For the first day of my 70th year on planet earth my wife and I wanted to celebrate by bicycling down the “World’s most Dangerous Road” aka “Death Road” in... read more Bolivia. We have considerable mountain biking experience both in our home state of Colorado and in some 40 countries around the world. As we read the reviews of this guided activity, we came close to skipping it altogether because experienced riders were posting negative comments about the group tours. Luckily we used an agency – Intense Bolivia – who arranged, at our request, a private tour. As a result, we had a fantastic time. Intense Bolivia chartered with Gravity Bicycle tours. Gravity has the reputation as being the safest of the Death Road bike companies, and they certainly lived up to their reputation. Sometimes it’s the little things … we were asked which side we wanted for our front brake. We were asked if we wanted full face helmets [no, we had our own bike helmets] and if we wanted knee and elbow pads [again no, we planned on staying on our bikes]. The bikes were well tuned and shifted smoothly [until a shifter cable broke – they had a spare and we were back on the road in 10 min]. Every 5Km or so, we stopped and got a quick road hazard briefing [like be alert for the paved road’s only big pothole on the far right side and... For the first day of my 70th year on planet earth my wife and I wanted to celebrate by bicycling down the “World’s most Dangerous Road” aka “Death Road” in Bolivia. We have considerable mountain biking experience both in our home state of Colorado and in some 40 countries around the world. As we read the reviews of this guided activity, we came close to skipping it altogether because experienced riders were posting negative comments about the group tours. Luckily we used an agency – Intense Bolivia – who arranged, at our request, a private tour. As a result, we had a fantastic time.
Intense Bolivia chartered with Gravity Bicycle tours. Gravity has the reputation as being the safest of the Death Road bike companies, and they certainly lived up to their reputation. Sometimes it’s the little things … we were asked which side we wanted for our front brake. We were asked if we wanted full face helmets [no, we had our own bike helmets] and if we wanted knee and elbow pads [again no, we planned on staying on our bikes]. The bikes were well tuned and shifted smoothly [until a shifter cable broke – they had a spare and we were back on the road in 10 min]. Every 5Km or so, we stopped and got a quick road hazard briefing [like be alert for the paved road’s only big pothole on the far right side and don’t hit it going 25mph]. Gravity supplied snacks, lunch, and water for hydration.,
As with all Death Road excursions, our ride started with the even grade paved portion where speed could be nicely controlled by simply adjusting the degree of tuck. We then spent a half hour riding the uphill stretch – a ‘luxury’ not all tour companies will accommodate. Then, once off the pavement the Death Road was a very pleasant descent down a good quality dirt road. It was only necessary to watch for loose fist sized rocks and to adjust speed when approaching the occasional tight corner. I, my wife, and our two guides [front and rear] typically rode within a few hundred meters of one another. We never waited more than 30 seconds at each of the dozen or so scheduled stops. Apparently, we rode fairly quickly as our lead guide said he was riding at his usual pace and was not having to wait.
I’ve saved the best part of our experience for now. We had an awesome lead guide – Neil Churchard -- complimented by a good driver and helpful assistant guide -- Kenny. Neil hails from the UK and has ridden all over the world [literally]. As a result we found easy conversation discussing bike routes in far-away places. We had to spend 5 hours in the van weaving thru LaPaz traffic in an effort getting to and from the Death Road and chatting with Neil made that time pass quickly. Once out riding, Neil adjusted his guiding style to accommodate our experience level. He never skipped making a safety point, rather he explained in 10 words what with a different group might have taken 100 words. If you happen to book a private tour and get Neil as your guide, you’ve hit the jackpot. Kenny didn’t say much, but somehow managed to take nearly 150 pictures of our ride which he managed to get onto Dropbox in just 48 hours. Thankyou Kenny.
A final word about the weather might be in order. We did the ride in the ‘dry’ season of the Bolivian winter. Our ride started with partly cloudy skies and 50F/10C-ish temperatures. That made for a chilly descent at 30mph / 50kph, so we wore full finger gloves, wind pants, and windbreaker [Gravity supplies these if you don’t have your own]. Somewhere around 10000ft / 3000m above sea level we encountered clouds formed by amazon moisture meeting alto plano chill. The cloud layer lasted between 1000 and 2000 ft / 300 and 600m. After that we started peeling layers at every stop. Because we had a support van following nearby, it was easy to change without over-stuffing a backpack. We finished the ride in shorts, short sleeve shirts, and with a slight drizzle. More
