Monthly Archives: October 2012

This is supposed to be one of the toughest days of the trip. Started off along the river bed which was quite soft in places. All dirt of course. Then out of the river and climbing. First part climbing a … Continue reading →

Set off on the dirt road out of town. Beautiful hilly country with road disappearing into the distance. Reached lunch at 55 k. Set off again tougher riding through sand in part. Had to walk that bit. Then around a … Continue reading →

Looking forward to this as 7 days after starting. A bit slow after the beers last night. Found moisturizing cream for the split hands and Nivea for the lips. Caught up with the blog and generally relaxed as a couple … Continue reading →

First we start off with a 7 k time trial from the salt hotel to the edge of the flats. Started off spinning fast but soon realized could not suck in enough air to keep it going so settled down … Continue reading →

Through a splash of salt water at the edge and onto the salt. The salt I guess is formed by the water table rising and the in the summer temperatures the water evaporated over the years. In fact at the … Continue reading →

All unpaved today with 500m total ascent. Will all travel together after lunch as tracks are confusing. Altitude acceptance getting better but some stretches through soft fine sand difficult as need that extra strength to push through. Riding around the … Continue reading →

First day on unpaved roads. However lucky that ey are building new dirt road alongside the old road. To stop traffic the put gravel mounds regularly along. Great to jumpmover on the bike. 50 k to lunch – refuel and … Continue reading →

Set off with the leading riders and hung in for the first 27k but couldn’t get enough air in to stay with them. Rode to the lunch stop with one of the Australian women Yolanda as Anna long gone as … Continue reading →

A 99 k day again along the same La Paz to Oruro road with plenty of coaches speeding past. Similar dull country with hills in the distance on all sides. Highlight was a small village with a procession to plant … Continue reading →

The advice was to only ride after lunch for the first day to get used to the altitude. Wise advice as the hill out of la Paz was long and steep from 3600m to 4000m. So picked up riding after … Continue reading →