Cyclist Clara Brown of Cumberland is looking to soak in the experience of the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

CUMBERLAND — Paralympian Clara Brown knows her time as a professional cyclist has an expiration date.

That’s why the three-time world champion from Falmouth plans to make the most of her trip to the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Brown, 28, who competed in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo, outlined a few goals for Paris: Compete to the best of her abilities, worry less about results, and soak in the experience.

“Meeting new faces and seeing some of my old friends, and just the overall village vibe of bringing a whole bunch of athletes from all over the world and sharing meals. I’m really looking forward to that aspect of it,” she said.

Brown is one of two Mainers who are competing at the Paralympics. Cyclist and Freeport native Skyler Samuelson Espinoza, a pilot for blind rider Hannah Chadwick in women’s tandem cycling, is the other. Espinoza and Chadwick will compete on the track Friday and Sunday.

Brown suffered a gymnastics accident that left her paralyzed when she was 12. A chance encounter with a U.S. Paralympics advisory committee member on a bike outing led to an invitation to a talent ID camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2018. From there, Brown rocketed onto Team USA’s para-cycling team. She won two gold medals at the 2020 world championships and planned to compete in four events in Tokyo – two on the velodrome and two on the roads – and come home with three medals.

But there wasn’t much fun at the Tokyo Games.

Masks and no crowds were the norm in 2021. The U.S. cyclists stayed more than two hours outside the athletes village.

“The social aspect was something that was disappointing in that we were just really isolated. I really didn’t interact with anybody,” Brown said.

Brown’s parents – dad Greg, mom Debbie and stepmother Amanda Murray – and her partner and coach Noah Middlestaedt weren’t able to travel to Japan.

“That was something I really struggled with in Tokyo. They weren’t there, and I’d been so lucky to have their support in person at pretty much every major event I’ve had,” she said.

Brown did not meet her performance expectations in Tokyo.

During the Games, she was hit with neurological fatigue, a difficult-to-diagnose ailment that left her weak and with even less function than she normally has in her debilitated right leg. In hindsight, Brown was highly competitive. She finished fourth in the individual pursuit on the track, fifth in the road time trials and sixth in the road race – the top American finisher each time. But Brown said she felt defeated.

“I was incoming world champion and I had a lot of expectations on myself and from the team,” Brown said. “It’s just hard to have prepared for something and to have had things go so right (leading up to it), and then when it actually matters, to fail to execute.”

In Paris, Brown will race twice, only on the roads. The individual women’s C1-3 time trial is Sept. 4, and the C1-3 road race is Sept. 7. The level of limb limitation is graded on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being most severe. Levels 1 through 3 indicate both upper and lower body limb limitation.

Of course, Brown would like to medal. But as a C3 rider, she could be at a disadvantage because of time factors intended to level the field. C3 riders don’t receive a time handicap, while C2 riders are rated at 97 percent of their actual time, and C1 riders at 90 percent of their actual time. At world championship events, the categories are not combined.

Cyclist Clara Brown of Cumberland is in Paris for the 2024 Paralympics. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“I really don’t have a chance to medal in the time trials even though I’m a world champion. So as far as results, I’m kind of shooting for top six,” Brown said. “The road race is outright. There’s no time handicap. Road-racing wise, I’m hoping for a medal, but by no means is that a guarantee.”

The Paralympics began Wednesday and will run through Sept. 8. at the same sites used by Olympians at the Paris Games.

THREE YEARS REMOVED from Tokyo, much has changed for Brown. She and Middlestaedt, a former para-cyclist who coaches several athletes, moved to Maine from Whitefish, Montana. Brown is enjoying riding on what she termed safer roads with greater variety. Along with their powerful chocolate lab, Kyia, Brown and Middlestaedt moved into their new home in Cumberland this past February and proudly show off the improvements they’ve made to open up and modernize the kitchen.

When not riding, resting or eating — staple activities for a pro athlete — Brown has been pursuing another goal of obtaining a private pilot’s license. She hopes one day to become a commercial pilot like her dad and stepmother, who both fly cargo planes for a major company.

“I feel like I’m in the final stages of college, is how I’ve described it. I’m nearing graduation date and I want something in the works for afterward,” Brown said. “Because I’m very aware that athletes have a short career, relatively, and my body and mind will burn out at some point. So I would like to have something I know I want to do afterward.”

Will graduation day come at the Paris Games? Brown previously indicated she could compete in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“I’m not sure. I’m not saying firm end date Paris,” Brown said. “I’m saying, yeah, I don’t know what my commitment level is to cycling afterward. I just know that real life is happening and I’m excited to experience it.”

In the meantime, Brown is focused on her job of cycling. Team USA provides a modest monthly stipend and health insurance and, at events like the Paralympics, performance bonuses equal to those of the Olympians are available for medal winners ($38,000 for gold, $23,000 for silver, $18,000 for bronze). She has sponsorship deals that also help, including one with Wahoo Fitness, a leader in bicycle computers that track workout data.

“I feel like I’m getting the most out of cycling that I have in my career (because) I’m very focused when I’m training and I’m fulfilled outside of it,” Brown said. “I think when I had just cycling, it was easier to be burned out because it was all I was thinking about. To have productive distractions is very much a welcome change to my day-to-day.”

Brown is also intent on trying to change the narrative around para-athletes, or at least to encourage people to look less at an injury or disability and more at the athleticism of top competitors.

She knows that she’ll be asked about her injury that derailed her competitive gymnastics career and left her paralyzed from the neck down. She knows her story is inspiring, that she was able to regain so much function in her body that there are few visual cues that she is disabled.

“But at the same time, there’s a lot more to my journey in sport than my neck injury at 12,” Brown said.

“I think so much of the time, our stories are, ‘Look at how much they’ve overcome.’ Not, ‘look at how athletic they are,'” Brown added. “Para-athletes are not treated like typical pro athletes and talking about the preparation that goes into it or the training. It’s more ‘please tell me about this very traumatic event and let’s make it inspiring’ and I’m looking to try to change the narrative of that.”