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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- More than a dozen athletes spent Wednesday at Memorial Park training to become elite cyclists.

The men and women are not your average competitors though, as they are physically disabled.

"It happened October 16, 2006 -- out of nowhere, I got up to go to bed and it hit me like nobody's business," cyclist Steve Peace said.

Peace had had a stroke at the age of 32. For six months after he could not move or talk. He said despite the bleak outlook he was given, he was determined to push through.

"I started to work back into it, and I got a small bicycle and worked my way up," Peace said.

Peace was just one of many disabled cyclists who are participating in the week-long camp that is being put on by the United States Association of Blind Athletes.

"This is what we call an intro to racing camp, so we bring in athletes to give them a taste of what racing is all about in their different classifications," camp coach Rick Babington said.

Wednesday the cyclists worked on bike handling skills and road racing strategies.

Babington said many of the athletes are aspiring to make it to the paralympic games in London in 2012. He said they should be an inspiration to everyone.

"There are so many stories of some of these athletes that were wheelchair bound or injured to a point where they could have given up, but they did not, they chose to do something positive," Babington said.

Exactly what Peace wanted for himself, to turn an unfortunate tragedy into a positive. He said the sky is the limit now.

"I hope to make the Olympic team 2012 in London," Peace said.