At last count, 18 people had died going down the old highway to North Yungas, a.k.a. The Death Road, on mountain bikes. It’s usually a combination of distraction, unfamiliarity with bikes or poorly maintained equipment. If it’s your life, you don’t want to cut corners.
Unfortunately, with no standardization and a desire to make money by increasing margins, this is what many of the “cheaper” companies are doing that bike down the death road. Although there have been only 18 deaths in over 10 years, there have been many more injuries as I want to talk about below.
Oh, and check out the video below that includes a wipe out on the trail!
Now let’s get this straight, your chances of dying are slim, but the chance of getting minor injuries from scrapes, falling and even sliding off the edge are higher. What your company does in this situation or why it happened will show you how good or bad your company is.
I’ve gone down twice, once with a mid end company (B-side) and once with the most expensive company (Gravity). These are the only two companies suggested in the Lonely Planet Guidebook… Plus, I’ve seen the other companies go down this road, seen their equipment and talked with a number of different people. I’ve read many reviews on a number of different trips for many different companies, but having seen many companies and ridden with two of them, I can give my opinions.
A lot of people aren’t comfortable on bikes or a lot of people are risk takers. This is unavoidable and you will have injuries with every company. What makes a difference is how the injury happens, what was done to take care of it and of course if the bike was at fault.
Biking down the death road beats up bikes. The dust gets into things, the road is incredibly bumpy and as it’s down hill, the riders are on the brakes most of the time. Chances are that this bike has been going down the road every day for the past 2 years or more. Sure, they might change the brake pads, but when they do, the cheaper companies will just put cheaper rubber back on the old mounts. It is the suggested culprit for brake failures from going down the hill.
When I went down with B-side, they were friendly and somewhat professional. I had the best bike in the bunch and I had no problems. 3 others in my group had a less enjoyable experience. Their bearings were either worn or not lubricated as they had to pedal down the hill… I’m talking a hill that I took at 60+ km an hour at times. Worse, one guy’s chain came off repeated times and then eventually the pedals stopped turning all together. And they had no spare bikes to hop on. If this is to be a once in a life time experience, do you want to be disappointed because you saved some cash and went with a cheaper group?
In contrast, Gravity, who replaces their bikes every 2 years, cycles them through maintenance after every trip. One day on, one day being reviewed and repaired by techs. No one had bike problems on the way down with Gravity.
Gravity is the first company to start offering the trip, so they are probably the most informed. Gravity spent a lot of time giving history and background to the road and even more time explaining what to expect, what to do to keep safe and what not to do if you didn’t want to end up back in the bus. They have fun, but they don’t take chances.
Gravity also trains all its guides in belaying and first aid. They carry a full first aid kit and spinal boards. Many other companies don’t. Read the reviews on Trip Advisor. Gravity has had to come to the aid of other groups recovering people who have gone over the edge, lent spinal boards, vehicles and whatever else was necessary to help out the tourists… on other groups.
There also other little things that made the gravity trip that much nicer: How informed the guides are about history and background for the area, the free buffs they let you keep, outer layers to keep you warm and lessening road rash damage, sports drinks included, first drink at the bottom is free, and the fact that they end at an animal refuge where they rehabilitate and take care of animals that have been sold on the black market (Monkeys, a caiman, turtles, parrots, and more). Oh… and they drive you back up the death road in the bus on the way home.
The number of groups that I saw with below par gear or bikes was crazy. In Bolivia you can buy any bike with any brand… spray painted on the side. There are lots of knock-offs. It looks good, but a lot of it is cheap junk. Squealing brakes or stopped regularly for repairs, this is not the way to enjoy the WMDR.
Paying the Piper
So what are we talking about? B-Side costs between bs 490 ($70 USD) and 600 ($85) depending on the time of year and how good of a negotiator you are. Gravity is a set bs 750 ($110). This is for a day trip. The big difference of Gravity is quality of gear with regular maintenance, trained guides who are experts in their field, Knowledge of guiding, free buffs, sports drinks, spare bike in case something does go wrong, water, you eat lunch at an animal refuge. Oh and Gravity invests in the community.
In the end, you have to decide. The money you save is likely cutting corners. You may be fine with a cheaper company, but you’re taking risks with your safety and recovery. Pretty much every company gives a free shirt, and many of them take videos of your trip (including Gravity and B-side, although b-side quality of video was very low) so don’t let that be your selling factor. There is a reason why Gravity is on the top of the list in most if not all guidebooks!
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