(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Two American tourists explored Lebanon’s capital city on fixed gear bikes recently, navigating through thick Beirut traffic and touring the city’s juxtaposing ancient and modern cultures.
Nico Deportago-Cabrera of Chicago and Austin Horse of New York are bike messengers through Red Bull’s urban cycling endorsement program.
Bike messengers typically work for courier companies who carry and deliver items by bicycle. They’re often found in busy metropolitan areas, where bicycle travel is less subject to city traffic jams, parking limitations, and fees or fines.
Beirut narrow roads and chaotic drivers are often difficult to navigate on bikes. Deportago-Cabrera said he enjoyed the challenge.
“The streets are narrow and the lane markers are merely suggestions,” he said. “At times the gaps are too narrow for even a bike to transverse.”
WATCH the cyclists speed through Beirut’s thick traffic: