(WXMI) — Casey Falkner never imagined he'd become a hand cyclist. A former runner and biker, Falkner's life changed dramatically after suffering a spinal cord injury in a car accident in February 2021.
"When I first got injured, I had no idea that adaptive sports like this even existed," Falkner said.
The adjustment to his new reality was challenging, especially with young children.
"It was a lot of mental just accepting, the new reality. My kids were really young, knowing that it was something that was going to be impacting them and my wife and the rest of my family for the rest of our lives," Falkner said.
During his inpatient therapy at Mary Free Bed Falkner was introduced to hand cycling.
"The more I rode, the more I got into it and then the competitive aspect of racing and meeting tons more people at the races. It was kind of something that snowballed but it kind of snowballed pretty quickly," Falkner said.
Falkner now trains six days a week, riding up to 180 miles while balancing time with his wife and two children.
"It's been sort of surreal to realize that I might be capable of something at that level," Falkner said.
Last year, he competed at nationals in Wisconsin, and this spring he took third place in the Boston Marathon.
"Definitely a lot of motivation to continue to see how far I can go," Falkner said.
Saturday will mark Falkner's second River Bank Run.
"It's definitely great to have the opportunity to basically have local options for racing," Falkner said.
While Falkner has more athletic goals on the horizon, he's taking his journey day by day.
"For now, it's just trying to enjoy it as much as possible and not lose the excitement for riding the bike," Falkner said.
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