July 7 – 8, 2015

Death Road in reverse is one of the hardest climbs I’ve ever done. 30 km and over 6000 ft of elevation gain…while riding an 80lb bike. We’re both pretty good at math and planned for a 6 hr climb back to the highway (5km / hr), including stops for photos.  Climbing at this pace allowed us to really take in the sites, much more so than the prior day’s descent  The mountains are BIG. The drop offs are shear.  Both seem even larger and more daunting today.  Yesterday we didn’t see any vehicles.  Today only a few vehicles pass us. The main thing to note was the inevitable encounter with a tour company with a 13-15 twenty something year old tourists, dressed as gladiators.  Not only are they not expecting anyone to be crazy enough to pedal UP the Death Road, they also who looked like they’ve never ridden a bike.  The danger of the Death Road is going over the edge, so I’m pretty sure the padding they were donning should have been traded for a parachute for more effectiveness.  Safety is in illusion.

It’s amazing the temperature change. When starting out at 3000ft, the temp was in the 80’s and muggy, because we’re down in the jungle. The road for the first 2 hrs has zero shade and I’m trying every trick I know to keep from sweating out every drop of fluid and salt…but to no avail. Finally after climbing up about 2000 ft, the temps drop a bit. It feels like every 500 ft in gain, the temps become a little more tolerable, until we finally make it up into the clouds at around 9000 ft.  It is here that we join back with the highway and  are forced to pull over and put on arm/knee warmers, beanie, and vest. The temps in the clouds feel like the 40’s and not helped by the lack of sun. By now, it is 5pm and we know we have about 90 minutes of good daylight to find food and a place to sleep. There is still 6000 ft of climbing in front of us to get back to La Paz, so we know we’re camping. We stop at a road side café and quickly scoff 2 sandwiches. We learn that there is a police station next door and we have read that many times they let weary cyclists sleep there. We knock on the door and abruptly get chased away. Our only choice is to keep pedaling into the dusk (like last night) in search of a camp site.  We camp at a tunnel along side the highway.  Bikes are not allowed thru the tunnel and must pass around on a dirt road. This is a perfect spot for camp as it will have zero traffic. No sooner do we set up camp and climb into our tents at about 8pm does a car attempt to come down the road. Luckily they see our tents and back up. The rest of the night is peaceful with only the sound of a rushing river about 1000 ft below. We are camping at 10k ft and the temps dip into the high 30’s.  Again…shattered

We awake to an amazing view of the mountains from our tents. We pack up and head back down to get breakfast from the same woman who served us dinner. Before completely packing up, we are greeted by dozens of cyclists who are part of the Death Road tour. We again chuckle at their gladiator outfits, clapped out bikes, and full face helmets.  We are happy we’re NOT part of this tour. Back down for breakfast we have coca leaf tea and breakfast sandwiches. We’re amused at all the tour groups rolling through. We bid farewell and embark on the 6000 ft climb back up the pass and then the screaming descent back to La Paz. Our legs are tired after the prior 2 days riding. The road is beautiful but unrelenting. The peaks that were taunting us 2 days prior are back at it again, but much louder.  At about 3k from the summit, Taylor’s knee is acting up and he hitches a ride to the top.  I opt to continue pedaling for another 2 hours where I join him after dragging my bike up by the pedals. The climb has taken over 5 hours. From the summit, we arrive back in La Paz in less than 30 minutes after a white knuckle descent.

The streets are empty which is odd, but then we remember that today Pope Francis is in town. We head back to our hostal only to find that they are full and the items that Taylor left behind are locked and the person with the key is not working today. Frustrated, we find a nice hotel, and I mean nice, for $50USD. I figure I need to splurge because the next 2 weeks will likely be meager at best. We change clothes then rush down town to wait 2.5 hrs to see the pope rush by at about 45km hour, scarcely even enough time to get a photo. Tomorrow is a rest day. From here we head north toward Lake Titicaca where we will ferry across and begin the trek toward Cusco.

YIELD.  One of the few vehicles we saw

Long and hot climb out of Corioco

Our camp spot on the backside of this ridge

Maria’s morning roadside cafe.  Boiled / fried egg sandwich

Finally off the Death Road and heading back to La Paz on day 2 of relentless climbing

Big Poppa, rhyme droppa