So, we rode from La Cumbre to Coroico on December 23. It looked like rain as we started out. And it was. It pissed down, quite frankly. The gods were against us, from every religion (they went from jealousy to pure smite). Some of them, however, reconsidered their cruelty and decided to blow off the cloud in our face at times to afford us some spekky views.
Fiona agreeing with gusto with another rider that brakes are a good thing. Scarily enough, this opinion wasn't held too sternly by the operators of the ride, whose bike's brakes weren't very comfortable. In fact one rider's brakes failed completely as he rode slowly around a corner, the drop below looking convincingly like many hundred metres. He survived but said more than once "If you pay less, you get less". Our brakes didn't fail, but our chains did. Both of our chains fell off. Granted, in the heavy rain, but nevertheless...
The most dangerous part of the ride wasn't from the buses and trucks that used to scrape each other's side panels trying to pass one another (now relegated to the much less excitingly named "new road") but from the perillous rain and cloud. At times we couldn't see the chilling 1000 metre drops from the edges of the road. This is what Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking said about the wet season:
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Unfortunately, due to the arrival of the rains, our last ride of the 2006 season was Saturday December 9th. While it certainly is possible to ride to Coroico down the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” in late-December, January, and early February, we think that the heavy rain, mud, rock-slides, poor visibility and reduced braking performance make it far too dangerous and too uncomfortable. With more than eight years of experience and many thousands of descents down this road during the dry season, it is our professional opinion that it would be irresponsibly dangerous to take clients down this road during the rainy season. REMEMBER that people have died biking the “World's Most Dangerous Road ” (NONE WITH GRAVITY) and that there are NO MIMIMUM SAFETY STANDARDS here in Bolivia for biking tours. As such, while Gravity will not ride during these two months and uses that time to completely overhaul the bikes, travel around and re-charge our batteries for the next season, other less responsible companies may offer the tour preferring a quick buck to your safety.
So, there you go. We're goddamn crazy-arsed legends.
As an aside-ish, buses in Bolivia often display the darnedest things. A common theme is Jesus and his ilk with some seemingly random biblical quote, but sometimes you get a hell of a surprise like this one half way down the *doom doom doooooom* "Death ROOOOoooad":
Note that the American Eagle is tearing its talons through the flag that represents such opposing views of both the depicted rebels - Che Guevara and Osama Bin Laden. The side of the bus was full on too, with some quote about freedom or some such thing...
Nearing the end of the ride, soaked to the bone, muddy faced and still alive, you can see us posing on either side of Coroico, a little town nestled in the hills at 1,600 metres but we rode to Yolosa at 1,100 metres (from 4,700 metres. Goodness!).
Coroico is where we stayed for Christmas, the most incredibly romantic open air hut with views... More piccis to come.
Love,
Michael and (in a totally not here, but quickly being overwhelmed in her new Spanish classes kind of way) Fiona.
1 comment:
You better not get yourselves killed over there!!! You are such Evil Conevils, you be careful!
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