Oddly Enough Blog

They don’t call it the Road of Death for nothing. Every two weeks on average, a vehicle plunges off this Bolivian road into the ravine below, in some places nearly three miles down.

Little shrines and crosses mark almost every perilous curve, and you’ll see human traffic lights – people who stand with green and red signs to control the flow of trucks and buses. They are unpaid, but get tips from grateful drivers. 

So why am I mentioning this place the locals call the most dangerous road in the world?  Because, since kicks just keep getting harder to find, bicyclists have discovered the road and are taking it for the adrenaline rush. Amazingly, they seem to wonder who will win if a bicycle competes with a two-ton truck on the Road of Death. Anybody want a piece of that action? 

Katie Juhl reports: