Time in Premanon has gone by quickly thus far and I’ve more or less settled in for the duration of the stay.  I’m familiar with the local time, the food, the testing, and the general scope of the Jura training grounds.  It’s a fun group of people to stay with and the research team is both very personable and professional.  By the end of eight weeks we’ll all know each other quite well.

The night before muscle biopsy number one (of two) I was really questioning why I had traveled 5,730 miles from home to this random place on a French map knowing that a core sample of my quad was soon to be cut out of my right leg.  Others had already had the procedure the day before and most were gingerly limping around with few good words to be said (understandably).  Other required testing is also invasive to varying degrees with plenty of needles, electricity, breathing masks, sensors, etc involved in various combinations.  Also, its fall in Europe so cloudy skies, rain, and cool temps will likely be the norm and not so much the exception.  Fun stuff, eh?

Life in Tucson is great – a wonderful fiancé and good friends, a comfortable home, plenty of sunshine  and warm weather, and great roads/trails for training are all there.  So why was it that I traveled all the way over here again?  A quick talk with Chloe and I was snapped out of my funk rather quickly, thankfully.  I’m certainly not here to be comfortable, rather I’m here for a challenge, or to do ‘life’ put shortly.  It’s at the price of personal discomfort that I’ve come to know some of the most valuable experiences.  And often the greater the level of discomfort, the greater the experience once all is said and done.  I’m happy to be here and ready to challenge myself being that I’ve got a great opportunity to do so.

I got through the first biopsy just fine and I’ve trained on some incredible roads in the Jura region.  It’ll simply be a matter of separating myself from the testing procedures and in doing so I’ll manage quite alright.

I’ll leave you with pictures from some of the most recent rides.

typical forest road

Alps view from summit of La Baudichonne

Swiss/French border crossing route

sweeping meadows