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

Record ID: 1435235

  • Title: A 70-year old biking grandmother conquers Bolivia's 'Death Road.'
  • Date: 6th October 2019
  • Summary: LOS YUNGAS, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 05, 2019) (REUTERS) 70-YEAR OLD BOLIVIAN MIRTHA MUNOZ (NUMBER 971) GREETING COMPETITORS OF BOLIVIA'S 60 KM (37 MILE) SKYRACE COMPETITORS AT START OF RACE COMPETITOR NUMBER ON BIKE MUNOZ COMPETING IN RACE BICYCLE WHEELS SEEN DURING RACE CLOUDS / MOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF COMPETITORS SEEN GOING UP HILL MAN SUFFERING FROM CRAMP IN LEG VARIOUS OF COMPETITORS SEEN GOING UP HILL MUNOZ AND OTHER COMPETITOR DRINKING WATER VARIOUS OF COMPETITORS DURING RACE / MUNOZ DURING RACE LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 03, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUNOZ TRAINING IN GYM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CYCLIST, MIRTHA MUNOZ, SAYING: "I have cycled since I was 45-years-old. Since then I have never stopped cycling, which is the passion of my life. So far, at 70-years-old, I continue practicing and naturally I have improved a lot. I have made many trips by bicycle."
  • 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: LVA001AZYKIFB
  • 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: None
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