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It was 5 years ago this week that I met what a bicycle could deal a person on the wrong end of the stick: 5 years of chronic suffering resulting from a gnarly accident during a road race. For some background, I have ridden a bicycle since the days of training wheels. Literally, I just never stopped - from centuries etc. from a 13 year old to racing full-time and everything in between. I love cycling, and always have. Even after the accident I’ve tried to be as active as I could, but have been severely limited since that accident. I had a fractured radius, several broken ribs, neck and back trauma, road rash, and a brand new racing bike that was broken in two places. Immediate needs were taken care of in the ER, and some follow-ups with the orthopedic doc. Not to dis them, but I’ve suffered like a dog ever since - unable to sleep on my right side, chronic back/neck/shoulder/arm/rib problems for 5 years, some of that time completely unable to work. I’d tried acupuncture, chiro, massage therapy, all to nothing more than temporary results. Some of the problems were coincidental, being occupation related (back/neck/arm). For that I’ve switched to a sit/stand workstation and going left-handed on the mouse (ridiculously hard to make that transition!). For everything else, I’ve just dealt with the pain for several years and just got used to it, not recommended I must say. But as the title notes, I am a new man. I finally connected with a care-giver that was either lucky, or understood the dynamics involved with crashing on a bicycle at 35+ MPH. He used the Graston Technique, which I must admit was very unpleasant, but extremely effective. My brother asked me if he “played my ribs like a xylophone”. Not exactly, it wasn’t across the ribs, but BETWEEN them. Hard enough to break the skin on occasion and cause unpleasant large welts. NOT FUN! But I’m not complaining, I can at last sleep on my right side, ride my bike again for 4+ hours like I used to, and do all sorts of things that would generally have gnarly side effects for several days. I’m very stoked to rip 2009 apart, in any way I can - but especially on the bike (already have RACC, Tour de Blast, Pedal the Pinchot, Cycle Oregon, and several others on the hit list). Probably no racing though - love to follow the pro ranks as a has been, but not keen on another accident. We’ll see.