Mike Farrell

In 2002, Mike Farrell moved from Massachusetts, where he had lived his entire life, to Colorado Springs, Colo., to focus solely on cycling training. Farrell began racing as a teenager after he was inspired by Greg LeMond’s dramatic race to his second Tour de France title.  Farrell made his Paralympic Games debut in 2008 in Beijing.

 

Growing up, Farrell was a competitive surfer and racquetball player. He competed in racquetball at both Worcester State College and Bridgewater State College, although cycling remained his primary focus.

 

In his first major international competition, Farrell earned a top-10 finish in the Road Time Trial at the 2005 IPC Open European Cycling Championships. He competes in the C3 category because of the muscle paralysis that affects the right side of his body, the result of an incident that occurred when he was just three days old – his first day out of the hospital. The family dog bit Farrell’s head, resulting in permanent nerve damage.

 

In addition to training, Farrell works full-time as a social worker at Cheyenne Village, Inc., a community program in Colorado Springs designed to assist adults with developmental disabilities. In 2007, he married triathlete Pamela Welch, who he met in high school at a cycling club.