I can not even remember how many weeks it has been now since the knee surgery - 6 or 7 maybe 8 - too many that's for sure. My recover has been progressing with good days and yes bad days and I started to spin on the CompuTrainers at TotalCyclist (www.totalcyclist.com) a little in hopes to progress from no resistance to hopefully being able to watch my power start to build again. Of course, still completely unable to pedal standing up even after a few weeks of spinning with little to no resistance. With a second knee surgery looming in the near future, my one hope was to ride again outside on the road with the wind in my face - and I would even take the rain and snow and hail at this point even bugs and mud - before I start this process all over again. Still working with Mark Kane (www.kanetraining.com) 3 times a week for knee rehab, he began to sense my frustration with the inconsistencies of how my knee would feel and move on a day to day basis. So I think instead of hearing me explain my need to be back on the bike and train with my teammates again and again and again, Mark suggested a new approach in addition to the soft tissue and mobility/strength exercises.
Now, anyone who knows me, knows I have three great fears in life. I will not name them all but one happens to be needles and I was about to come face to face with one of the big three fears. NEEDLES! Mark suggested Trigger Point Dry Needling. It is a technique involving multiple advances of a filament needle into the muscle in the region of a “Trigger Point’. The aim of Dry Needling is to achieve a local twitch response to release muscle tension and pain. This technique is unequaled in finding and eliminating neuromuscular dysfunction that leads to pain and functional deficits. A healthy muscle feels very little discomfort with insertion of this needle. However if the muscle is sensitive and shortened or has active trigger points within it, the subject will feel a sensation like a muscle cramp -‘the twitch response’. That is the technical jargon - what it is are these tiny needles (resembling acupuncture type needles) that are tapped lightly into a muscle causing...
Yes, this is me - on a bike - on the road - in a light drizzle - pedaling! How could this be? 
TotalCyclist: We are all grown up. We have our own little website! http://t.co/X3lWsNZP ! Or http://t.co/TLT9sF5K /services / camps