Yesterday, we did one of the coolest things to date in our South American travels. We mountain biked down THE DEADLIEST ROAD IN THE WORLD! You might be asking, "of all the roads in the world, why is this road the deadliest?" Our answer: Just take a look at the pictures in the slide show above our profile.
Up until a year ago this road was THE road from La Paz (Bolivia's capital city) into the jungle. This means that cars, buses, even full-size semi trucks used this passage to get to and from La Paz. The crazy part is that even with the new, more safe, paved road, a good portion of commuters still use the Death Road because it's a faster route...if you make it.
That aside, the Death Road is a huge attraction for thrill seeking backpackers. At first, I didn't quite understand the joy of riding a bike down a crappy road at an incredible rate of speed, but after about an hour on the road I saw the appeal...you could easily fly off the edge of this mountain.
We were driven up to the highest section of the road which is at an altitude of about 4700 meters. Needless to say, it was FREEZING! We enjoyed a quick breakfast of hot drinks and bread and then began the initial descent. We were blowing past huge trucks like they were standing still. Some of the drivers were courteous enough to show us how much they enjoyed our presence by conveniently emitting black clouds of exhaust as we passed them.
It wasn't long before we started ripping off our layers because along with the 1000 meter drop in altitude, there was a 7 km section of the road where we actually had to peddle uphill. I've never felt so out of shape. It's nuts how quickly your lungs start burning when you're trying to squeeze oxygen out of the air at 3700 meters.
After we finished our workout for the month, it was time to, finally, get onto the original Death Road. We started out a little slower just to get used to the how the bikes reacted to the loose gravel, but that didn't last long. Even while maintaining slight pressure on the breaks, we were hauling down the mountain. After we popped out of the clouds we were able to go even faster because we could actually see more than 10 feet in front of us.
Keeping our bikes on the road took so much concentration that we couldn't look at the scenery while we were underway. We were able to chill out and take it all in while we stopped for snacks. There were parts of the road that didn't look like they were wide enough for a compact car let alone a semi truck. Between the dangerous drops and the stunning jungle scenery this road was really an experience like none we'd had before.
After we made it safely to the bottom we headed for a dip in the pool and lunch at a local hotel. At a final altitude of 1000 meters, the weather at the bottom of the road felt like Hawaii in the wet season.
What a day of complete extremes.
Up until a year ago this road was THE road from La Paz (Bolivia's capital city) into the jungle. This means that cars, buses, even full-size semi trucks used this passage to get to and from La Paz. The crazy part is that even with the new, more safe, paved road, a good portion of commuters still use the Death Road because it's a faster route...if you make it.
That aside, the Death Road is a huge attraction for thrill seeking backpackers. At first, I didn't quite understand the joy of riding a bike down a crappy road at an incredible rate of speed, but after about an hour on the road I saw the appeal...you could easily fly off the edge of this mountain.
We were driven up to the highest section of the road which is at an altitude of about 4700 meters. Needless to say, it was FREEZING! We enjoyed a quick breakfast of hot drinks and bread and then began the initial descent. We were blowing past huge trucks like they were standing still. Some of the drivers were courteous enough to show us how much they enjoyed our presence by conveniently emitting black clouds of exhaust as we passed them.
It wasn't long before we started ripping off our layers because along with the 1000 meter drop in altitude, there was a 7 km section of the road where we actually had to peddle uphill. I've never felt so out of shape. It's nuts how quickly your lungs start burning when you're trying to squeeze oxygen out of the air at 3700 meters.
After we finished our workout for the month, it was time to, finally, get onto the original Death Road. We started out a little slower just to get used to the how the bikes reacted to the loose gravel, but that didn't last long. Even while maintaining slight pressure on the breaks, we were hauling down the mountain. After we popped out of the clouds we were able to go even faster because we could actually see more than 10 feet in front of us.
Keeping our bikes on the road took so much concentration that we couldn't look at the scenery while we were underway. We were able to chill out and take it all in while we stopped for snacks. There were parts of the road that didn't look like they were wide enough for a compact car let alone a semi truck. Between the dangerous drops and the stunning jungle scenery this road was really an experience like none we'd had before.
After we made it safely to the bottom we headed for a dip in the pool and lunch at a local hotel. At a final altitude of 1000 meters, the weather at the bottom of the road felt like Hawaii in the wet season.
What a day of complete extremes.
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