MY PROFILE

Also visit: Project Bike Island of Santa Catarina

                      Project Bike Curitba Model City

Cyclist Adilson Joe    34 years of age, Brazilian Nationality, born on July 30, 1973 in the city of Itajaí in the State of Santa Catarina.   I started what was said unbelievable, courageous, and even impossible for many.

First of all, I would like to tell you a little bit of my history.   

I am military policeman's son, Pedro Maria and my mother, Cacilda Machado Maria, housewife.    When I was 15 years old, I went to live with my brother, Arnaldo Pedro Maria, at that time Commander of the Fire Department of the City of Shark, and there I went to this city.  

I began the studies of high school in the State School Henrique Fontes, and I worked in Shark's Camp Club as anonymous aide‑de‑camp, gathering the balls on tennis courts.   

One day, I won a racket from the tennis teacher who I was working, callied Clóvis, known as Coradinho, he gave  incentive me to start teaching tennis to the kids, and make its as my career. As I enjoy tennis a lot, soon I started learning how to play and consequently I would know better how to teach it. Then I got a present from my high school's friends, Marcelo e Célio, both handballs' training, a book with the rules for tennis and how to play it.

Day after day I enjoyed more and more to playing tennis and I received an invitation from a friend and also Tennis Teacher, Melato, to start giving tennis classes in the City of Criciúma, on a private tennis court in a nice neighborhood,  which owner, Mr. Sinésio Volpato, was on search of a Teacher for him, family and friends.   I stopped my high school and began my career as Tennis Teacher in January 1991. 

My career was successful, but an idea starting to interrupt my job. Then I decided to listen to my heart's voice and abandon everything. I left in a pilgrimage, riding on a bycicle. Craziness??? Read ... and think about!!!

People and Sponsorship

These two words are fundamental for the success of any event, either big or small one. To meet the right people at the right time is like to give a huge advance as so great motivation to the development and accomplishment of a project.

My history started in Itajaí - SC, on summer time of 1993, when I was talking with my uncle and my parents at home. lt was during one of these conversations that something different came up, as a thought that could end right.

The idea: "to go to the United States riding a bicycle, to be present at the World's Cup of Soccer". I know that you laughed, because it seems to be a joke, it doesn't?

Of course that we also thought the same thing, but my uncle, Edmundo Antonio Bernadina, who had the idea, was very serious and insistent about it.

In a beautiful sunny Monday, I woke up willing to expose the idea to a branch of the Brazilian's goverment. Then I went to the Criciúma Secretary's Office of Sports, the city where I was living and working as Tennis Teacher at that time. I was seen by a nice person called Cabuque, whom was probably the Director of Events from the Secretary's Office of Sports. I went there just to ask about the probabilities of taking a trip to the United States by bicycle, and I left motivated with his words as telling me to start elaborating a project for the trip  and objective. As soon I got the project done, me and my uncle got our medical exams free and kindly done by my former tennis student Dra. Jaqueline Alvez.

But an important detail took away our dream to make this trip: “the lack of ‘Background' as athletes”.

That whole work was for water below and we ended frustrated by not getting sponsor.
But have you already heard about:
  “A worse defeat is the one of never to have tried?”
 
Because it is, soon then I returned for my parents' house in Itajaí and I began a normal life. I got work in Itamirim Club of Field, I cound't get as a tennis teacher, but just as a simple auxiliary of general services.

Here, a Teacher Tennis friend that calls Marcelo, he knew that I would need to do a fast course to finish the second grade and he recommended to speak to me with his student that calls  Castelo, one of the directors of the Unified System.  Then I got from him 30% of discount in the monthly fees during one year to finish my studies.

The friendly games of our Brazilian Selection of Soccer arrived and the dream of the trip definitively end. My uncle Edmundo had already given up the project, and the only trip that he did was to return by bicycle to his house in Curitba from Itajai that are 236 kilometros. 

As my attempt of getting sponsored to ride my bicycle to the United States to attend the Soccer World Cup was frustrated, I felt happy in just to pedal from Itajaí to Florianópolis, to see our Brazilian Soccer Team to play the last game in Brazil before they begin playing the games of the Cup. 

See what happened... 

The last friendly games of the Brazilian Team happened for happiness of the people from Santa Catarina, in the capital Florianópolis.  Then the idea appeared to ride my bicycle to attend the game.   I tried sponsor once again for this small trip, but I got nothing.   The only thing that I got was from School Unified System where I made a fast course of second degree, a shirt and a cap, and also a discount of 50% monthly if at least it got to arrive there, with mine famous bicycle today with more than 15 years of production.   And I won also from Itamirim Camp Club, where I worked, a new chain for the bicycle.   

One day before the game, I decorated my bicycle with green and yellow, I improvised a flag and foot in the highway.   I had to lose a day of work and also in the school.          In the day of the game I woke up early, I went until the Itamirim Club and exactly to the 07:00 AM, I put the foot in the pedal heading for the Stadium of Ressacada, place of the game.

My work companions didn't believe in my courage of doing that trip of more than 60 miles, but there I went.   I passed by the center of Itajaí, taking the highway state that links it to the city of Balneário Camboriú, and entering in highway BR 101 heading for the south.   Therefore of beginning I caught the only ascent mountain of 2,500 meters of the Hill, soon after Balneário Camboriú's city, where in the high I registered an unforgettable image, the coast of the cities of Itapema and Tijucas.   In this city, I stopped for a lunch, and the people that saw me, they asked from where I came.   Then I answered that it was from Itajaí, but they didn't believe, that because was only 20 mile of distance between the two cities.   After the pause, I caught the highway again and in the road people passed hey went by me people with the decorated car of green and yellow that honked for me and they screamed: 

       _ BRAZIL, BRAZIL....  

While I waiting, without notice, I was already giving interviews for three moderate at the same time, one with tape recorder, other reporter of the Newspaper, The State, in which I had a column in the area of sports the following day and a reporter from the Rede Bandeirantes that made me a live interview to the whole  Brazil.   Still for top, later of those moments of fame, a citizen came and gave up me an entrance for me to see the game, and him found a place for me to put the bicycle. 

       That moment was so fast that when I gave for me was already inside of the Stadium.   There I thought with me: 

        _ Good, doesn't lack anything else, I arrived here, I had my moments of fame being interviewed by the press and I still attended the game free.  

       I felt the luckier person of the world.   Before beginning the game, we did a minute of silence due to recent death of our idol.   In the middle of the game all people screamed Senna, Senna, Senna.   The scoreboard could not be better, Brazil 3X0 Iceland.  Then I caught my bicycle, I pedaled to the bus station and I caught a bus to return to Itajaí, because I would have to work the following day.  

On that day, I was received with pride by my works companions that saw me on television and for me to have accomplished what I said.  In the Unified School it was not different, Director Castelo honored me putting the report that left in the newspaper The State in a mural in the patio of the school and the new Director of the school and Teacher of History, Sidney Silva, gave a present me with a scholarship of 100% of discount in the monthly fee to end of the year.   I was really very honest for all this.  They are moments that will be forever engravings in my heart.

Certain day in a cerigrafia, he/she was talking with the owner that calls her Cláudio on my project of going pedaling to Atlanta. He motivated me a lot and he/she indicated go talk me with a person lover of sporting events and challenges, Engineer José Piccoli, to help me in the elaboration and execution of the project.   Logo wrote down the address where would find him/it and I went on that same day in his/her office. When there I arrived, I found him/it very busy but he/she assisted me with a lot of attention and it liked my project a lot. In few minutes, Engineer Piccoli gave me the first steps to proceed, to reformulate the project and to give more presentation. For that it also indicated me that I will know a person that would help a lot in what was to the reach, the Director of Arts and Folklore of Itajaí, sr. Acyr Osmar of Oliveira.

The sr. Acyr, always assisted me with a lot of attention and participativo in the decisions to be taken. Together we formed him/it “loving triangle”, he/she wants to say, everything for love to the sport. The stage to proceed was to give beginning the some bicycle trips that got the attention of the press and like this to give formation the that word key call “curriculum”.

We know that the bicycle is an I transmit of transport, healthy and cultural. But we needed to prove that can go far away on top of two wheels moved by the force of our legs and for our willpower.
 
We created the project “it Returns the Island of Santa Catarina” accomplished between the 1 and December 5, 1994, with the intention of motivating the practice of the cyclism as leisure and transport, tying the 42 beaches of the capital Catarinense making the mapeamento cicloviário. In that event, I had a companion of the pedal, my cousin Leonel Hilário Maurici, 26 years old. We counted with covering of the emprensa and the patronage of the Unified System, Hipermercado Vitoria, Ótica Corujinha of the valley, Naval Radio and Sport Center Agassi.
 
The Turn the Island was an absolute success. Leonel was also willing accompanying me in the trip for Atlanta and we spoke like this always to the press the dream about accomplishing that event.
 

New year, new life, 1995 were beginning and the plans of the bicycle trip for the Olympic Games of Atlanta 96 were taking form. On that year, I gave classes of Tennis in an Old Club of Itajaí, Sociedade Guarany again. Eng. Piccoli and the sr. Acyr suggested that fizéssimos one more prominence trip for us to turn ourselves knowner. Then we took advantage that Curitiba this soon there in our neighboring State and that it is one of the capitals model of the urban developing country, we created the project “Curitiba Cidade Modelo”. THE objective was to go from bicycle of Itajaí to capital paranaense to know the model of bike lanes and asimm to motivate the construction of bike lanes in our State for the lazer e because not to say also as alternative transport.   Watch this 1997 Roland Garros Video

Besides, studies reveal that Brazil possesses about 50 million bicycles and that 5 thousand bicycles in circulation would remove half ton of pollution in the air a day. However our country possesses little more than an a thousand kilometers of bike lanes and that we needed manifestations of the population that motivate the government to program the cities for they receive bike lanes and we will like this be able to pedal with more safety for the streets.
 
Joinville in Santa Catarina and Volta Rededonda in Rio de Janeiro, are the cities that more they possess bicycles for inhabitant, one for each four.
 
For the project Curitiba Cidade Modelo counted with 100% of patronage and also the popularization of our work through the press. We are becoming really known and showing seriousness in our work.
 
Our first sponsor was Inglês Yázigi International Schools, today that name changed for Yázigi Internexus. The director of the School of Itajaí, sra. Lenita Crippa sponsored us for me and my cousin Leonel with two scholarships in his/her school Yázigi.
 
I would like to thank the people that participated in that history and also to the that treated me with a lot of affection.

 

     

Ciclista Adilson Joe

Cyclist Adilson Joe