Biking Sorata with the Dudes from Andean Epics

Most adventure cyclists riding through Bolivia stick to the high-road and miss out on the diversity of the country by ignoring the lowlands to the east. This is largely because some of these roads are a little inaccessible even for tanks like mine and because no-one wants to drop from 4000ms to near sea-level as it would be a nightmare having to climb back up again. Still, there is no harm parking the touring-bike high up in La Paz and checking out the country by other means of transport.

I was interested in going to the Jungle and Bolivia is the country where trips to the 'Amazon' are cheapest. The company Andean Epics have managed to create a really interesting trip to the Jungle that no-one else is offering and thankfully they were cool enough to allow me on board even though they were already full. I would start in the town of Sorata north of La Paz and spend two days on a downhill mountain-bike dropping from 4800ms to the river town of Mapiri at 300ms. This town sits on the Rio Kaka and from here I would jump into a motorised canoe and boat onto the Rio Beni and onto the jungle town of Rurrenabaque over three days. This would be only the third tour of my whole trip; the Jeep trip through Tibet and the surf-camp up the coast to Byron Bay being the other two. Thankfully the group on tour was full of good eggs promising to make the whole experience really enjoyable.

It was a nice luxury to have a Jeep drive me so high up a mountain and to have the benefit of a full-suspension Kona. I was shocked that the alu-Kona with its suspension felt lighter than my steel bike stripped of its bags. We started to drop down the mountain ignoring what looked like some amazing single-track that our guide Travis had built on the opposite side of the mountain. There was an experienced mountain-biker from Queenstown as well as a Dutch former down-hilling junior with us and so it was good fun mixing it with them. To get to the river we did not down-hill on proper off-road, however, the road we were on may as well have been off-road. The road barely existed and the Jeep tracks were embedded into it making dual single-tracks. It was tough on the bikes as well as the two 4x4's trailing us. We spent all day having great fun dropping to the river at the bottom of the mountain. Once at the bottom we were given the option to continue on the bikes up a climb and onto a rolling section for about 8k to our accommodation for the night. It turned out that one of our support Jeeps had broken down and so five of us would have to ride. I was tired but didn't mind as I still had the legs for it. We were losing light but it was all part of the fun in exploring a remote part of Bolivia. You learn to roll with mishaps in Bolivia and end up enjoying them for the spontaneity they add to the experience. Indeed, we eventually biked through a series of streams and made it to our accommodation in the dark only for the owners to have decided not to be around. It wasn't an issue, we simply biked on a little further over a swing bridge and found alternative accommodation for the night in the nearby village. There was a problem though; the Jeep that had broken down had our bags and we were so remote that we were out of cell coverage and could not coordinate things. Working with onyourbike.ie I could only imagine the anxiety going through Travis' head trying to appease clients but such things are likely par for the course in this part of Bolivia, which means he is now used to it. Thankfully, everybody was cool about it and so we went to bed exhausted and mucky but smiling. The next morning Travis put on a great spread of French Toast and Pancakes and we found our bags in the courtyard waiting for us. The driver had somehow managed to find the spare part for his Jeep in a tiny village and had arrived at day-break preferring to sleep overnight in the car as it would have been too difficult to drive in the dark. At last, a Bolivian who did not think that the more dangerous something is the more it is worth doing. We jumped in the Jeep once more to save us climbing a steep pass and spent another full-day riding the dirt-road to the Rio Kaka. The river was in fact below us and so we would snake it to the town of Mapiri. There is huge coca production in this area although the region is remote enough that it doesn't look too cultivated. There is also a lot of gold-mining with huge chunks of mountainside eroded from having been blasted with water to uncover gold. The place is so remote that the police don't come here. The government provides the towns with a Jeep ambulance and they pretty much fend for themselves. This makes it a pretty lawless area with a lot of unlicensed cars driving around. These cars are smuggled into Bolivia via a remote border with Chile near the salt desert. The lack of police also encourages outlaws to live here so it makes for a pretty strange place.

The biking was fabulous. We had spent two days dropping down sheer mountainsides on a dirt-road but all I could notice was the single-tracks on the opposite mountain-sides. While the Incas did not adopt the wheel they somehow managed to create some spectacular mountain-bike trails. At last I understood why Travis would leave bike heaven in Durango (Colorado) to set-up his mountain-biking business in Bolivia. I only saw a small piece of it, there is so much more to explore for the technically experienced biker.

Travis and his good friend Ben operate mountain-bike tours in one of the most amazing mountain-biking playgrounds in the world. For sure, Moab, Colorado, the French Alps, Vancouver and Queenstown are all awesome places for mountain-biking but there is something special about riding pristine trails that the Incas cut into the mountainsides over 500 years ago. The difference in elevation between the high peaks of the Andes and the lush vegetation of the Yungas makes for some crazy down-hilling; you can drop pretty much all day long. They even have scree slopes that drop into single-track creating a really interesting mix of trails for riders.

Travis and Ben are mountain-bike junkies. They are here in Bolivia exploring, building and piecing together trails so that they can share them with other riders. There are a few commercial mountain-bike operators in La Paz who take trips up the infamous 'Death Road' and do rather nicely for themselves. However, Travis and Ben prefer the more raw approach running trips in a more challenging part of Bolivia. It is difficult to operate here but the pay-off is that the quality of the biking in Sorata is clear to see and so much more fun. They showcase the more hardcore trails and continue to explore the area around Sorata and build a whole network of really challenging rides. For people who like mountain-biking Sorata is a must. Once the flights are paid for everything else in Bolivia is cheap. La Paz is a cool city with tonnes of great things to do and so it would be an amazing trip for a mountain-biker to come here and bike Sorata for a week and then enjoy the different sides to La Paz. Indeed, I am surprised that Bolivia is a little off the mountain-biking radar. On paper it is clear that is a special place to ride off-road and as soon as the big guns twig the place will explode. In the mean-time Travis and Ben will continue to enjoy the vast drops and under-biked trails. As soon as Bolivian mountain-bikers make it on the international stage people in the west are going to realise what they are missing out on over here. My guess is that it won't be long before Bolivians hit the mountain-biking head-lines as they should be naturals at the sport - being both mountain-men and totally crazy.

For sure if you are a rider and want to have some fun with guys who just love riding with like-minded people and showing them the trails they have grafted to build, then you need to come to Bolivia and ride with Andean Epics.

I'm still a 'roadie' but having seen what's here I could be tempted to cross to the mountain-biking divide.

Marco