Diana Davis' Adaptive Sports Journey | Challenged Athletes Foundation

Diana Davis: Embracing all that CAF-Idaho Offers

Chelsea Day

August 1, 2026

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Cycling, Mountain Biking

Thank you to CAF-Idaho athlete Kevin Peter for interviewing Diana and compiling the story below, and to Diana Davis for sharing her journey.

Diana Davis brings joy, enthusiasm, and intensity to every activity she undertakes with CAF and elsewhere. She is an amazing and driven adaptive athlete that epitomizes CAF’s goal of strength through sport. Diana also treats all other adaptive athletes she meets with respect and positivity, embracing them as part of the CAF community. She considers the other adaptive athletes as part of a team, bonded by the same goal to improve and conquer challenges.

A Life-Altering Injury and a Fortuitous Introduction to CAF-Idaho

Diana’s path towards becoming an adaptive athlete started with a life-altering event requiring her to adjust to a completely new way of living. After sustaining a devastating work-related injury, amputation claimed much of her left leg and other traumas affected her right leg. A substantial hospital stay, multiple surgeries, and arduous rehabilitation occupied several years following her accident. Diana faced significant physical challenges, including the use of a prosthesis, to reclaim her basic capabilities. Through these trials, Diana learned that such limitations do not define her as a person or adaptive athlete.

Two years ago, Diana’s prosthetist told her about CAF and encouraged her to participate in a Field Day where she met others in the adaptive community and saw the breadth of adaptive sports. This event opened her to a new world of possibilities to enrich her life. Diana had not been involved in sports prior to her accident, so witnessing others with adaptive challenges participating in a variety of sports planted the desire in her to join in all the opportunities CAF offered. Since then, CAF has played a fundamental role in helping Diana remain active, adventurous, and involved with a community of athletes who share her zeal and goals. She also recognized the significant role CAF and the adaptive sports community have played in shaping her post-accident life. Echoing what many of its members say, Diana feels that CAF “saved her life.”

Adaptive Exercise Program Captures Diana’s Spirit

Diana’s initial involvement with CAF came through the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse Adaptive Exercise Program. Although she did not partake in strength and conditioning activities prior to her accident, Diana became a consistent and enthusiastic member of the Adaptive Exercise class.

With a willingness to learn and a fervor to improve, Diana grew in strength, mobility, and stamina. She also brought unbridled enthusiasm and camaraderie to the class, quickly making friends among the other athletes and coaches. These qualities, in turn, drove Diana to pursue the numerous other activities and events that CAF offered. She now participates in the adaptive exercise program, handcycling, adaptive mountain biking, sit-skiing, and just about any other sport offered by CAF or the Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse. Currently, Diana is focused on road handcycling, mountain biking, and gravel racing.

Take the Next Step in Idaho

Diana's story is a powerful reminder of what's possible when people have access to the support they need.

From Novice to Competitor: Diana’s Cycling Journey

Learning to cycle on a recumbent trike with a prothesis and an injured ankle represented a major step for Diana. After consistently pedaling in the Fieldhouse indoor winter road cycling program, she translated that training into the weekly CAF-Idaho Greenbelt Cycling rides where she avidly engages with and encourages other riders. Always pushing herself to be more technically and physically capable, these cycling activities expanded Diana’s desire for greater challenges and competition. In the past year, she has completed two 25-mile charity road rides and performed well in the cycling leg of a Sprint Triathlon.

Once she was comfortable with road cycling, Diana tackled adaptive mountain biking. However, becoming proficient at this activity proved to be Diana’s most difficult goal to achieve. Starting as a novice, she joined the CAF-Idaho Adaptive Mountain Biking Basecamp to learn skills and gain comfort on a trike. Attempting to identify a suitable mountain trike proved a complex process, one that affected her ability to manage the technical expertise needed for the trails and eroded her confidence. Diana, undeterred, overcame these issues and persevered to steadily increase her capabilities. Since her initial issues, Diana has become both proficient and passionate, completing rides on more difficult trails with CAF members during CAF-Idaho’s Mountain Bike Apex Weekend and CAF-Idaho Adaptive Mountain Bike Club rides in the Boise foothills and elsewhere. She received a Workman’s’ Compensation grant for a custom mountain trike, further encouraging her interest in the sport.

Her increasing capabilities and interaction with others in the CAF cycling community stirred Diana’s dormant competitive spirit. In 2026, Diana competed in two long distance gravel races, finishing first in her category both times. The Weiser River Ultra 50-kilometer race provided her introduction to this type of cycle racing. She recently competed in the Ruby Roubaix Gravel Fondo, pushing through the 23-mile course despite driving rain, severe winds, and many different riding surfaces and terrain types. Using a CAF grant for registration and travel costs, Diana plans to race in the renowned Rebecca’s Private Idaho gravel race in September. Considered one of the top gravel races in the country, the course Diana selected climbs 1,255 feet over 19 miles.

Many Interests, Many Talents: An Example for All

While cycling dominates Diana’s interests, she also welcomes other athletic opportunities with CAF. One major highlight for her was learning to sit-ski at Bogus Basin during CAF-Idaho’s Winter Sports Weekend. Surprising herself, Diana quickly developed the skills necessary to safely enjoy downhill skiing. That same weekend, she participated in sled hockey, enthusiastically interacting with other CAF athletes. Diana plans to continue participating in adaptive exercise, long-distance cycling events, adaptive mountain biking adventures, and gravel races.

With her special level of dedication and enthusiasm, Diana will likely challenge herself with a broad variety of adaptive sports and outdoor activities, serving as an example for other members of the adaptive community.

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