Ever since I was a child I was interested in
sports, both actively and as a spectator. But my earlier enthusiasm never
reached the almost feverish obsession with an active lifestyle until a few
years ago. Call it the beginnings of a midlife phenomenon (I would hardly call
it a crisis), but almost daily training or workouts have become a way of life
for me.
For the most part three swimming has captured my attention. Only three years
ago I regarded a lane line as a silly obstacle to loafing around in a nice
pool, but within a few weeks swimming has caused me to enjoy working out hard
for the first time since I was in high school. And it is responsible for the
biggest lifestyle change in almost twenty years, I stopped smoking.
Today I am a proud, albeit still rather slow, US Masters swimmer with SCAQ
in West Los Angeles. And just recently I did compete at Gay Games 98 in
Amsterdam. Anyone interested to learn more about swimming and the
Masters program click here .
For years I have dealt with bouts of
interest in cycling. It all started over 15 years ago when my first vacation
after high-school took us on a cycling trip around the island of Corsica and
southern France on some crummy touring bike I had just purchased. About ten
years ago after moving to California I purchased a decent road bike and every
now and then I have taken it out for a series of interesting rides. In many
ways my most important and most fun bike ride was California AIDS Ride I from
San Francisco to Los Angeles in 1994.
I for myself, have now bought another new bike and have started to pick it up
again.
I wouldn't be a typical European if soccer
would not play an important role in my life. But, i guess, my active career of
chasing the elusive little ball across a huge grass field are pretty much
over. After years of trying to keep up with much better players, I have come
to realize that soccer is best enjoyed as a spectator. Be it following the
Austrian and other European soccer leagues or U.S.
Major League Soccer
"Schifoan
is the leiwandste, des ma sie nur vurstelln kann"
(o.k. figure this one out)