WEATHER: Bloody awesome 2C in the morning and 23C in the afternoon
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Surviving Death Road
BUMMER OF THE DAY: A little saddle sore after 6 hours on a bike
BUYS OF THE DAY: My fried chicken and potato for breakfast for 1.80AUD
WORD OF THE DAY: Wooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooooooooo
DEATH ROAD HERE WE COME. We are spending better half of our day today on what is termed as ‘the most dangerous road in the world’. Are we crazy? The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. The Yungas Road was modernized during a 20 year period ending in 2006. The modernization included enlarging the carriageway from one to two lanes, constructing asphalt pavement, and building a new section between Chusquipata and Yolosa, bypassing to the north one of the most dangerous sections of the old 'Death Road'. This new route features modern construction (bridges, drainage, etc.), multiple lanes, pavement, guardrails, and many other elements that make it considerably safer than the original route. The original North Yungas Road is currently much less used by traffic, although an increasing number of adventure travelers bike it for the thrills.
We had to be at the bike shop at 6.30am to be kitted out in our gear before heading to the start point of the ride. When we arrived the bikes were getting loaded onto 2 vans. There was a bigger bus for the ‘Tucan’ group and then a smaller van for 3 additional people joining us for the day. We got fitted for a full bike helmet, gloves, pants and a bright orange vest we were asked to wear. As usual there were no pants to fit me, but I knew this would happen, so I came prepared and dressed for warmth to start with. Layers was the recommendation as it was going to be cold at the top and as we descend it was going to warm up as we dropped 3356m.
As it was early, breakfast was a secondary thought, so after we left the city, an hour and 15 minutes later we made a stop beside the road that had food stalls selling deep fried foods, biscuits, drinks, hot corns etc…… As we were going to be active all day, Seamus, O and I decided to go the whole hog and we watched our chicken pieces and potato pieces get deep fried in oil that had been used goodness knows how many times and I have to say at 7.45am it was the best breakfast and the chicken was super tasty, I just hope that I don’t get any adverse effects of the deep fried food, as today would not be the day to have the runs……..
We only had to drive a further 20 minutes to get us to our departure point at 4700m above sea level. I was starting to get butterflies at this point as it started to hit home that I would be on a bike for 65km, whether I was pedaling or not, riding on a road with trucks and then tracks that in some places were not wider than 3m. The last time I rode a bike was on Contiki in Munich when we did the city tour on bikes in April. So it has been quite a few months, but I am sure I will be okay….right! As we waited for the bikes to get unloaded, we were given the safety briefing on how to ride the bikes. There were three basic rules that would ‘keep us alive’ and they were ONE: Always have 110% concentration, no looking at scenery, no chit chatting to your friends, always riding in a single line. TWO: Always keep your bum on your seat, no standing on pedals as your weight shifts and you could lose your balance. THREE: Always keep to the right. So far so good. The company had a camera that they would be using all day, so they were strongly hinting that we didn’t need to take ours as it would be an additional distraction when riding. I am not one to not have a camera, so mine was tucked in my pocket, but I would use it wisely and responsibly. Shut up – I can do it……..
So with our helmets on, gloves on, our beautiful orange vests on we departed for the first leg. At 4700m the weather was cold up here at 2C. The first section was 25km of downhill paved road the whole way. We told to take our own pace, we had 2 guides one was at the front and the other was at the back and off we set. We stopped 10 minutes in to make sure that everyone was okay, all gear was okay and then off we went again. I wasn’t the fastest, but I wasn’t the slowest either. I was picturing myself to be in the middle of the pack, but unfortunately 90% of the riders were in the ‘faster’ pack, so technically I was the 5th slowest. Oh well I’m into survive the experience and I wasn’t that far behind the lead pack anyway.
The ride down was amazing. The weather was good as we had blue skies, the sun was out, which apparently the day before it was raining and the scenery was …...WOW. I had to yell out a WOO HOO at one stage, the exhilaration of travelling down the Andes on a bike was just too much to not yell out something. It was so hard for me not to take photos on my way down, as this was an additional distraction that we shouldn’t be doing, but I did take one snap and it scared the shit out of me I vowed to only take photos when I was stationary. We had the 2 vans follow us all the way down as well. There was one in the middle, and he had the camera, so he was getting photos of us and video’s as we came down the valley and the other van was at the back to pick up people if they got tired or scared. With a few more stops in between, to get more information on what was coming up, to readjust and to have a rest we would all then move on again. The weather being this high up changed a few times. Luckily we had gloves on, as the sun went behind the clouds it got quite cold at some pints, but then the sun would pop out again to warm us up. At one point the cloud was coming over the road and it was that thick that you could see the deep valley below. It was like we were birds flying with nothing else around us. It was a pretty amazing feeling.
The trucks must be used to ‘gringo’s’ riding the winding road to the police check point. In some parts the trucks would be kicking up dust and I wasn’t wearing glasses, so there were some calls where I had to ride one hand as I had to wipe my eyes. This is how the last person died on Death Road. Not on this section, but on the actual road itself, a Japanese woman was wiping her glasses and she lost balance and went straight off the edge. I got a few waves from drivers, to which I replied with a nod of my head, but a local bus passed and a guy blew a kiss so who am I do deny a reply, so I caught it and slapped it on my cheek to which he laughed, but then both hands were back on the handle bars again quick smart.
There was a police checkpoint at 3500m. It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to ride 1200m. This is also where we had to pay 3.50AUD as tax to which the money goes towards the upkeep of the Death Road. Sounds ironic really. The next section was an 8km uphill section. So this is where we loaded the bikes back onto the vans and drove this section to the next point which was the start of the actual Death Road. We leave the safety of the bitumen and now head onto loose gravel and stones and dirt tracks. This is where the fun and games begins. We are now on Death Road with 40km still ahead of us to travel. At this point I think I have actually pedaled for a total of 2 minutes. This is how to cycle.
Death Road is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, Upon leaving La Paz, the road first ascends to around 4,650m at La Cumbre Pass, before descending to 1,200m at the town of Coroico, transiting quickly from cool Altiplano terrain to rainforest as it winds through very steep hillsides and atop cliffs. Because of the extreme drop-offs of at least 600 meters, single-lane width – most of the road no wider than 3.2m and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain, fog and dust can reduce visibility. In many places the road surface is muddy, and can loosen rocks from the road.
From here we were now split into 3 groups. They had the fast, medium and slower group. The main group was the fasties and I was in the middle group. But we would just ride at our own pace again and if we swapped over groups this would be okay. It was just a numbers thing to keep tabs on all of us I think. All the same rules applied as before, but instead of sticking to the right, we now had to stick to the left, which was also the side that the cliff was on for the whole way down. The theory behind that was we could see what was coming up the other way, as local traffic still use the road and they have right of way. The tip for riding down was to try and stick in the tire tracks for a smoother ride and this is where for the first time I was thankful for the suspension on the bike. It would be pure discomfort if we didn’t have that let me tell you. The track was so bumpy and mixed with big and little rocks you really had to concentrate.
There were several stops on the way down, for photos, for views and stories. Always well timed and plenty of information was always passed on as to what was up ahead, tight curves, waterfalls, bigger rocks etc…… There were also other companies on the road, so we also had to make sure if we were overtaking people they knew we were coming through, but some of the guys were flying down the road, and you can see how there could be accidents, some of them were crazy flying. They were also dressed in ‘team’ colours so it was pretty cool to see the different colours and teams on the mountain as we all descended. It was funny, even the crazy riders had to stop for photos etc….. so we would pass them, like the turtle and the hare story and then 10 minutes later they would ‘fly’ past us again!
At the 24km mark we stopped for a soft drink and a ham and cheese sandwich to refuel and re-group as a whole. This is where I saw Kate sitting in the first backup van. WTF. She had fallen off her bike and got a grazed knee. Apparently she hit some ricks too fast, headed for the cliff, over steered, lose balance and fell off. She was a little shook up and after medical attention was applied (one band aid) she became the co-diver for the rest of the afternoon. Malar was the other casualty, but she hadn’t ridden a bike for a long time and had a few teething issues and a few ‘off balance’ moments, but to her credit she finished the whole thing, and this was some-one who yesterday wasn’t going to do it at all.
The last 12km we passed through some small local villages and encounted dogs on the road along the way, but they were just sitting on the road and we just had to move around them as we flew down. This is where we noticed the temperature change as we dropped and we were able to shed some of our layers. It was also the section that we actually had to PEDAL for the first time for about 2km in total over the next 25 minutes. So even though we had biked 65km, we literally only pedaled for around 2km. It was still exhausting though, as you had to keep your concentration and your balance, so even though it wasn’t that physical it was still tiring.
We made it to the final point at a few restaurants at 2.15pm after riding through a stream at the end. We had literally reached a section of the Amazon at 1200m. It was quite humid but as Lizzie and Paul rolled in we had all SURVIVED Death Road.
Once everyone had a cold beer in their hand, we listened to some of the horror stories that have happened on death row. Over a 15 year period there have been 25 bike riders that have died. The main guy then told us that 2 of them were from his company but both over 10 years ago and when there were a lot more traffic on the roads. On 24 July 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia's worst road accident Glad he kept these stories till the end.
It was time for a late lunch and at 3pm we drove for 20 minutes to a hotel that had a buffet lunch ready to go for us. They also had showers with towels provided and also a pool. It was a pretty good rest stop to have and after an hour here it was time to get back into the vans for the 3 hour drive back to La Paz.
What an amazing day. Another long day but amazing all the same. We got back into La Paz just after 7.30pm. We were all knacked and dog tired. We were dropped back at the bike shop and after collecting out shirts, Kate and I headed back to the hotel UPHILL again. We didn’t stop for dinner, with the late lunch and our care factor O, we decided to skip dinner and have an early night. I was back in bed again by 9pm. I think I am becoming a grandma!
The photos of the day were going to be burned to disk and ready for collection tomorrow, so it will be good to see how they all look.
WE SURVIVED DEATH ROAD – THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS ROAD IN THE WORLD……
No comments:
Post a Comment