Dan Possley rides again: A military veteran surgeon reconnects with the athlete he was
For most of his life, American military veteran and Orthopedic Spine Surgeon Dan Possley believed that his story as an athlete had already been written.
When he was a U23, a crash ended his early racing career, life moved forward, and cycling became just a memory of the past. But last year something shifted. In his 50s, he picked up structured training again, not to chase a result, but to reconnect with a part of himself he thought he’d left behind. Working with Team EF Coaching and coach Nicki Sørensen, he found not only fitness, but a sense of purpose he didn’t know he was missing.
Dan’s cycling story took off the first time when he left home at 22 and moved to Belgium to try to make it as a professional cyclist. He spent three years racing all over the country, learning the ups and downs of the sport, before a serious crash ended the path he thought he would follow. With his dream cut short, he returned home and shifted direction entirely: he went to medical school, became a spine surgeon, served in Afghanistan, married, and became a father of three. Cycling never fully disappeared, but it wasn’t training anymore, it was rides with friends, something he fit in when he could, a reminder rather than a pursuit.
What he didn’t expect was how deeply he missed the structure, the discipline, and the sense of identity he once found in training. Last year, he decided to try again. Not to resurrect a pro career, but to see who he could become through the process. “It was never outcomes-based,” he says. “It was the experience of it all, deciding who I wanted to be every day.” For Dan, riding became a daily practice. A way to stay connected to himself in a life that demands a lot from him. When you spend your mornings performing surgeries, “cutting into another person’s neck at 7:30 a.m. while most people are checking email,” as he puts it, you need somewhere to put that intensity. Cycling became that space, letting the pressure settle before he stepped back into his other roles.
Photo: Llewellyn De Belder
“Getting back into cycling now has made me realize: maybe this is my time. You never know.”
When he made the decision to take training seriously again, Dan also knew he didn’t want to do it alone. He enrolled in Team EF Coaching as an athlete, working closely with former pro Nicki Sørensen, whose approach immediately gave him what he’d been missing: perspective. With a demanding job, unpredictable weeks, and a busy family life, traditional consistency wasn’t realistic. Some weeks allowed him to do six-hour rides; others forced him to miss multiple days. Having a coach who adjusted his plan, saw the bigger picture, and guided his long-term trajectory made all the difference. “Working with Nicki weekly really helped me,” he says. “Things come up all the time, days I have to miss, days that open up. Taking the 30,000-foot view was huge.” Despite holding a master’s degree in exercise physiology, Dan wanted external honesty, someone who could challenge his weaknesses, hold him back when needed, and remind him that progress isn’t always linear.
What surprised him most wasn’t the physical transformation, but the emotional one. Structured training reintroduced him to a version of himself he had forgotten. “I grew a lot physically,” he says, “but emotionally and even spiritually too.” The cold morning rides, the brutally hot summer days, the daily task of showing up, even when he didn’t feel like it, brought him a sense of alignment he hadn’t felt since his early twenties. And while setbacks inevitably came, the highs outweighed everything. The biggest high: qualifying for the Gravel World Championships in his age group 50-54. He laughs when he recalls it, “I went over there and got my ass kicked”, but he left with more motivation, not less. “I often learn more from failures than wins,” he says. Together with Nicki, he is already building this year’s plan with more clarity, more intention, and more belief in what he can still become.
“Working with Nicki weekly really helped me… Taking the 30,000-foot view was huge.”
Balancing all of this still takes a team. His wife, his kids, and his colleagues know how much riding means to him and support him in making it possible. But Dan has also learned to accept that life won’t always give him perfect weeks. Some days the plan fits. Some days it doesn’t. Working with Team EF Coaching has helped him trust the long game rather than obsess over every single missed session. It’s helped him use the time he does have in the most meaningful way. And perhaps most importantly, it’s reminded him that athletic success doesn’t have to look like it did when he was 22. Back then, success meant a pro contract. Now, it means something far more personal.
When he looks back at the younger version of himself who thought the crash ended everything, he sees things differently. “It was all a master plan,” he says. “If things hadn’t happened the way they did, I wouldn’t be a surgeon. Maybe I wouldn’t have my family. Getting back into cycling now has made me realize: maybe this is my time. You never know.”