I joined in with Rien, Joost and Patrick and set off at another cracking pace. After about 5 kms Patrick was off the back and only 3 of us were now left. We caught up to Barry, Kristin and Hilde after a long and hard effort at speeds of 45 kph. Barry latched onto the back and we all started doing turns on the front of the bunch.

We rolled into the city of Oruro at noon and the Garmin led us directly to the gran Hotel Sucre. When I got there, there was a parcel waiting for me. It was the CD's from the Death Road bike ride which had been sent yesterday from La Paz. I thoroughly recommend 'Barracuda Biking' for the most amazing death road experience.

Now for something on Oruro.

Oruro has a population of over 420,660 people and is located about equidistant between La Paz and Sucre at approximately 3710 metres above sea level. the city was first founded on November 1, 1606 by Don Manuel Castro de Padilla, as a silver mining centre in the Urus region.

Today's ride was pretty hard considering we had a good tailwind. The rest of the afternoon will be spent walking around the town and hopefully finding a nice cafe for a cuppa and a slab of cake. Since we're staying in the hotel tonight we have to go and find a restaurant to eat at.

Tomorrow we ride to the Altiplano and then will head onto the Meteor Crater. We have 3 days of camping to come so no updates, and it's back to the dirt and salt roads.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.