Meet Aditya Mehta, the Para-Athlete Who’s Cycling Great Distances

In 2005 I met with an accident. I was on my Harley Davidson when a truck coming from another side knocked me down. As I lay on the road, a bus coming from another direction went over my leg. That’s how I lost my leg.

Aditya Mehta, Para-cyclist

Before the accident, the 28-year-old para-cyclist was a businessman. He never thought of sports seriously. “All I wanted to do was make money,” he said.

After his accident, he saw an advertisement on a billboard in Hyderabad, which he claims, changed his life forever.

The billboard was promoting cycling and I thought of giving it a shot. Initially it wasn’t easy as cycling with one leg is very difficult. I fell a lot of times, injured my leg and bled from my nose. But over time I got used to it.

Aditya Mehta, Para-cyclist

Since then, Aditya hasn’t looked back. He has covered thousands of kilometres on wheels and ridden on the toughest of terrains. In 2013, he became the first para-cyclist to win a medal at an international event. That same year, he became the only amputee to cover the coveted Kashmir to Kanyakumari route. Other achievements include, completing the London-Paris connect and Manali to Khadung La, the highest motorable road in the world.

And this was not it.

Pedalling for a Cause

Not only did he defeat his disability but also founded an organisation to help many more like him. The Aditya Mehta Foundation helps athletes with disabilities. Till date the organisation, has trained and supported many para-cyclists in India. They started with 1-2 riders, now we are 21 strong.

Recently, Mehta also associated with Border Security Force to train soldiers who got injured in combat, as para-athletes.

Aditya achieved all his earlier mentioned feats with the help of his prosthetic leg. His upcoming venture, the ‘Infinity ride’ though will be without his prosthetic leg.