Worlds Most Dangerous Road - La Paz, Bolivia

[rhino_343]

Awesome mate, you lucky lucky bastard...

[DANNOj]

Wow thats awesome Craig!!

Makes those Vic High Country slopes seem like a walk in the park.

Good to see you're having fun over there mate.

Cheers,
Dan

[squonker]

Wow! That's so cool - I plan to be the first person to ride that road while standing on my handlebars, with one arm duct taped behind my back. I'll let you know how I make out!

[Thorne]

Thanks for posting your RR. Someday in the near future, that is one of the roads in SA I want to ride.

[markharf]

Interesting. We saw no uphill traffic whatsoever except at the very lowest portion of the road, where there are a few settlements and therefore some minimal traffic. However, the lower section isn't at all dangerous, at least by Bolivian standards. And there was no downhill traffic at all except for our group of motorbikes plus several large herds of mountainbikers and their shepherds driving support vans. In fact, the whole ride was a bit of an adrenaline letdown, since it involved rather little or no risk. Some of the mountainbikers looked scared....but I like to think I'm made of sterner stuff than your average novice mountainbiker. Of course people do still die there on occasion; they run off the edge in bad visibility or due to failures of skill or equipment.

I thought the ride was worth doing for the scenery and sense of what it must have been like when it was the main access to La Paz, but I'd have been reluctant to pay for a bike rental. Maybe it's more hair-raising in rain (or snow!). Plus the surrounding area is truly spectacular, and features plenty of nice riding of all sorts.

Mileage varies.

Mark

[Peter GG]

Not much room for something to go wrong.. great pics.

[Gimme 2]

Have been there on a dh bike, it's amazing. from snow in the morning to jungle at lunch.
Nice Report!

[Gimme 2]

Originally Posted by markharf

Interesting. We saw no uphill traffic whatsoever except at the very lowest portion of the road, where there are a few settlements and therefore some minimal traffic. However, the lower section isn't at all dangerous, at least by Bolivian standards. And there was no downhill traffic at all except for our group of motorbikes plus several large herds of mountainbikers and their shepherds driving support vans. In fact, the whole ride was a bit of an adrenaline letdown, since it involved rather little or no risk. Some of the mountainbikers looked scared....but I like to think I'm made of sterner stuff than your average novice mountainbiker. Of course people do still die there on occasion; they run off the edge in bad visibility or due to failures of skill or equipment.

I thought the ride was worth doing for the scenery and sense of what it must have been like when it was the main access to La Paz, but I'd have been reluctant to pay for a bike rental. Maybe it's more hair-raising in rain (or snow!). Plus the surrounding area is truly spectacular, and features plenty of nice riding of all sorts.

Mileage varies.

Mark

your going to slow

[oodeano]

It was only a few weeks ago I was asking Dan what you were up to . . . lucky bastard!!

Guess I'll add this ride to the list . . .

[ihatefalling]

Cool for you man....that's awesome!

[markharf]

Originally Posted by Gimme 2

your going to slow

I went just slow enough to avoid rear-ending the mountain bikers, who were indeed going too slowly. Instead, I wove through and around them, strewing thank yous left and right.

Been there? It's not a big deal, hype aside. Pretty, though, and almost inescapable if you're in the neighborhood (i.e., La Paz). If you crave dangerous rides with little margin for error, there are others.

[donnymoto]

Cool, love that sheer dropoff shot

[zenKTM]

nice 1 Craig!

wish i was up there in them mountains!

[NovaTrophy]

The guys from Top Gear did a trip in South America last season in 3 suspect 4x4s. Here's a clip of them climbing this section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXLxs...eature=channel

[GB]

I"d love to see more of that part of Bolivia..