My wife, an avid road cyclist, lived in Brazil for many years during the 80s. We've gone back to visit a few times to see all the friends she left behind, and perhaps it's the particular city or region (Maceio, Alagoas), but we found that Brazilians are highly respectful of cyclist on the road. While we were on our last visit we observed a highly used bike path, similar to what we've seen in the Netherlands, along the boardwalk in Maceio. It's completely separated from vehicular traffic and it's highly used by cyclists of all types, from kids in BMX to adults in full lycra suits. This particular path was undergoing expansion at the time. Another thing is that every Sunday afternoon the main drag is closed to traffic and everyone comes out in their bikes to cruise. We were invited to a couple of club rides, unfortunately we were not able to join. The architect we staid with was proud of the Kaloi (sp?), their home-grown bike brand.
Carlos Ovalle
Long Beach, California, USA