James Brown - on the back, piloted by Bryan McCrystal - may be registered blind but he is going solo to ride the World Masters Track Championships.
Five-time Paralympian James Brown is to ditch his sighted pilot and will ride the individual pursuit at the World Masters Track Championships.
Brown, a member of the successful Irish paracycling squad now training for the Rio Paralympics, was due to begin his Worlds campaign in Manchester today, Tuesday, at about 10.30am.
He is the first registered blind person ever to participate in those championships, with the UCI granting him permission to ride the individual pursuit despite his vision impairment.
“I want to do something different, I want to step outside the box,” he said of his desire to move away from riding only with a sighted tandem pilot and step into solo racing.
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“Normally I ride on a tandem with a sighted pilot and most people don’t expect a registered blind person to be riding a single bike, let alone to be racing on one.”
While he was tackling solo racing now to chase personal goals, first and foremost he was hopeful there was a message in what he was doing for others.
Brown with his bronze medal from the TT at the London 2012 Paralympics, when he rode a tandem with Damien Shaw.
“I want to show others that if they are prepared to stop and think and to go outside of the norm and consider the unimaginable, they may be able to find their way to achieve it,” he explained.
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“I believe those who might benefit most from this message are disabled kids and their families.
“I was really, really lucky when I was growing up. I had lots of opportunities to try different things.
“It was my mum who first introduced me to cycling when I was five and she didn’t place any limits on what I might achieve.
“I believe doing something you think you can’t achieve is the fastest way to improve self esteem.”
And with Irish veteran rider John Madden’s hour record at the weekend having been done as a fundraiser for Roddensvale School in Larne of which he is principal, Brown said he was hopeful his efforts would also inspire the pupils there to reach for the stars.
The school caters for pupils aged 3 to 19 years who all have severe learning difficulties. Some of the pupils have complex medical needs plus profound and multiple learning difficulties.
Like Madden’s hour record ride, Brown is raising money for the school with his individual pursuit effort.
You can donate to this fantastic cause by following this link.
All the money raised will go towards creating challenging opportunities for the young people at the school.
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