Itinerary MegAvalanche

Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking
Singletrack Tour of Bolivia and Peru
16-29th March 2009
Join Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking on a spectacular tour of the mountain biking highlights of the South
American Andes, via the singletrack routes of Bolivia and Peru.
Explore ancient rarely biked pre-Inca roadways, remote corners of the Andes and villages untouched by
modern society by the most exciting means possible.
Challenge yourself on trails made famous by the likes of Cedric Gracia in the film New World Disorder 6.
Learn new skills and gain confidence under the instruction and coaching of our professional guides and
through exposure to world-class challenging trails.
Aim to break more than 100,000 vertical feet of descent in two weeks of incredible singletrack riding.
Day 1: La Paz, Bolivia. Arrival
Arriving in La Paz you’ll head to The Adventure Brew, La Paz’s hottest new hostel. With its own
micro-brewery for post-ride carb-loading, stunning views from its rooftop bar and wood-fired
outdoor beer spas, “The Brew” is the perfect place to base ourselves for the next week of riding.
After a look around, we’ll crash the Gravity workshop to build up our bikes and pick up any last
supplies and bits of gear for the coming weeks.
Recommended: If you are worried about the altitude, we recommend you arrive earlier, and use
this day for a trip down The World’s Most Dangerous Road with a public Gravity tour. This is a
great way to expedite your acclimatisation and check out the biggest tourist attraction in Bolivia.
See GravityBolivia.com for more details. Descent: 3,500m
Day 2: Pueblos outside of La Paz, Bolivia.
Secret Singletrack
We get to test our skills and acclimatisation
with a ride on a number of legendary trails
out in the hills surrounding La Paz. Made
world famous by the folks from Freeride
Entertainment in the film New World Disorder
6, these trails will give you a taste of what’s to
come and your first attempt at the legendary
Collana switchbacks (you won’t believe them
until you see them!!). We may even get the
chance to undertake some skill training on one of the local downhill racecourses. Descent: 1,500m
Day 3: Urmiri, Bolivia. The Hot Springs
Today we head to one of Bolivia best-kept secrets
an hour of so out of La Paz. We unload the bikes to
launch into an endless array of downhill
switchbacks and exposed singletrack... dusty,
drifty, dirty good fun! Watch out for the cacti,
though -- they are equally vicious against skin and
tyres! To fine tune our skills we will repeat some
sections under the watchful gaze of the Gravity
guides, focusing on tips to improve flow, speed
and fun.
One of the highlights on this ride is actually the
finish: we ride directly into the hotel, handily equipped with its own hot spring (all included)! After
dinner, you can even choose to upgrade to a room with a private hot-tub. Descent: 1,000m
Day 4: Urmiri, Bolivia.
If we manage to drag ourselves out of the hot pools, we will explore some more of the trails
surrounding Urmiri, trying a few runs of some of the shorter trails or some longer descents into
the valley. We return to La Paz and The Adventure Brew Hostel in the evening and hit the hay
early. Tomorrow is a big one! Descent: 1,000m
Day 5: Takesi, Bolivia. Pre-Inca Trail
This is the one trail you would ride if you knew you
were going to die tomorrow. Its seven or so hours of
ancient, mostly downhill, Pre-Inca trails, stairways,
rock-gardens, and kilometre after kilometre of
ribbon-like singletrack will blow your mind. From
the lofty heights of the Andes, through virgin Cloud
Forest to the steaming jungle of the Yungas Region,
this ride has enough to keep the most hardened
adventurer happy. We’ll keep the hike-a-bike to the
start of the trail our own little secret for now.
Return to La Paz in the evening. Descent: 3,500m
Day 6: Sorata, Bolivia. Sick, Sweet Trails
Day six we have a 2-hour drive to the
pueblo of Sorata, our destination for
the next two days. Today we start riding
at the pass above the township and
wind our way along some spectacular
knife-edge ridges under the gaze of the
summit of Mt Illampu (6,368 masl).
Descending into the valley we weave
through farms, walking trails and even
local people’s back-yards (avoiding the
random donkeys along the way). Finish
by crossing a rickety foot-bridge, or
with some wet feet, and a short climb (or push!!) into the town plaza for a cold beer in the sun.
The adventurous amongst us can try the notorious and near suicidal Zig-Zags into the Altai Oasis,
where we spend the night amongst the pet llamas. Descent: 1,600m
Day 7: Sorata, Bolivia.
After a tasty breakfast at the Altai, we load up for the 2hour drive to Paso Chuchu, 2,000 vertical metres above
Sorata (4,700 masl). This is home to the Jach’a Avalancha
racecourse, Bolivia’s answer to the MegAvalanche. Ahead
lie 30 odd kilometres of scree slopes, mountain terrain,
hand-built mountain bike trails, berms, jumps, drops and
the type of tracks synonymous to Sorata -- village walking
trails. Handily enough, we ride straight in to the Altai for
a bite to eat before
heading back to La Paz.
Descent: 2,000m
Day 8: Pueblos outside of La Paz, Bolivia. MiniMegAvalanche!
Time to put what you have learnt over the past six days into action. Gravity Assisted Mountain
Biking will be playing host to a local mass-start downhill race, a MiniMegAvalanche if you will.
Don’t worry, the course will be one of the trails you rode on Day Two, but if you are super-keen,
you could do an early morning run to practice the course. Join the Gravity Bolivia team for a
celebratory beer and BBQ at the finish of the race! Descent: 800m
Day 9: Transfer to Peru
Today we say goodbye to Bolivia and depart for the next Leg of the tour: Peru. It’s a long day on
the road but with the Gravity bus pumping out some pimpin’ tunes it is survivable. And after the
last seven days of riding you might need to catch up on a bit of sleep to feel ready for the week
ahead! Mid-way we complete border formalities then continue on to Cuzco, the culture (and
backpacker) capital of Peru. If you have any energy left, tonight is an opportunity to taste the
infamous nightlife of Cuzco.
Day 10: Chincerho, Peru.
This is a ride that could be described as either one
of the most brilliant trails in South America, or
alternatively just plain silly! Without realising, the
Incas succeeded in creating possibly the ultimate
downhill mountain bike trail. Seemingly endless
stairways and rock gardens give way to tight,
technical singletrack. Then a blast through the small
village of Urquillos and out to meet the bus in
Huayllabamba. Had fun? Then let’s do it all over
again!!
Tonight we make ourselves comfortable in a hostel
in Ollantaytambo, where we’ll be staying for the
rest of the week. Descent: 1,800m
Day 11: Sacred Valley, Peru.
One of the finest trails you will find anywhere in Peru, this wilderness biking at its best. We start
with a bit of a high-altitude pedaling (or pushing). After a breather at the pass we head down,
down, down – it’s a long way down from here! Following another old Inca road, manifesting itself
as a superb mountain bike trail, we make our way to the ruins of Huchuy Quosqo perched high
above the Sacred Valley. The last 1,000m descent to the valley floor involves some gravel roads,
but mainly sweet singletrack and some tricky switchbacks that remind us of Bolivia. Descent:
1,500m
Day 12: Abra Malaga, Peru. Mega Practice
Here’s our first look at the
MegAvalanche racecourse. We will
head up early with the team from
Gravity Bolivia to hopefully squeeze in
several runs of the course. This allows
us to practice the tricky sections and
refine our line choices for the upcoming
race. The course is mostly stunning
singletrack with the occasional
(optional!) monster jump for good
measure. Descent: 3,600m
Day 13: Lares or Abra, Peru.
Today we have a couple of
options. First, we can head out
to the Lares valley to ride a trail
very similar to the Mega course.
The local riders believe this is
actually a better route and
includes many flights of Inca
stairs through a narrow and
amazingly beautiful canyon. We
can complete this route twice,
or for a more relaxing day we
make a morning visit to the
Lares Valley hot springs. The
day finishes with a roll down
the road (with a few off-road
shortcuts) into the town plaza of Calca.
The other option is to return with the Gravity team to the Mega course for a further day of
practice and refining the racecourse. Descent: 3,300m
Day 14: Race Classification
Saturday is the day of classification for the MegAvalanche race. You will be allocated one of
several start times for your classification run, and your finishing position in this determines which
line on the ‘grid’ you will start for the race runs tomorrow. In the evening we head to the main
plaza in Ollantaytambo for the release of the day’s results. Descent: 1,800m
Day 15: RACE DAY!
Crunch time. Two runs down the Mega course, the rider with the fastest combined time wins....
simple!
In the evening we will head along to the prize-giving ceremony and hopefully toast our success
with a Cusqueña or two (the local brew). Descent: 3,600m
Day 16: Cuzco, Peru.
We will travel back to Cuzco to say our goodbyes, or to drop you off at your hotel should you
decide to extend your stay in Peru.
Total Trip Descent (estimate): 30,500 vertical metres / 100,066 vertical feet
Additional Information
Extras
Optional add-ons to the tour include those listed below. Contact us for more information
(info@gravitybolivia.com).
-
Visits to the ruins of the pre-Inca civilisation of Tiwanaku (Bolivia) or the lost city of
Machu Picchu (Peru).
A 2- or 3-day climb of Huayna Potosi, the world’s most accessible 6,000m peak, near
La Paz, Bolivia.
A trip down The World’s Most Dangerous Road, the most popular cycle journey in
South America.
Trip Summary
Day
Date
Activity
Overnight
Accom
Included Notes
1
Sunday
15/03
Arrive, Build Bikes
La Paz
TABH
-
2
Monday
16/03
La Paz SST
La Paz
TABH
B,L
3
Tuesday
17/03
Urmiri
Urmiri
Gloria
B,L,D
4
Wednesday
18/03
Urmiri
La Paz
TABH
B,L
5
Thursday
19/03
Takesi
La Paz
TABH
B,L
6
Friday
20/03
Sorata - La Cumbre
Sorata
Altai
B,L,D
7
Saturday
21/03
Sorata - ChuChu
La Paz
TABH
B,L
8
Sunday
22/03
MiniMegAvalanche
La Paz
TABH
B,L
9
Monday
23/03
Transfer - Peru
Cuzco
Loki Cusco
B,L
10
Tuesday
24/03
Chinchero
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
11
Wednesday
25/03
Huchuy Quosqo
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
12
Thursday
26/03
Mega Practice
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
13
Friday
27/03
Lares
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
14
Saturday
28/03
Classification
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
15
Sunday
29/03
RACE DAY!!!!
Ollantaytambo
Hostel
B,L
16
Monday
30/03
Depart
B
Optional WMDR Acclimatisation Ride
Option upgrade to room with private hot-tub
Optional Extra Mega Practice Day
Included
-
Breakfasts, Lunches, Ride Snacks and Water on all ride days
Dinners, days 3 and 6
Guides
Private transport including purpose-built bike racks
Accommodation
Airport transfer in La Paz
Race entrance fees
Access to Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking’s workshops in La Paz and Cuzco
Optional Bike Rental includes:
o 6-inch travel Kona Garbanzo Coilair
o Full- or open-face helmet (depending on ride)
o Knee/shin and elbow guards
o Body Armour
o Full-finger downhill gloves
Not Included
-
Dinners not listed above (see above)
Border fees
Personal insurance
Alcohol
Tips
The World’s Most Dangerous Road acclimatisation trip
Upgrades to private rooms
Flights and associated taxes
Incidental Costs
Costs
No. Of People
(total)
4-5
6-8
9-12
Trip Price
$2200
$1700
$1500
Trip Price
(including bike rental)
$2655
$2155
$1955
Trip Price
(incl. bike rental, Early Booking)
$2445
$1945
$1745
Prices above are quoted in $US.
Early booking refers to a confirmed booking, including deposit paid by 01 January 2009.
Deposit (paid on booking) $US500, remainder due no later than one month before trip departure.
Notes
This trip is classed as difficult and is aimed at experienced mountain bikers with singletrack
experience and intermediate to advanced skills. The trails are often very technical and are far from
advanced medical care, if any is available.
A heavy trail bike or light freeride bike is ideal for this trip. A full-on downhill rig is fine but will be
hard work on the occasional pedalling and hike-a-bike sections. As an example, bikes owned by
our guides include Santa Cruz Nomads, Bullits and Hecklers, and Kona Coilairs and Stinkys. Keep in
mind that we are a licensed dealer for Santa Cruz and Kona bikes -- pick up a new ride for a
fantastic price when you arrive!
Full-face helmets and body armour are not necessary but are useful for some trails. The use of
knee/shin and elbow guards are strongly recommended. A certified and suitable helmet is
necessary at all times on our rides.
Contact Us
info@gravitybolivia.com subject: MegAvalanche
GRAVITY ASSISTED MOUNTAIN BIKING
Av. 16 de Julio #1490
Edificio Avenida
Planta Baja, Oficina #10
La Paz, BOLIVIA
Telf: (591-2) 231-3849