Pedal Joe: Everything in our life
begins with a dream.
My first dream was to go to Spain to watch the soccer World Cup;
then stay four years in Europe,
learning languages;
but before I went to Europe I went for a walk.
I started in Rio de Janeiro.
I decided to go through Buenos Aires,
Chile Santiago,
by the Atacama desert,
Salar de Uyuni,
I visited the Nasca Lines
and the colonial cities of Lima, Quito and Bogota.
I decided to go to the paradisiacal Costa Rica.
Belize and Cancun filled my eyes with brilliance
with its turquoise waters.
I was conquered by Chichen Itza
and his rich imperial past.
After this scenario,
I decided to get to know Mexico City and the land of Uncle Sam.
After turning child into Disney,
I went to Miami to catch my flight to Europe,
and I went down to London.
I visited Brussels in Belgium;
Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Cologne, Germany;
and paid a visit to Hamelin,
to know the history of its flautist.
At that point, I thought,
“Like being in Europe and not knowing the Alps,
eating a Swiss chocolate?
Or lose a few coins at a casino in Monaco,
after an exciting Formula 1 race?
After all this,
have a relaxing dip in Saint-Tropez,
finally”.
Until it was time to cross the Pyrenees
and reach the home of Cervantes,
Spain.
Folks,
I know that each one of you has a dream,
and I’m here
to talk to you
to not stop running after that dream.
I ran after mine.
Ah, “I ran” not; pedaled
And you know the price of all this?
US $ 100.
All this path I performed by bicycle
because my dream was too great for the resources I had.
At least it seemed to be.
I discovered that money was not the greatest wealth that was with me …
um, um … not really …
but rather the power to infect people with my dreams.
That was my bargaining chip.
What sustained me on this trip
were people I met on my way
and turned my dreams into their dreams,
transforming me from a lonely traveler
in a dream-maker.
After realizing that the most important thing was to live the way
instead of reaching the final destination,
reflected and decided to change the four years of Europe
for four years back in the world.
A good exchange.
That was in 1982.
Since then,
were more than 150 thousand kilometers,
through 73 countries.
Bicycle,
stroller,
pedal boat
or on foot,
pushing a wheelchair.
My dream has turned into living the way.
Shall we live a part of this way?
[Turn off the lights]
ZP: You have to turn off the light.
(Video)
Reporter: José Geraldo de Souza Castro traveled throughout 26 thousand kilometers,
using two bicycles.
He only traveled by plane where he had no road,
between Colombia and Panama,
and across the Atlantic from Miami to London.
From England to France, he traveled by boat.
Mineiro de Guaraciaba, single, 24, José Geraldo, to get here to Spain,
has spent 60,000 cruzeiros so far and lost two pounds.
He weighed 53. Now, he’s weighing 51.
Reporter: Do not you think going around the world on a bicycle is crazy?
ZP: One of the things I put on my head is that I’m not going around the world,
but I’m walking 200 km a day,
because, for me to walk 200 Km a day, just get to the next city.
So, I mean, it’s not very far. It’s right there, oh.
Reporter: A long trip to see Brazil in the Spanish Cup.
ZP: I came to see Brazil, thank God I arrived,
and I hope to see the selection turn [tetracampeã] here in Spain.
Reporter: It has traveled more than 147,000 kilometers.
ZP: And then, I practically repeated the entire first trip to the United States.
So I went a little bit further, I went to Canada.
Then I crossed to Europe …
Reporter: Has been in 73 different countries.
ZP: I decided that the project would be from Paris to South Africa.
Sometimes the most viable means of transportation for the realization of my dreams
is pedaling.
Then I pedal.
Reporter: He picked up malaria twice and passed close to four civil wars.
ZP: Ah, today I’m walking from Caburaí to Chuí,
from the Far North of Brazil, in Roraima, to Rio Grande do Sul,
pushing a wheelchair.
(Video ends)
So…
Dreams and fears go together.
Do you think all this was a sea of roses?
Before I respond,
I ask each of you:
think of your greatest fear;
Does it make you insecure?
It’s big?
Does it paralyze you when you chase after your dream?
If it is large,
is it bigger than an erupting volcano?
It makes you more insecure.
that being in a country with the presence of the FARC,
or the extremist group Boko Haram?
It paralyzes you more than thinking about being lonely
riding 60 days in the Sahara desert,
Finding those little plates there?
Fear is within each one.
You can only be afraid of what you know.
Only.
I want to tell you a little passage.
In this last project in Africa …
Well, last project in Africa does not; this was Africa’s first project.
I had never been there before.
My destination route took me through Côte d’Ivoire,
at the time divided in two due to a civil war:
the north controlled by the rebel forces
and the south controlled by the government forces.
I stopped in a line of cars at the entrance of the country,
to pass a checkpoint.
While waiting for my turn, a car stopped behind me.
A man in camouflage clothes came down,
said he had heard my story on Mali television,
liked a lot
and asked me where I was going to sleep that night.
I told you I did not know.
He said, “So, you’re going to sleep at our headquarters.”
“Okay, anywhere.”
The boy left, and soon after …
he was against, passing everyone, he could …
“send who can and obeys who has judgment”, né …
Suddenly, when he stopped at the guardhouse, the guard began to signal.
I did not know it was for me and I kept on mine.
When I arrived, the guy said, “Allez, allez!”,
that is to say, “Vaza, vaza!”, translating to Portuguese.
And I went.
From there,
I discovered that I had found
my guardian angel there in that “violent”
of northern Côte d’Ivoire:
the commander-in-chief of the guerrillas.
From that moment, on all the checkpoints I came to,
I was well received, the guerrillas were waiting for me,
They offered me food, a place to sleep, everything.
When I got on the government side,
the first thing
which the guard asked me was:
“The guerrillas robbed you?
Did they treat you badly? “
Me: “No … no … no.
It’s okay, they treated me wonderfully well.
They gave me food, they gave me room to sleep.
Can you get me a place to build my tent? “
“No, no, not here, not here.”
And that was everywhere.
The first question they asked me was whether I was treated or mistreated
and when I said I was well treated,
they mistreated me!
So I discovered that they wanted me to say the exact opposite,
and that’s what I started to do.
(Laughs)
I arrived at the checkpoint:
“They mistreated you?”
I’d say, “Oh, those people there … I’ll tell you something.
I was hungry, they did not give me food.
I wanted to sleep, they gave me no place to sleep.
Now, you do not.
Everywhere I come here,
I’m hungry, you give me food;
I need a place to camp, you make me a place to sleep.
By the way, where can I set up my tent today? “
(Laughs)
At the same time, I had hot food
It’s a place to sleep.
Where does fear come into this story?
When someone thinks of civil war,
he thinks he might even be dead.
I entered that country at war.
and I was treated very well by the side that caused the war.
In addition, the fact that one is afraid of the other
makes you think that everything about him is bad.
So they would not let me say I was treated well on the guerrilla side.
In fact, people,
I hope to be treated well wherever I go.
I look at people as if I had …
Hey, guys, I’m reading, okay?
(Laughs)
I come here to mislead, not to read …
(Laughs)
I look at people as if they were looking at my image in a mirror,
and what I see in that mirror
It’s what I want for myself.
If I look at a mirror in anger,
the mirror will look at me angry.
If I smile in the mirror, I’ll have that smile back.
How many of you in the morning ever looked in the mirror?
and gave a wink?
No?
(Laughs)
Yeah.
With people it happens the same.
If I give her a look of rage,
Surely she’ll look at me angrily.
I know I do not deserve it, but that’s okay.
If I look and smile,
I’m sure I’ll have that smile back.
You receive
what gives.
Are you conveying the message of your heart,
infecting
and reflecting on others the fulfillment of their dreams.
This opens doors
and eliminates borders.
After all,
the border of the world is in each one of us.
You impose your limit, and that is your border.
This photo I took
there near that little plate
that you saw back there.
It is a solitary acacia
in the middle of the desert.
I could not come near, afraid of those mines.
It is interesting that the UN staff said there were no more mines there.
Then I asked, “Why are the plates still there?”
“Oh, no, is there any.”
(Laughs)
So I had to take this picture from far away.
This illustrates that everything in our life begins with a dream.
How many do not dream, for example,
to be crossing the desert,
to find this shadow?
But to fulfill this dream of finding this shadow,
you need, before,
to overcome the desert.
People,
cover your dream fears.
Thanks.
(Applause) (Live)
”
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