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Episode 4: Life, Death, and Starbucks

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

The Road of Death

I had one day to kill in La Paz. One day, the only break I’d have in the middle of another cross-continental, muscle-sapping, backside-numbing bus ride. I needed to be outside. I needed butt in gear, body in motion. I got off the bus, got in touch with a local agency, and early the next morning, I was geared up and out the door, ready to spend the day daring Bolivia’s “Carretera de la Muerte,” or “Road of Death” or “the most dangerous road in the world!” by bike.

I was joined by three other cyclists about my age–a Californian Peace Corp volunteer on vacation from Panama, and two Swedish college girls–and two guides who’d spent the better part of their young lives biking this ominous route. After a long, ascending van ride out of the city, we were dropped at our starting point with muddy dirt bikes and a quick “Before” photo shoot. From there, we climbed in altitude to 4700 meters, temperatures dropping and fog rising as we pushed higher and breathed heavier. It wasn’t until about an hour or more in that we reached the turning point where we would begin our 3500 meter descent, and we could see the Road of Death snaking along wicked cliffs and stunning cloud forest below us.

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