A 70-year old biking grandmother conquers Bolivia's 'Death Road.'

Record ID: 1435234

  • Title: A 70-year old biking grandmother conquers Bolivia's 'Death Road.'
  • Date: 6th October 2019
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MUNOZ TRAINING AT GYM
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2019 03:30
  • Keywords: 70-year old Bolivian Mirtha Munoz Bolivia Skyrace extreme bike racing competition
  • Location: LOS YUNGAS AND LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
  • City: LOS YUNGAS AND LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002AZYKIFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bolivia's "Death Road" might seem an odd place for a septuagenarian grandmother on two wheels.
    The world's most dangerous road spirals skyward nearly 11,000 feet (3,350 metres), from the country's lowland jungles to the snow-capped peaks of the Andes. Fog, rain, rockslides and sheer cliffs are the main attractions.
    But for 70-year-old Bolivian Mirtha Munoz, the oldest ever competitor in Bolivia's 60 km (37-mile) Skyrace, an extreme bike racing competition, it was a natural extension of a passion she picked up years ago.
    Munoz took up biking on the advice of her family and a psychologist friend after her son died unexpectedly.
    Saturday's race was a pinnacle achievement, no pun intended.
    "It's a vertical climb," she told Reuters upon finishing the race.
    Munoz, one of the race's founders, says she enjoys more low-key bike-riding with her six grandchildren, though admits she hopes the eldest, now approaching 18, will soon follow in her tracks.
    (Production: Santiago Limachi, Monica Machicao)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.
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