Cycling along Bolivia’s death road
There is a cycle track in Bolivia that has the dubious title of being the world’s most dangerous cycling track. An article posted on the BBC website explores why people would ever want to cycle down the world’s most dangerous track but I thought it would be more interesting to see why people shouldn’t go cycling down the track.
The article states, “Cycling the so-called world's most dangerous road is now one of the most popular activities for backpackers in Bolivia. Last month, shortly after the 18th biker death on its perilous hairpin bends, interest was undiminished,” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8683075.stm). People continue to ride down this crazy track at insane speeds with the real danger that they may be killed at any turn or bend they take. I like cycling and I do it all the time, but I don’t think I would be crazy enough to go flying down a road with cars and trucks just for the thrill of it.
I like extreme sports a lot and that is probably what this cycle track has become; a crazy type of extreme sport that tourists can take part in. It seems to have become one of the biggest attractions of Bolivia which is a shame because I think the Bolivian tourist board would much rather their country was remembered for the sites, culture and people rather than being remembered instead for a death track where cyclists die. It seems to be though that this is what Bolivia is being made famous for amongst backpackers and hey whatever works for the Bolivian government should be good.
It seems to be understandable why so many people would go racing down “the world’s most dangerous road,” as stated in the article. The thrill of saying that they cycled down the world’s most dangerous road and the badge of honour that comes along with it are too good to pass up by intrepid tourists. There is a certain rush of adrenaline that comes from taking part in an extreme sport that is why despite obvious dangers, so many people bungee jump and skydive. Having gone paragliding, which is not as hardcore as cycling down a death track, I can relate completely to the thrill of doing something where there is a chance you can die.
Sometimes people need that thrill of doing something crazy and spontaneous and a little stupid. It seems to give people an intense rush that they cannot get any other way. The difference between cycling down this death road and other types of extreme sports is that now a lot of extreme sports are regulated and have great companies with trained people imparting training and instructions to minimise the risk of anything bad happening. It is only now after many years that companies have sprung up that are full of professional cyclists to give people training and safety instructions.
Until that point though people with very little cycling training and on rickety old bikes would go cycling down that track. That is one reason why so many people died on this track; firstly people who are very capable on bicycles should have been going down that track and people who only cycle on the weekends maybe should have stayed home or seen some of Bolivia’s other beautiful attractions. If someone with a lot of cycling under their belt wanted to risk their life on this track but they had some sense of what to do if they fell over or couldn’t control their bike then they should have been more than welcome to go for it.
However, now that a lot of companies are coming up to offer people the ride of their lives, it should become a lot safer and hopefully no more people will try to go careening down that ‘death road’ on their own any more. Knowing how crazy people are though, this possibility cannot be ruled out.
Tags: