rio de janeiro has a popular bike sharing system, called Itau,  dubbed samba, which involves the payment of a small fee (roughly 2 us dollars per hour) and allows the user to choose a bike from the pickup points and then use it to travel around and return it at another docking station within 2 hours.

in tune with the truly generous spirit of the cariocas, the bicycle sharing system offers one hour of bike usage free of charge.

rio the janeiro has another interesting relation with bicycling - bike events and the tour do rio. this landmark tour is a massive event, made possible because of the extensive net of bike roads - started in 2000, it has been held annually ever since.

the nearly 500 miles long challenge is very sought after, and many of the best national and international cyclists compete in it.