South America

Excited, and as well a little bit nervous, we headed to the meeting point where we were met by a Swedish instructor and ex-downhill racer. He must know what he is doing... Together with a group of English, Dutch and German we boarded the bus for a 1.5 hours ride to the starting point at 4700 a.s.l. After passing a sign stating that so far this year 43 people have died on this road, we surely knew this was to be taken serious!

Whilst our nervousness was growing minute by minute, we got off the bus and were ready for the safety instructions given by the guide; always leave 2 bus lengths in between each driver, don´t get too confident whilst driving, don´t use your front break too excessively and always remember: you are driving on The World´s Most Dangerous Road!

Equipped with helmet, additional thick clothing against the cold wind, gloves, goggles and a safety vest, we mounted our bikes, received the last blessings and off we were, 64km of downhill ahead of us.
 

At first, aim number one was to get to know the bike. On the still paved road, we cruised down alongside the Andean mountain range, from time to time fighting with strong adverse winds, towards the real World´s Most Dangerous Road, which was named as such by the Inter American Development Bank in 1995. In 2006, a replacement road was opened taking away most of the traffic from the graveled original road, making it more of an adventure ride for mountain bikers like us.

As soon as we exited the paved road and were now driving on the gravel, we knew our adventure was only about to start! Once again, our guide took us aside, explaining the new rules for driving down the upcoming stretch. The rules changed completely... Even if you usually drive on the right side of the road in Bolivia, this changes whilst driving on this road - you drive down on the left side, close to the edge, alongside 500 to 1000m deep drops! This definitely did not leave any room for loosing your concentration at any point. With a queasy feeling in our stomachs, we were off to a once in a lifetime experience!
 

Circling the first corner, the valley opened itself up to us; lush, green vegetation with the 3m wide gravel road winding itself down the valley. The route is divided in 17 sectors; some were quite easy to drive, giving us time to enjoy ourselves and the surrounding vegetation, whilst others were tough and all our concentration was needed.

At each stop the guide repeated the security rules and reminded us not to drive too confident. But with all the crosses lining the path, we knew that being too confident would not be an option for us. Further and further down the valley, the temperatures rose and we slowly entered the typical jungle vegetation. This definitely gave the ride an even more spectacular aspect. Much too soon, the last sector awaited us and we headed towards the end of our downhill adventure – definitely one to remember with a scenery unlike to encounter in any other part of the world!