Our Crash While Biking "Death Road"

Above the clouds, preparing to start our ride.  There were amazing views of the Andean plateaus.

As we drove along the road leading to the world's most dangerous road in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan's stomach began to get a little uneasy.  We had never seen so many crosses along one single road marking where people have perished over the years.  While Bolivia has recently created a newer, safer route for cars to use, this road will forever keep it's title of world's most dangerous road due to the tragedies of its past.

Here we go!  (we are on the right)

"This cross is for 200 people that died when their bus fell off the cliff due to the erosion of the dirt road," our tour guide told us.  While sad, it's understandable given a waterfall falls directly onto an almost one lane dirt path adjacent to the steep drop off the mountain.  During water breaks, our tour guide would point to the bottom of the valleys to show us burnt and wrangled cars that had fallen from various ledges.

Leaning over the ledge to see where two vehicles had tragically fallen into the valley

It's a badge of honor for travelers to be able to say they've biked down "Death Road" in Bolivia.  The corners are pretty manageable on a bike as long as you don't lose control of your bike as you fly downhill.  However, even the most experienced bikers can leave this experience a bit banged up.  We would know...

Before we even hit the portion of Death Road where the road drops off into steep ravines, we were bloody and bruised.  Jan was navigating her dual suspension mountain bike along a narrow path of loose rocks at a snail's pace.  Actually, a snail would have probably passed her.  Yemi came around the blind corner behind her and due to the steep path and loose rocks, he couldn't stop in time.  The next thing we knew, we were both wrangled among our bikes and tears were swelling up in Jan's eyes.

Can you imagine driving on this road??  This is one of the most deadly corners.

After confirming we hadn't broken any limbs and weren't bleeding too badly, we got back on our bikes and set off for THE Death Road.  According to Yemi, there was beautiful scenery all along the next 30 miles we biked.  Jan never took her eyes off of the dirt path, so she only got to enjoy the views briefly when she caught up to the group of five guys that were perpetually waiting on her.  As the men drank water and wiped sweat off their brows, Jan stretched her aching fingers that had been clamping on to the brakes.  On a per hour basis, she sure got her money's worth for this excursion!

Yemi loved the adrenaline of biking through waterfalls and squeezing around the corners of the mountains.  It was a great way to close out our amazing Bolivian adventures.