Centavos for your thoughts?

The tube I patched on the way to Copacabana goes flat just before I reach La Paz. I am close to a llanteria so I get a proper hot patch and the tube gets another life. La Paz is known as the highest capital city in the world due to its 13K+ foot altitude, an attribute that will not go unnoticed should you visit. The city is experiencing a deluge of tourism when I arrive so finding a hostal is more challenging than usual. I end up at Hostal Republica, one of the more overpriced and impersonal hostals I’ve stayed with on the trip thus far. Not long after checking in I meet Patrick who rode here from the states on his KTM 640 a few years ago. He decided to stay in Bolivia and is now enjoying life in Sucre. A few hours later Andy who I know from advrider shows up with some riders he met on the road. We spend the next several days riding, wrenching, and the usual touristy stuff between visits to the Wild Rover bar.

Andy, Patrick, and I need to do bike maintenance so we walk over to Madness Tours on the main drag to speak with Fernando Jordan who is also the KTM rep for Bolivia. Fernando offers to meet us at the hostal the following morning and take us out to his shop. Fernando shows up at the hostal early, an uncommon practice in Latin America. Of course we weren’t ready. Fernando makes sure we have everything we need to service our bikes at the shop and he even runs out and gets parts for Andy and Patrick who are on Japanese bikes, competitors of KTM. While out Fernando brings back some of the best Saltenas I’ve had in Bolivia. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate Fernando’s hospitality. KTM has not been in Bolivia long but I’m sure they will find a successful business model with Fernando at the helm. Thanks again, amigo.

The next day Andy and I decide to do a shake down ride on the infamous Death Road to make sure we buttoned our bikes back up properly. After riding northern Peru I find the road to be somewhat uneventful and short though the climb coming out of La Paz had some nice mountain views. The ride was enough to cause the o-ring (for the rear brake reservoir site glass) I replaced in Ayacucho (Peru) to fail and that resulted in the site glass jettisoning on the trail. Here I am again with no rear brake. Fernando can’t source the part due to all the Dakar chasers riding to Chile and buying out most of his parts inventory. Rather than ride the next 2K+ miles to Santiago, most of which will be off-road, I decide to do my own fix and forgo having to deal with future site glass problems.

It turns out the Bolivian ten centavos is almost the exact diameter of the outer recess where the site glass inserts. I cut a slightly oversized piece of inner tube to fit the inner recess that will serve as a gasket of sorts. I then fit the piece of inner tube and ten centavos in their respective recesses and duct tape a 2 Bolivianos coin over the smaller centavos coin to hold both in place. From there I cut another larger piece of inner tube to envelope the reservoir and provide additional pressure against the coins and hopefully prevent any leaking. The inner tube makes a great surface on which I can use safety wire to secure everything in place. I top off the reservoir with fresh 5.1 and bleed the brakes. No leaks! I add a couple zip ties for good measure and call it good.

I reach critical mass for the inhospitable Hostal Republica and prepare the bike for the ride to Sucre. Andy and his riding mates decide to do a side trip to the Amazonas so we head off in different directions. The Bolivian altiplano is home to my favorite type of riding, big mountains and wide-open desert. Most of the riding on the altiplano occurs at altitudes in excess of 13K feet introducing a host of challenges for bike and rider. Coupled with a diverse Bolivian culture this combination is tough to beat and riding here is a highlight of my trip. I grab the southern asphalt to Oruro then find myself in the mining town of Huanuni (?) where I’ve lost the main road. A local taxi driver directs me toward a river crossing next to the mine. From there I follow the old railroad tracks from the mine until I hook up with the dirt two-track south of town. The scenery is like that from a Sergio Leone western and the SE is responding well to my commands. Fork oozing is in a holding pattern and the harshness seems to have vanished from the suspension. Perhaps increasing the air gap in the forks by 10mm back in Ayacucho has finally removed the 2X4s from my suspension equation? Having the air box open in La Paz meant I could finally address the SE’s rich fuel mixture that has been giving me fits since Peru. Unable to source leaner main jets I leaned out the float needles and I’m yielding the benefits today with every squeeze of the throttle.

As predictable as the sun rising I hit construction and rain a few hours north of Sucre. And as usual the front scorpion becomes a better ski than tire in the slippery Andean mud. I opted to wait until Sucre to mount knobbies so as to preserve the tires for the upcoming all dirt route through Salar de Uyuni and the lagunas that will have me entering Chile through southwest Bolivia. I’m wishing I had those tires now though. The cold rain and mud slow me down but the promise of a temporary reprieve from the strained breathing of the altiplano in exchange for the Mediterranean climate of Sucre keeps me focused. Sucre is the judicial capital of Bolivia and I instantly warm to its culture and climate. I would like to stay here longer but the clock is ticking on the weather in TDF so I will stay for less than one week.