Cycling Bolivia’s Death Road: An Anxious Girl’s Guide

When we told our families that we would be cycling the world’s most dangerous road, their reactions were… less than supportive. And rightfully so – “Death Road” doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. In fact, this 60km, mostly unpaved road features 600m drops, no guard rails and claimed 200-300 lives a year until an alternative route was opened in 2007. Nowadays, it is left to thrill-seeking tourists with a questionable sense of self preservation.

Nevertheless, we were set on it.

A decision that I was somewhat regretting while lying awake the night before, recounting the Death Road Top Gear episode that I had watched when I was younger. I’d cycled once in the last year and that was on a flat road, with no risk of falling off a cliff into the jungle.

How to get to Death Road

We booked our Death Road cycling tour through Altitude Travel, who were fantastic. They were so lovely and supportive, and we booked our Uyuni tour with them after such a positive experience on this tour! Almost all tours depart from La Paz, and I would definitely recommend taking some time to explore the city before / after your tour.

There were a few options for bike types and, as we were on a budget, we went for the most basic category.

In all honesty, I don’t know anything about bikes, so Ifan made this decision for us. If we had not been on such a budget, perhaps the middle option would have been best for us. Any issues I had with cycling were in no way the bikes fault, though. The bike was in great condition, with not a scratch on it, was well oiled and, most importantly, kept me safe. The company clearly cared about their gear, and I knew I was in expert hands.

The morning of…

We were picked up from our La Paz hotel at 6:10am, though pick up was between 6am and 6:30am – dependent on where you were staying in the city. We were split into two minibuses, and began the hour journey to Death Road. It was great to have the time to get to know the other members of the group and chat through what was ahead – this definitely helped calm my nerves.

Before we could cycle Death Road, we had to fuel up for the ride. The snack breakfast was included, though I am not much of a morning eater (or tea drinker) and was feeling rather nervous, so I just enjoyed an apple. We were then kitted out in gloves, helmets and our rather colourful outfits for the day. Then we were ready (??) for a test ride!

We started cycling and I was feeling strangely confident. The road was flat and downhill, and I can ride a bike (in theory) so I was having a great time! I even did some overtaking and was happily speeding along. How hard could it be?

Of course, this was only the test ride, and I was about to find out just how misplaced my confidence was…

And so, back in the minivan we went for the final step of our journey to Death Road. Upon arrival, we were given the opportunity to stop for a toilet break (though bring your own hand sanitiser and toilet roll – I swear by always having both with me when travelling!) and had a final safety briefing.

Time to face Death Road

My first challenge came before we’d even set off… We got out of the van and I somehow lost a contact lens. Another went in and I was ready to go, but I ended up discovering that the original was still in after we finished the cycle. Not the best start!

Finally, it was time. We’d had a number of safety briefings and knew the score. Don’t cycle too slowly as you need the momentum to travel over the uneven terrain, and stick to the path closest to the edge as it was much better to ride on. Unfortunately both of these rules went against every survival instinct I had. I felt much more in control if I was cycling slowly, and going closer to the edge felt like a death sentence.

I was firmly at the back of the pack for the first half of the ride. Cycling next to such a sheer drop was, frankly, terrifying. But I continued on, and slowly grew in confidence and speed as we went.

Until… I fell over.

Completely in slow motion and I was completely fine, but it shook me. I was even slower, and when I reached our next stop point the rest of the group had been there a while. We took some group photos sat on the edge of the cliff (anxiety inducing in itself) and then set off again. This time, Ifan stuck with me for some moral support as I had previously told him to go ahead.

This was certainly more of a mental battle than I had expected. But, as I cycled under a waterfall with a sheer drop the other side of me, I began to realise just how much I had already achieved, and I started to love it! Was this partially due to the road improving as we went down? Possibly. But I really did start to have fun rather than over-analysing every single bit of road I cycled.

After lunch I was flying along, and actually smiling! Towards the end there were a few uphill portions where we did have to put the work in, but this felt like a pretty great problem to have after spending the morning terrified of falling off a cliff.

We reached the end and the café was a sight for sore eyes. I celebrated with a cold Fanta, and Ifan had a beer while we listened to stories of previous tours. I was particularly glad that they had waited to tell us some of their stories, as I think they might have put me off!

Next, we headed to a local hotel, where we had a buffet lunch and were able to use the facilities, including the swimming pool and hot tub. The hotel was in a beautiful setting – down in a valley surrounded by the jungle.

This was the perfect way to cool down and celebrate after surviving Death Road. We spent the hour or so we had here chatting with the other members of our group and sharing stories of our travels so far. Interestingly, we were doing the opposite route to some of our group members, so we could share tips and tricks for those destinations!

We also received our tour t-shirts here, which were a great way to remember an amazing day, and very much welcomed as you will want a change of clothes!

Would I recommend cycling Death Road?

Are you a little bit unhinged? Do you love danger? You will absolutely love this.

Are you anxious and love experiencing new things despite the fear? Do you regularly question your life choices but do them anyway for the plot? You will also love this.

Push past the fear, trust the guides and book this tour. This is the kind of adventure that leaves you feeling completely invincible.