By Lucas Guaraldo
In addition to urban mobility and recreation, cycling offers a unique opportunity to explore places in a new way. While a car allows for greater distances to be traveled in comfort, cyclists rely more on the cooperation of the communities they pass through, opening the door to conversations and the exchange of experiences. Building on this premise, the TransCerrado project reaches its seventh edition, in which seven cyclists will travel 300 km through the Cerrado region of Goiás to gather accounts of climate change in the biome.
In an interview with the newsletter *Um Grau e Meio*, Joab Marques—an ultra-cyclist, bike traveler, and competitor—shares his experiences from traveling tens of thousands of kilometers across Brazil. A participant in the 2026 TransCerrado, Joab rode 1,200 km on roads from the city of Guarulhos, in São Paulo, to meet the researchers in Brasília and begin the expedition.
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How did you go from someone who enjoyed riding a bike to an athlete who covers hundreds of kilometers a day?
I started cycling for urban mobility while living in São Paulo. I’d already been taking some bike trips around Brazil since 2014, but in 2021 it became my livelihood, my job.
I’ve always really enjoyed cycling long distances each day, even when I had to balance that with my job as an accountant. Sometimes it seems crazy to wake up before sunrise and go to sleep at dawn to cover 200, 300, or 400 km in a single day, but it’s what I love and what makes me feel alive.
What’s the main difference between traveling by bike and other forms of travel, like by car, for example?
The big difference is the connection you have with the people, the scenery, and the places you’re passing through. With cars and motorcycles, you can go faster, but you can’t really take in what you’re passing by. When you ride a bike, on the other hand, people get curious, open their doors, and start asking questions. You get to talk more with the locals in the area you’re passing through and meet more people.
A car is like a suit of armor—you arrive at places inside an air-conditioned metal box, so people don’t open up much. A bicycle, on the other hand, makes you approachable, and that opens doors. A bicycle is a diplomatic passport that expands your connection with the world and its landscapes.
What stands out mosttoyou about this connection with natural landscapes through cycling?
On my most recent trips, in particular, I’ve been struck by the increase in monocultures and the devastation of large areas of native forest for food production. I know this is important and accounts for a large part of our GDP, but there are places I pass through two or three times a year where I see increasingly large areas of forest being cleared to plant a single species.
Have you noticed more extreme weather because of these changes in the landscape? Is this something that affects you during your bike trips?
I feel it a lot. It’s very noticeable. Cycling through preserved forest areas is totally different from cycling on asphalt. You can really feel the dryness and heat on your skin. I need to drink a lot more fluids, and there are days when I need almost 15 liters of water and sports drinks. It’s also much hotter, windier, and there are rapid, unseasonal changes in the weather.
Was it this realization that brought you to TransCerrado?
My story with TransCerrado began when I was organizing a 10,000-km cross-country bike ride from the north to the south of Brazil to mark COP30. I wanted to highlight cycling as an important solution to the climate crisis—a form of clean energy transportation—and some partners at Shimano who were familiar with TransCerrado suggested we form a partnership.
We didn’t know each other, but during COP30 we were able to share our perspectives on cycling, talk, and, in that context, the invitation to participate in the next edition of the ride came up. I accepted right away because anything involving cycling and adventure is irresistible to me. I already had high expectations for this project, but they’re already being exceeded on the very first day.
What was it like arriving in Belém by bike last year?
I left Guarulhos, where I live, and rode to Belém via Brasília and Palmas, entering southern Pará through Marabá. It took 14 days on the road, covering 3,100 km. I was able to stay there for a week during COP30, participating in some projects, getting to know the locals, and going on a few bike rides around the city.
What was it like passing through southern Pará, in the “Arc of Deforestation”?
It was clear that the Amazon rainforest is giving way to monocultures and pastures. From the moment I arrived in Tocantins and entered Pará, I began to see many trucks packed with live cattle headed for slaughter in São Paulo. I was able to talk to some drivers, and they told me that the cattle are raised in Pará, where it’s cheaper, and slaughtered in the Southeast, where it’s also cheaper. So it’s a nationwide supply chain that burns fuel and clears forests to cut costs. It’s very clear that we’re trading the forest for pasture and cropland.
In this region, home to the so-called “Soy Capital,” there were times when I cycled for two full days seeing nothing but soybean fields, and you really feel the environmental imbalance as you pass through these areas. I remember feeling insects constantly hitting my skin and face while I was cycling—something we don’t experience in balanced areas with healthy native vegetation, like the indigenous lands I crossed, for example.
What were you most curious to see on the TransCerrado?
I wasn’t familiar with the Terra Ronca region, and after I was invited, I looked it up and was enchanted. I was most curious to see all those caves and bodies of water. I also really wanted to cycle with the project’s researchers—who’ve done this several times before—and learn from them about the Cerrado. On just the first day of the expedition, I saw all kinds of plants, fruits, and animals I’d never even dreamed of seeing.
When they told me it was a cycling project for conservation, I felt it was an opportunity to give back everything that cycling had given me. I started cycling to stop relying on cars—both for practical reasons and because of the impact that burning fuel has on the planet—and through a project like this, I can help spread that awareness to others as well.
You mentioned cycling as a clean form of transportation and also as a different way of seeing the world around you. In your opinion, what are the ways to combat climate change that only a cyclist can point out?
Cycling is an example of something that’s healthy, inclusive, and doesn’t pollute. In a big city, every bike means one less car, and it lets you get anywhere—even if it’s a bit slower. You get to know more people and experience more of reality on a bike, and it letsyouthink about the world at a different pace. It has a lot to offer becauseitcombines conservation, health, and diverse perspectives.
Besides letting you go anywhere, it opens doors, helps you meet people, and shows you more of your surroundings.