Paul and I did this on Monday (4th) - which just happens to be the only day it has rained significantly in the week that we've been here!! This was the fog at the top when we were getting our bikes sorted.
Now, my account of cycling the Death Road is going to be very different from Paul's. I rode really slowly! There were 13 of us in the group and I was always one of the last three or four to go, knowing that I'd be overtaken anyway. We had 22km of tarmac at the start to get used to the bikes (really good full suspension bikes that went over uneven gravel with ease).
Then another 40km+ of soaking wet crappy road, loads of blind corners and lots of big rocks in the way....oh and the odd car/truck/lorry.
Below is the site of the road's worst accident - it happened at night, a bus met a car at this single-lane section. For some reason, the bus was forced to reverse, but the driver couldn't see where he was going and drove over the edge, killing more than a hundred people.
Stories like that made me ride slow! The bus was always at the end of the group, and at one stage I could hear it behind me and I was worried I might be going too slow and be picked up by it (a la Aimee!) but they let me continue to cycle at my own cautious pace.
The weather cleared up as we descended, so we could see coca plantations at one of the stops.
Apart from the low visibility and rain, it was rather an uneventful cycle, until the very last section. As we were on the home straight, a dog suddenly ran out in front of one of the girls forcing her to brake hard. That sent her over the handlebars and she landed on her mouth. She lost one and a half front teeth right there and another tooth the next day. Of all the bloody things that could've happened on the Death Road, a damn dog running out caused this!!!! Couldn't believe it. A taxi was arranged to take her to La Paz so she could get seen to properly, while the rest of the group went on to have our showers and food, but we were quite subdued for the rest of the day (including the 3 hour drive back to La Paz). I felt grateful that my only pain was in my arms from gripping so hard!
(For info, we went with Gravity, the most expensive company at 750Bs (£68) but the best reputation and safety record. Think the money pays for the bikes, which were fantastic. Was a bit concerned that the girl who hurt herself couldn't be offered first aid on the spot by the bus driver though. She had to wait 20 minutes until she got to the guide.)
