{"id":81510,"date":"2025-08-29T21:52:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T00:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81510"},"modified":"2025-09-05T22:48:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T01:48:28","slug":"pedala-queimados-brings-social-change-through-cycling-in-rio-de-janeiros-most-distant-periphery-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81510","title":{"rendered":"‘Pedala Queimados’ Brings Social Change Through Cycling in Rio de Janeiro’s Most Distant Periphery [PROFILE]"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"As<\/a>
The activities offered by Pedala Queimados include bike tours through rural areas of the municipality. Source: Pedala Queimados<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" This article is part of a\u00a0<\/i>series of profiles of initiatives in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Sustainable Favela Network<\/a>\u00a0and of <\/i>a\u00a0series<\/a>\u00a0created in partnership with the\u00a0Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/a>\u00a0at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the\u00a0Digital Brazil Project<\/a> on environmental justice in the favelas through RioOnWatch.<\/em><\/p>\n

Initiative<\/span>:<\/strong> Pedala Queimados (Cycle Queimados)
\nContact<\/span>: \u00a0Facebook<\/a>;\u00a0Instagram<\/a>; <\/strong>WhatsApp: +5521965508094
\nYear Founded<\/span>:<\/strong> 2015
\nMunicipality<\/span>:<\/strong> Queimados (in Greater Rio de Janeiro’s Baixada Fluminense region )
\nMission<\/span>:<\/strong> Promote social change through cycling, focusing on creating opportunities\u2014especially for employment and income\u2014while also encouraging citizenship and reducing inequality.
\nPublic Events<\/span>:<\/strong> Pedala Queimados holds frequent activities for children and their families in the Nossa Senhora de F\u00e1tima neighborhood (known as S\u00e3o Miguel) in Queimados, such as teaching children how to ride bicycles. In addition, special events are open to the public, including the Bike de Cria Festival<\/a>, and group walks and bike rides through the region\u2019s rural areas, such as the Walk Queimados<\/a>. Check out their social media pages for more information about upcoming events.
\nGet Involved<\/span>:<\/strong> Participate in events, help promote the tours offered by the project, volunteer by sharing your skills, or support through donations or ongoing sponsorships.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What began in 2015 as an initiative to encourage the use of bicycles<\/a> as an economical and sustainable means of transportation soon developed into an association that integrates various demands of residents in Queimados<\/a>, a municipality in Greater Rio de Janeiro<\/a>\u2019s Baixada Fluminense<\/a> region. Officially registered in 2019, Pedala Queimados<\/a> promotes the use of bicycles in the city in order to strengthen sustainable mobility<\/a> and foster social change through active transport.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018I Realized I Didn\u2019t Have to Be Held Hostage by Public Transportation\u2019<\/h3>\n

When Carlos Leandro de Oliveira, founder of Pedala Queimados, found himself cycling 55 km (~34 miles) to work every day, he began to rethink how he moved around the city and his relationship with different modes of transport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grab my bike and start heading toward Rio, and I realize I don\u2019t have to be held hostage by public transport if I don\u2019t have the money to get around. The bike could take me many places, anywhere. And after two bike trips\u2014one to S\u00e3o Paulo and another between Minas and Esp\u00edrito Santo\u2014I began to see that if I could bike across Brazil, then people could bike in Queimados, which is flat and theoretically comfortable for cycling. Actually, not really, because there\u2019s no infrastructure. But people are already biking here, right? So I began mobilizing around the bicycle, [to encourage] people to bike here.\u201d \u2014 Carlos Leandro de Oliveira<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The daily bike ride covered the stretch from Queimados to downtown<\/a> Rio, and was a consequence of Oliveira’s delayed salary at a time when he was still an intern. This event encouraged him, in 2015, to create Pedala Queimados and promote greater awareness of the issue in the region, in addition to leading important projects in the field.<\/p>\n