Cycling the World’s Most Dangerous Road

We woke up early this morning to cycle the world’s most dangerous road. It was also Friday the 13th; Adrie wasn’t too pleased when I pointed this out to her… The road was so christened because it was estimated at least one person a day died in accidents on the notorious road. Cross markings on various spots along the road indicate where cars, trucks and busses plunged hundreds of meters from the slopes of the narrow gravel North Yungas Road into the valley below.

While that is true, a full disclosure is necessary. The old North Yungas road (the Death Road) is a 64km stretch of road that connects the Yungas valley to La Paz. The old, gravel road remains a public road that is still in use today, but its main users are cyclists and their support vehicles. Once the new tarred Yungas Road was built about 10 years ago, most of the traffic migrated to the new road, which has dramatically reduced accident rates. The old road is gravel, frequently blocked by landslides and in parts so narrow that it can barely carry one car, let alone allow vehicles to pass. There are constant precipitous sheer vertical drops of over 250m into the valley below and very few barriers. Perfect for cycling, right?

Alas, when we opened our hotel door our little courtyard was flooded. The heavens had opened overnight and did not look like stopping any time soon. As we walked to the meeting point we had to dodge the torrent of water that was rushing downhill in the gutters of La Paz’s steep streets. Despite the rain, we were going out today it just meant cycling would be a bit more challenging.

We were pleased to hear we would be a small group with only five riders. There was a couple from Germany, Tanya and Mark, travelling through South America in their car that was constantly breaking down. Tim was from Australia and was super excited – he was touring for about two months and had left his wife to have a lie-in in rainy La Paz.

As we drove to the start of the Death Road (4600m), the rain had turned to snow. The scenery was stunning and the mountains looked like a pencil sketch and slightly unreal.

We were given our gear and got allocated our bikes. Before we could start we had to ask Pachamama (Mother Earth) to keep us safe. This meant dripping a few drops of 95% pure alcohol onto the road and our tyres, before taking an actual sip of the drink, or rather, the chain cleaner fluid!

The first part of the downhill would be on tar – part of the new road before we turn off into the gravel. We had 64km of downhill and an elevation change of over 3500m. Sounds like fun, right? But in the cold and snow I had a tinge of envy for Tim’s wife who got to sleep in. As soon as we set off the clouds cleared and revealed the most magical valley, mountains of over 5000m on both sides and waterfalls gushing down almost every crevice.

Starting on the tar was a good idea. It gave us a chance to get used to the bikes and the weather. Because you didn’t have to put in any effort to go quite quickly downhill, coupled with the wind chill factor at such speeds, meant the first part was a bit frosty. And slippery! Our first part of gravel was a 200m stretch that goes around a tunnel – it also delivered our first crash. Mark slipped on some wet rocks and went straight over the handlebars. Although he only had a few scratches to his hands, forearms and elbows, Friday the 13^th was perhaps proving to be an ominous omen.

We sneakily dodged an uphill section of about 5km – no one wants to ride a heavy mountain bike uphill while on holiday – and we were ready for the actual Death Road!

Over the next four hours you hardly had to turn a pedal as you descended at speed down the gravel path. We stopped every couple of kilometres for photos and to wipe the brow, but nothing could wipe the smile from our faces. As we descended it got decidedly warmer. Fortunately we had the minivan behind where we could discard our layers and continue on unencumbered.

The whole operation was very slick and actually very safe. Considering when Gravity first started biking down this road almost 18 years ago it was still in use and the only way to get into the Yungas valley. I was pleased we had the quieter path and that we didn’t need to worry too much about oncoming traffic. The only thing we had to dodge was the waterfalls and the mud and rocks that have recently been thrown down by the landslides.

The photos do not do the ride justice. You simply cannot capture the majesty of this road. It is crumbling in parts, has fairly deep river crossings and blind corners and every now and again you are treated with a waterfall shower.

The landscape changed from snow and barren rock at 4600m to jungle and butterflies and sunshine at the bottom.

We finished in La Senda Verde animal refuge where we could have a late lunch, a few beers and, more importantly, a shower.

But first we had one final treat planned – or rather three! Adrie, Tim and I took a quick truck ride back up the hill to the jumping off point for a series of three zip lines over the valley. The first was, with a 350m drop to the jungle floor, the deepest valley zip line in Latin America. The second was the fastest, hurtling you at up to 85km/h; while the third was the longest in Latin America. We all decided to do it superman style, which meant flying on our bellies with our hands free while someone else did the breaking. Tim went first and as he barely scraped over the rocks and treetops at the first jump off, Adrie and I looked at each other very excited. This was a thrilling finish to an already brilliant day!

While not the most technical mountain biking, nor indeed the most difficult by Adrie’s own admission, we both loved it. Before the ride, Adrie made me promise I would not descend like a mad man and was really worried I would try something stupid (in fairness, that does sound like me). In truth I was the one worried about her – there is a little bit of history of her going over the handlebars because she was braking too hard. But we survived unscathed and although the drive back took some time and we both got back exhausted, we were ecstatic.