When researching Bolivia, we always read about the so-called World’s Most Dangerous Road bike ride.
It’s impossible to escape the advertising, hype, and talk about the ride down a road dubbed the Death Road, and after our arrival in La Paz, we heard all about it from every which angle.
What is the World’s Most Dangerous Road?
It is a bike ride that begins about an hour outside of La Paz at the top of a mountain a little over 15,00 feet (4660 m) high. You then proceed to descend over 11,000 feet (3400 m), riding 50 miles (80 km), into the jungle.
The road, real name, Yungas Road but nicknamed ‘Death Road’, got its name in the mid-1990’s because, statistically, it had the most deaths (by way of car, not bike) on a road in the world. The road is steep and twisting and clings to the side of sheer cliffs with 2500 foot (800 m) drop offs.
So of course after the road received its name, some people had the bright idea of riding bikes down it and capitalizing on dumb tourists like ourselves to shell out a good amount of money to possibly ride a bike to our deaths.
The Decision
Also known as the Death Road, we swore up and down we would never do such a stupid thing. Why would anyone in their right minds ride a bike down a road known for it’s high annual death count? One would have to be an idiot to take part in this ridiculous activity, right?
Well, hrmmm, uhhh, yeah, well, I guess you can add us to that list of morons. Immediately after arriving and finding a place to stay in Bolivia’s capital city, we started hearing about how great, exciting, and electrifying the ride was.
“Well, maybe we’ll just look into it,” we said to each other. That was all it took before we were at Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, who had the best reviews for both safety and professionalism by far of the hundreds of different companies in La Paz who do this ride. They have a nearly impeccable safety record, only one death in the 10 years this company has been doing the ride (far better than every single other company). So yes, ladies and gentlemen, we became the idiots we swore we wouldn’t. And while my wife won’t agree with me, I thought it was well worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Pre-game
We met at a coffee shop in La Paz and were on the road at 7:30am with a group of seven, two guides, a driver, a jeep, and nine bicycles.
We drove out of La Paz and went straight up. After about 45 minutes of driving, we came to a checkpoint, where our guide pointed out the death toll sign for this year on the side of the road. It read 43. It was mid-November. He also pointed out that was the official death toll, and they all knew that the unofficial toll was higher. Now we were starting to get a little nervous and wondered why again we would do something seemingly so stupid.
After a short ride, we arrived at the top. It was cloudy. And that is an understatement. Like on the Inca Trail in Peru, we were in the clouds. Only this time we weren’t hiking and enjoying the views, we were supposed to ride down this road with about 30 feet (10 m) of visibility, on a slick road, sharing it with cars. Yes, we are the morons who not only decided to do this, but PAID to do it.
After getting all of our safety gear, which was a fair amount (even though all the helmets, gloves, pants, jackets, etc. certainly wouldn’t do much good in a 2500 foot fall off a cliff, but that’s neither here nor there), we were almost ready to go. We all received our bikes individually, with our guide going over all the features with us. He prepped us for about 15-20 minutes on the rules and procedures for riding, reminding us of Gravity’s record of safety and the reason for that record. Everyone HAD to follow the rules or end up riding down in the jeep.
The Ride
So, finally, we were off. A guide started us off, with each person in the group following at a minimum of four jeep lengths. The second guide brought up the rear, with our jeep right behind. We would have 17 stopping points along the way to make sure we were all doing well, and they checked the bikes to make sure everything was working properly at every stop (see, perfectly safe).
The first part of the ride was not my favorite. The visibility was low, it was extremely cold, raining at times, and the road was paved, which made it pretty slick. And this was supposed to be the easier part. At least the sheer cliffs weren’t present, yet.
After about an hour or so (and several stops, one about every 15 minutes), we came to a resting point and had our first snack. We were now off the paved road. The paved road is the new road, and it is paved all the way down to the bottom. We went off the paved road to the gravel road (which can still be used by cars, but thankfully there were NONE the day we did the ride).
When we entered the gravel road, we were officially on the World’s Most Dangerous Road. We were again prepped with safety precautions, going over all the rules and the changes now that we were going to be on a road that was gravel, narrower, and had different rules for passing and dealing with the possibility of cars.
So again, we were off. We were out of the clouds, which was good, but the sheer cliffs (with no guard rails) were now easily visible, which was not so good. Our guide told us that the first two sections would be a good indicator of whether or not we were going to like the rest (and longest part) of the ride. If we hated these first two sections or felt uneasy about them, we could ride down in the jeep. He told us that many people decide to do this, and it was no big deal if we were not feeling confident.
I’m not going to lie, it was a little disconcerting at first, but honestly, I thought it was better than the first section that was supposedly “easier.” The visibility factor was huge, and the fact that we didn’t encounter any cars was also huge. We were lucky enough to experience great weather with no rain the rest of the way, so again, that made it easier. We stopped often, and our bikes were constantly being checked, so that built our confidence as well. But each time we gained confidence, our guide reminded us not to get too confident because that was the number one reason for accidents.
The extra money we plopped down for going with Gravity was money well spent. They were very professional and kept us informed and safe throughout the entire day. As the day went on, everyone in the group realized what order we should go in, so passing each other was at a minimum, which was also safer.
I personally got braver as the ride went on, going faster and faster, which was a huge adrenaline rush and made the ride spectacular, for me. Others decided to keep riding their brakes most of the way down, feeling safer and more confident. It was a personal preference for each person, and the guides were great to encourage everyone to go at their own comfort level.
Overall – Amazing & A Must Do
We started the ride at about 9am and finished at about 2pm. Five hours of nothing but a descent down a mountain, with spectacular views all around us. It was awesome and an incredible experience. When we started, most of us had on at least 3-4 layers, with hats and gloves.
When we finished, we were all stripped down to t-shirts and sweating profusely. At the bottom, we all met at a lodge that is an animal refuge. We all received our free beer and t-shirts proclaiming that we survived The World’s Most Dangerous Road. There were all types of animals running around, including several monkeys who were very affectionate, jumping in our laps, playing around on our bags, and in one case, pooping on Megan’s backpack.
We all had lunch together at the animal refuge and were able to take showers (our first hot showers in about 2 weeks-go figure that hot showers in the capital city were rare, but in the middle of jungle it was available–”Eh, it’s Bolivia!”).
After lunch, the jeep takes everyone back to La Paz, unless you want to move on to the town of Coroico, about 4 miles up the road from the end of the ride. Gravity paid for our “taxi” (which was actually a local in a pick-up truck) to Coroico, which is a place I highly recommend visiting for some downtime after the stress of near-death.
While some may choose not to do something so seemingly stupid, and I don’t blame them, it really was a great day and experience. The weather and a road closing could have made it much less enjoyable though, so it really is the luck of the draw.
Tips
Keep an eye on the weather forecast
You should know by now that weather in the mountains is unpredictable, but keeping an eye on the forecast before you sign up is still a good idea. Riding in dry weather will yield a completely different experience than riding in the rain.
Go with a reputable company
This is Bolivia, and they don’t quite play by the same rules as other more westernized, developed countries. There’s no lawyer (nothing against them, just saying) sitting at the bottom of the road waiting to sue the company with the most injuries or deaths, so don’t go cheap on this one. I can’t recommend Gravity enough. They were great and super professional
Absolutely, positively, 100% go to Coroico afterwards
Check out the Coroico travel guide for more information about it, but it really is a great place to chill and unwind after tackling the World’s Most Dangerous Road, especially if you’re planning on taking the bus to Rurranabaque next, which is the route many travelers and backpackers take.
If you’re not enjoying yourself, take the jeep
Seriously, if you’re not having fun and you’re really nervous and hesitant, man up and take the jeep the rest of the way down. This is supposed to be fun, and if you aren’t having fun, or if you are timid, that’s when accidents happen. Swallow your pride and do the safe and right thing.
Cycling the death road really is one of the top things to do in South America. For more articles like this view my Bolivia travel tips page.
