Mountain biking down the now not so deadly Death Road! Death road was once known as the deadliest road in the world because the narrow snaking road which clings to a cliff edge is constantly subjected to landslides sending cars and busses plummeting hundreds of meters over the edge. The narrow road had accounted for 200-300 deaths every year, however in the past few years a newly built road has opened up on the opposite mountain meaning that the Death Road is now only used by a few cars and mini busses and about a hundred cyclists who cycle it each day.
I chose to ride with the company “Vertigo” after reading a few blogs and seeing their score on trip advisor. I had been told that picking a good company meant the difference between a smooth fun ride with a decent bike, dual suspension and good gear and a rickety old bone rattling bike with hole filled glovers, jacket and pants.
I got really lucky as we had a small group of only 4 today which consisted of myself, two Brits and a Brazilian while other companies we saw along the way had upwards of 30 people ion a group! With only the 4 of us we could take our time and get to know each other along the way. We had our guide with us in front the whole way pointing out places of interest and stopping for photos at lookout points and our support van trailing behind us with our gear food and water. The views along the way were spectacular! Especially the first 15km or so along the paved road (not part of death road) which was a baron volcanic landscape that had been moulded by glaciers in the distant past. For this part my camera was in the support vehicle unfortunately so I didn’t get any photos of it, but trust me, it was spectacular.
The actual death road part was just as impressive. The altitude at the top of Death Road is about 4500 meters and the end is at about 1200 meters meaning that the top is ice cold and by the time you reach the bottom it is pretty dang warm. Also the landscape changes from baron volcanic rock and moves into a lush jungle forest by the end of the road, passing by (and under) waterfalls, landslides, snow capped mountains, valleys, rivers and crosses marking where cars have gone over the edge along the way. Death Road is no where near as dangerous as it once was, and accidents biking down the road are rare now days, but it is definitely worth doing if you are in La Paz.
