Beautiful Bolivia

During my recent three week road trip, we spent one night sharing our camp with a couple of rock climbers from France.  They raved over dinner about their recent travels to Bolivia and highly recommended it as a place to visit.  They talked about how kind the people were, and that the sights were simply amazing.  This of course made me curious to learn more, see more, and well... maybe visit there too!  Take a look at a small sampling of the beauty that is Bolivia.

The World’s Largest Salt Flat is located in Salar de’Uyuni, Bolivia. During the rainy season, the water turns into the world’s largest mirror. The reflection of the sky creates a sense of infinity, like you’re walking among the clouds. It’s called the Border between Heaven and Earth.

Above photos courtesy of Carlos Diaz

As if that weren't already enough to convince anyone of a visit to Bolivia there's more, the Death Road...alternatively known as Grove's Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, El Camino de la Muerte, or Road of Death.  It is legendary for its extreme danger, one estimate is that 200 to 300 travellers are killed yearly along the road.  It seems only logical that the best way to enjoy it is via bike of course.

It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives a left hand drive vehicle's driver a better view over his outside wheel, making passing safer.  - Wikipedia


I'm fairly certain I'd love to bike this, but also certain I'd never want to do it via car or bus.

Camino de las Yungas (DeathRoad) from keksas on Vimeo.

Adventure Hiatus

One of the best parts of working for yourself in the outdoor industry is having more time and freedom for adventure.  In that spirit, SY Design will be closed May 27 - June 19 for some serious outside play time.  I'll be taking my four year old daughter, Bernese Mountain dog, and backpacking gear for a three week long adventure based out of our car.  We don't have a set plan in place of where/when just a plan to be outside playing everyday biking, hiking, fishing, swimming, climbing and whatever else comes our way.

You can follow us along in our adventures or misadventures at Meandering Mama our travel blog.  See you soon!

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An Excuse for New Gear

We spent this past weekend at Eight Mile Crossing up on Mt. Hood, the views are bountiful, the camping is amazing, and this area has some of the best mountain biking you'll find.  I realized just before skipping town that my most favorite biking shorts were nowhere to be found so it gave me an excellent excuse to head over to Bike Gallery to see if I could find something to replace them.  I found a pair of sweet Townie Bike Shorts from Fox that I couldn't resist.  The fixed waist fit amazingly well (I was skeptical of this) during my entire single track ride they stayed in place without me feeling like my drawers were drooping.  Serious love for the yarn dye pattern, thanks for something that looks more fun and less like another pair of black riding shorts.  So what if they get bike grease on them, it only gives them more character.  I also liked that the inner chamois short was separate because these shorts actually look good and fit well when worn alone without the diaper look of the chamois underneath (added bonus for sure)  Looking forward to giving them many rides and seeing how they hold up over time.

I couldn't think of a jersey in my closet that was going to be the perfect match up to these new shorts so I was delighted to find the Dakine Antic Short Sleeve to pair with my shorts.  This picture doesn't do it justice by the slight gathering at the chest area and the subtle graphics are a nice touch, and I appreciated the use of Aegis anti-microbial finish to cut down on the stink factor too.

 
Perfect gear for a great ride on the 8 mile loop conveniently located 2 minutes from our camp.  If you check out this ride try riding it backwards, or according to the sign the "easier" route.  I've done it both ways, and much prefer the both the climbing and the downhill when rode according to the "easier" route.  Otherwise you climb up for 900' in very low gears for about an hour straight, that part was a lot more fun to come down.