New Zealand’s Rory Mead was twice national Enduro Champion, in 2009 and 2011, before a motorcycling crash in the United States left him paralysed from the waist down.
He was a top moto trials, cross-country and enduro exponent in New Zealand for several years in the early 2000s – including winning the novel Red Bull City Scramble in downtown Auckland in 2009 – before he branched out to contest the Grand National Cross-country Championships (GNCC) in the United States.
Following his tragic crash in 2014, when Mead sustained a spinal cord injury in a cross-country racing accident, he discovered a passion for hand cycling.
He quickly became a competitive international handcyclist and, as such, Porirua’s Mead provided the day eight highlight for the New Zealand Paralympic team at Paris 2024, riding bravely to finish fourth in the men’s H1-2 road race.

Wellington’s Rory Mead, a top competitor on a motorcycle and now also on a modified sports wheelchair. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
Despite a one-hour delay due to heavy surface flooding caused by torrential rain and a decision to subsequently reduce the race distance by a lap, the 37-year-old Columbus, Ohio-based Porirua-raised handcyclist remained calm and composed to complete the 42.6km distance in 1hr 40min 34sec and produce his best ever result at a Paralympic Games.
In a hard-fought race at the front, defending champion Florian Jouanny prevailed by a 22-second winning margin in 1hr 20min 18sec from Sergio Garrote Munoz, of Spain. Luca Mazzone, of Italy, took bronze in 1hr 27min 58sec.
Mead said: “It was probably the wettest ride I’ve ever done, so we had to come up with a bit of Kiwi ingenuity and put plastic bags on my hands to keep dry.
“In the moment when I was told the race was delayed by an hour, I was not too happy but looking back I’m glad they did because the weather did start to lift. While I was also a fan of the reduced distance because it was cold out there.
“I quickly found myself alone in the race and then it was just a matter of survival. Then I just tapped into all the training I’d done all year and rode the race to the finish line.”
© Photos by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
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