CYCLING

Cycling is probably the single most important reason why I am a triathlete. I've always loved cycling and admired professional cyclists. I've always felt that I would have more fun riding and training for triathlon than just for cycling. The reason for this is very simple. As an athlete coming from a strong swimming background, I was able to race on a very high level right from the start and give more in a triathlon than I would have been able to do in cycling. It is my hope that one day I should race masters cycling. That day is getting closer.

FILM

Movies are not just a pastime for me. I truly try to learn as much as possible from them. I understand that each film is a product of a mutual work of hundreds of people and that every scene in a movie (good one) can convey many more messages than hundred pages of a book. One just need to study film, understand it and ultimately learn from it and enjoy it. List of my favorite movies and directors include (in no special order);

-The Deer Hunter by Michael Cimino
-Blade Runner and Gladiator by Ridley Scott
-Star Wars by George Lucas
-The Matrix (the whole trilogy; first movie is incomplete philosophical entity) by Wachowski brothers
-The Thin Red Line by Terence Malick
-One Flew Over the Coocko's Nest, Hair, Amadeus and just about any other movie by Milos Forman
-Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson
-Dead Poets Society, Galipoli, and other Peter Weir's films
-Fight Club, SE7EN, Alien 3 by David Fincher
-Almost any film made by Stanley Kubrick
etc.

MUSIC

I am a great fan of many musical forms and genres. I discovered music in the 80's, so some of my favorite 80's bands (Duran Duran, the Cure, Spandau Ballet) are of questionable quality, but have a strong sentimental value. My favorite modern form is rock and the list of my favorites would have to start with
-Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and A Momentary Lapse of Reason
-Led Zeppelin IV and The song remains the same
-Eric Clapton early and late
-Talking Heads Stop Making Sense
-David Bowie early and late
-U2 Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby
-Depeche Mode
-Peter Gabriel, most of his work
-Sting, especially later works (definitely after the Police)
-REM, some works
-Pearl Jam 10
-Guns & Roses, most of their work

Classical music, however is undoubtedly the music of choice for me. I consider Beethoven's seventh and ninth symphony to be the best pieces of art ever created, Albinoni's adagio to be of unprecedented emotional power, and anything created by J. S. Bach to be as close to perfection as human beings can get in the realm of art. W. A. Mozart's requiem always had a special place in my heart even though it is not music to be experienced at anytime or anywhere.

PHILOSOPHY

I've been into philosophy since high school. It's always seemed futile to me to pursue mundane knowledge before some basic questions were answered. Questions like WHY and WHAT IS have puzzled thinkers from the beginning of time. I may not have or find the answer to these questions but I am prompted to try. We all have our own way of dealing with this puzzle. Some people act, others contemplate. Many study science, philosophy and religion, others need to experience everything firsthand. There are many paths and which one we are on depends greatly on the circumstances that conditioned our minds. For me a combination of study, contemplation, observation and deep "athletic meditation" seems to be the method of choice.