The World’s Most Dangerous Road
Fact: If you talk to yourself, people think you are crazy.
When I was plummeting down Bolivia’s “Death Road” what people around me thought was the last thing on my mind. My outer monologue went something like:
“Keep focused. Look straight ahead. Are those headlights? TRUCK!! That was close. Boy, there are a lot of crosses planted on this corner, I wonder what happened. Fuck, I am going fast… maybe I should slow down. Nope! I’m on the hiiiiiiigh way to Hell! Highway To Hell!…. And I’m going all the way down”
“According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, the title for World’s Most Dangerous Road goes to Bolivia’s old Yungas Road, which winds blindly for 40 miles between Bolivia’s Capital, La Paz and the town of Coroico.”
“The old Yungas Road is an orgy of blind hairpin corners tightly wrapped with 800 meter drop-offs. Around every corner is truck rumbling under the weight Jungle produce destined for the markets of La Paz. If other roads seem risky, the old Yungas Road is nothing less than a suicide mission.”
“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.”
“If you like teasing death, then this is the road for you.”
Back in April 2005, I found myself in La Paz, Bolivia as part of a five month trip riding a series of spine-warping buses from Guatemala City to Buenos Aires. This route down the western half of Latin America is a well-travelled path affectionately known as the Gringo Trail. Along the way I saw Tikal, Machu Pichu, Salar de Uyuni and was asked to push a wheel barrow filled with fresh llama parts (long story). 
But the bike ride vertical plummet from Bolivia’s Capital, La Paz down the World’s Most Dangerous Road to Corioccio in the Amazon Basin stands out not only for the jolting adrenaline shot but also for the person I had the good fortune of shooting up with.
Over the course of that April day our pack of 60 riders from Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking spread out along the jungle ‘highway’.
First, we naturally divided into two groups: fast and slow. Then, at the front of the ‘fast’ group, a few of us separated from the pack and rode at speeds that would’ve given our parents moderate heart palpitations. We were adrenaline-driven risk takers.
April 2005: Explaining to Kyle how you could trade a Paperclip for a House. Ok... so there is a chance that the idea came from a childhood game Kyle used to play called "Bigger and Better" but who is counting?
Kyle MacDonald led the fast group. Kyle was in Bolivia because he had found a barrel on the Galapagos Islands that was filled with postcards from all over the world. The idea behind the barrel was that you would root through and find ones close to your home and then hand deliver them. It was a great opportunity to meet some new people in your area. Kyle had taken it one step further and was delivering postcards to people all over the world. And blogging about it.
Unfortunately, The Postcard Gig didn’t deliver for Kyle (*dry cough*). But two months after we rode the Old Yungas Road in the Bolivian Altiplano Kyle undertook a new adventure. In his own words:
“I posted a picture of a red paperclip on my blog and in the barter section of craigslist and asked if anyone wanted to make a trade for something bigger or better. A few days later I traded the paperclip for a pen shaped like a fish. Then I traded the pen for a doorknob. And so on, each time trading for something bigger or better.”
Fueled by The Internet, One Red Paperclip was born.
Yup, Kyle is *that* guy that took One Red Paperclip and traded it up 14 times to end up with a house. The trek made Kyle famous with an appearances on dozens of tv shows (including ABC’s 20/20) and a big deal in Japan.
“”A lot of people have been asking how I’ve stirred up so much publicity around the project, and my simple answer is: ‘I have no idea,’”
Love it!
The paperclip quest also saw Kyle cross paths with rocker Alice Cooper and actor Corbin Bernsen. This is seriously a tale of hustling at its highest form.
I want to believe that somewhere between the oxygen deprived altiplano of La Paz and the stiflling humidity of Corioccio, Kyle told me about One Red Paperclip. I can almost guarantee my reaction would have been to nod politely and tell him it was a great idea while secretly thinking it was the most ridiculous thing I could think of. Who would give you a house for a paperclip? Run through my recent thoughts on idea validation, 2005-me would have certainly given the paperclip a pass. But Kyle saw funtential were so many others saw only a stationary product. And now Kyle is a legend.
On July 12th, 2006 Kyle made the final trade of a role in TV Movie for a house on the main street in Kipling, Saskatchewan. The rest, as they say, is history.
Looking back, I learned several lessons from Kyle:
There is no substitute for doing - I am not going to get all ‘Yoda’ on you here (ok, maybe just a little green wisdom… “Do or do not. There is no try.”) A big reason why Kyle achieved his success is because he took the initiative and did something. Most people thought the idea was crazy. I think this is a good thing. If everyone you talk to thinks your idea is ‘great’ you are probably playing it too safe. Not everyone has the capacity to understand the potential of truly innovative ideas. When you are talking ideas over with people, look for a good mix of loony-bin leers and knowing nods.
Here I am relaying the point that trading a paper clip for a house would make anyone a big deal in Japan. Or not.
The Jedi Mind Trick – This is conclusion of Kyle’s very first blog post: ”I’m going to make a continuous chain of ‘up trades’ until I get a house. Or an Island. Or a house on an island. You get the idea.” There was no island (do they have islands in Saskatchewan?) but Kyle got his house.
Do you have a goal that you want to achieve but can’t figure out how to get started? The first step is writing it down and sharing it. Tell the world where you are going and the world will help you get there. This is something that was reinforced to me at the last startup I worked at in the coaching industry and is abundantly clear from the red paperclip side.
Speaking of which, I highly recommend (and own) Kyle’s book. It is a super inspirational story, written as a friendly narrative that is loaded with tidbits to help you move towards achieving your own goals.
No Risk, No Reward – Kyle and I were on a road described as:
“extremely narrow, subject to frequent landslides and fog, and offers no protection from the sheer cliffs that drop straight down for a couple thousand feet. Before a modernized and safer route was completed in 2006, somewhere between 100-200 fatalities occurred every year, and the roadside is littered with crosses and memorials of travellers who did not arrive at their destinations. For obvious reasons, locals have given it a simple yet somber nickname – Death Road.”
As I wrote this post, I started to see parrells between the Yungas Road and Entrepreneurship. Flanked on the left by precarious drops to failure and on the right by insurmountable cliffs of success. With random surprises waiting behind every blind corner. All you can do is move forward.
Yet, Kyle and I arrived (at light speed). And were rewarded with the best tasting beer of our lives.
Worth the risk? Hell Yes.