A gaggle of Dutch young men and women hopped on their orange bicycles and hit the bike path along Rio’s oceanfront on a recent morning, bound for work a few miles away.
They swerved around plodding joggers, daring skateboarders and distracted dog walkers. They halted for selfie-snapping tourists headed for the beach in Copacabana and Ipanema.
Still, they reached their destination in about 15 minutes, half as long as the trip took in a car during rush hour.
Leave it to the Dutch to use two-wheeled transport to dodge Olympic-sized traffic snarls in a city where bike culture is still in its infancy.
“We are crossing Rio like it’s Amsterdam,” said Sarah Langbroek, a 24-year-old native of that Dutch city, where there are more bikes than humans.
Biking alongside her, Sterre Bisschop, 22, pointed toward the gridlock in Ipanema. “Biking is the answer,” she quipped.
Dutch beer giant Heineken partnered with Dutch bike maker Gazelle to ship hundreds of orange two-wheelers to Rio for athletes, delegation members and others from the Netherlands.
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