Intro
It is Day 358, and the logistics of the long haul have finally caught up with my gear. I woke up at 07:30 to a clear sky and an 11.2°C chill that made the hostel common room feel like a refrigerator. Today wasn’t about mileage; it was about the survival of the machine and the replenishment of the rider on the paved, vertical arteries of La Paz.
The Morning Grease and the Long Call
- Breakfast was a slow, functional affair. I sat in the corner of the dining area chewing on a roll topped with avocado and charqui. The salty, fibrous texture of the dried meat is an acquired taste, but it provides the kind of protein that stays with you. By 08:50, I was on the bike for the short 3km sprint to Gravity bike repair. The ride was brief but sharp, the temperature rising to 14.3°C by the time I pulled up to the closed workshop door at 09:14. The sun here doesn’t warm the air so much as it pierces the skin.
- When the mechanic finally opened the gate at 09:30, the familiar smell of grease and solvent hit me—a scent that usually means progress. We agreed on a full service: deep cleaning, a bolt check, and fresh greasing for all the moving parts. I handed over 200 BOB and walked away feeling strangely off-balance without the weight of the bike. I spent the next eighty minutes at the Irpavi teleferico station, sitting on a concrete bench for a long WhatsApp call to Germany. The mechanical hum of the cable cars overhead was a constant, rhythmic vibration that seemed to pulse through the station floor while I caught up on a world that doesn’t involve mountain passes.
The Search for Gel and the Taste of Tongue
- The middle of the day was a lesson in the scarcity of specialized gear. I spent three hours trekking between shops like Bike Bros and Monarch, hunting for gel-padded shorts to replace my thinning kit. Every shop owner gave me the same look—a mixture of pity and indifference. They had sponge padding, but nothing that would survive another thousand kilometers of Altiplano washboard. Walking these streets is more exhausting than riding them; the thin air makes every staircase feel like a climb.
- By 13:50, the saltiness of the morning’s charqui had worn off, replaced by a deep hunger. I found a small local joint serving Aji de la lengua. The cow tongue was surprisingly tender, falling apart under the fork in a rich, slightly spicy tomato sauce. It was a massive textural upgrade from the leathery meat I’d had for breakfast, even if the rice was a soggy, overcooked heap. It’s the kind of fuel that sits heavy, which was fine because my afternoon was about to turn toward European comforts.
Bakeries and Cable Car Queues
- I stumbled into a German bakery at 14:50 for a lemon pie and almond biscuits (Vanillekipferl), which led to a long conversation with the owner in front of a photo of the Düsseldorf skyline. She insisted I visit her friend’s place, Bavarian Pasteleria, a few blocks away. Despite the ticking clock, I made the detour for a pretzel, the smell of toasted dough a welcome change from the city’s exhaust fumes. At 16:00, a message from the bike shop changed the evening’s trajectory: the bike wouldn’t be ready until 19:00, but they offered to deliver it to my hostel tomorrow morning. The logistical relief was immediate; no navigating the dark streets with a freshly serviced bike.
- The day ended with the reality of La Paz rush hour. At 18:20, the Irpavi station was a bottleneck of commuters. I spent an hour standing in lines, that mechanical hum of the teleferico now sounding more like a tired groan as thousands of us were hauled up the valley walls. I used the time to mentally inventory the peanut butter and canned fish I’d just bought at the supermarket. By the time I reached the hostel, the bar was already loud with music and thick with cigarette smoke. I ate one last roll with charqui, turned down a free welcome shot, and retreated to my bunk. The bike arrives at 07:00, and the city won’t wait for me to wake up.
Overnight
I stayed at Saint Peters Llama in the city center; it’s loud and the air in the bar is thick with smoke, but it is a reliable place for a bike delivery at dawn.
Reflection
A rest day in a high-altitude city is often more physically taxing than a day on the saddle.
Route summary
- Date: 2026-10-16
- Distance: 2.97 km
- Elevation gain: 28 m
- Elevation loss: 60 m
- Duration: 22 min
- Time in Motion: 19 min
- Average Speed: 9.6 km/h