Mountain biking 40 miles in a day is no easy feat, even when majority of it is downhill.
At Death Road, we biked through the jungle, dropping 11,000 feet in elevation, and hitting speeds of 54mph on pavement and 34mph off road. Most of the road has no guardrails and runs along the edge of cliffs as high as 2,000 feet. Death Road used to claim hundreds of lives year after year, and earned it the title of “world’s most dangerous road” in 1995.
But don't worry, most of those unfortunate accidents took place before the road became a popular spot for mountain biking. In the past, Death Road was the main road connecting Coroico to La Paz, and it was a treacherous drive for vans and busloads of people, especially in the dark of the evening.
We had roughly 40 people from Remote Year take the trip over two weekends, and had three wipe outs: One scraped up arm, one fractured nose, and one fractured collar bone (she still says it was worth every penny!). It was the thrill of a lifetime, and I couldn't help but test the limits by going as fast as possible. Sorry Mom.
As if that wasn't enough of an adrenaline rush, we already had another adrenaline-packed day scheduled to start the following morning.
After Death Road, we stayed the night at Cerro Verde Hotel in Coroico. We had a beautiful view of the valley below, ate a nice home-cooked meal with the owners of the hotel, and went to a bar in town to show the locals how to dance gringo-style.
The next morning we were up early and headed to an eco-lodge a couple hours away for another day of adventure. We started with canyoneering. We hiked through the jungle, in and out of streams, and eventually ended up standing underneath the great power of a large waterfall.
After hiking and waterfalls, it was time for whitewater rafting! It was my first time, and it was every bit as fun as I imagined. In fact, some of the rapids were much more intense than I was expecting. We reached Level 3 rapids, nearly flipped the raft, and were completely exhausted by the time we reached shore.
After drying off, it was time for a quick lunch, and then back out for some zip-lining. It must be the longest zip-line in the world. We finished the evening with one of the best meals I had in Bolivia, home cooked by the family at the eco-lodge.
All of the events for the day were ran by Madness Adventures, and I couldn't recommend them more. It's a family run business with a great company philosophy. The eco-lodge is actually on their own property where they live, and they made us feel right at home. The money made from the tours, in addition to supporting themselves, is used to help preserve the land and keep as original as possible.
It'll be a weekend I'll remember forever.