Music you can use

The bloody beetroots. Yes, they always wear those masks. Yes, they kick that much ass.
Epic, as defined by Justice. Two guys, massive sounds and a beaming cross. Wow. Listen to it, Love it and then thank me later.

As promised, I'm back with some interesting tunes for you to crank out while cycling/running/starimaster-ing or lifting. Lately, I've been lifting in the gym...lifting - according to distance runners - is a bit of a misnomer seeing as how we lift the same weight of a prepubescent teen. Fact of the matter is distance running is an enuduro sport not requiring massive thighs such as track sprinters. Needless to say, my lifting sessions - if you can even call them that - are excruciatingly painful. This coming from a guy that hadn't lifted a weight since college!

Consequently, I feel like a member of the walking dead more times than not and even when I'm not lifting my legs feel like their lifting weights! Yikes! As a track cyclist and a pursuiter, lifting weights is a must for this sport. There's a whole genre why track cyclists are different from road cyclists but I'm not going to get into that bruhahahahahahahahah just yet!

Given my puny weight and my need to add more muscle, I've been hitting the gym 3 times a week and lifting as much weight as my scrony legs will hold. Heh. Any bigger? Nope. That's not what she...ahh...you get the idea! Along the way though, I've been experimenting with vegan protein powders and lemme tell ya, there's A LOT left to be desired. I'm not ragging on any brand in particular but the stuff that's offered is hurting in taste. The quality is certainly there but the taste is so off putting I sometimes think about eating meat! (OUCH!).

I digress.

Getting back to the blog post, I have some tunes I'd like you all to try and figure out if you like. This is solely for those ass-whoppings you give yourself in the gym and not for anything else! I've been really into a form of trance called 'electro'. Specifically, french electro. Which leads me to question, what is it with the french? At first, not even the french liked the french! And now, I'm all qui qui! :-) But yea, put on the monitors and apologize to your neighbors for the eargasms you're about to hear....don't say I didn't warn ya!

Justice - Phantom Part 2

Favorite youtube comment: "The church stole the cross from Justice!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvITDe9tURU

Justice - Genesis

Favorite Youtube comment: "Chuck Norris can't even top this"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThKNt-GY1ww

Sebastian - Greel (<--Another frenchie!)

Favorite Youtube comment: "This is what dubstep aspires to be like"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI2Tg1kinOA

Bloody Beetroots - We are from Venice

Favorite Youtube comment: "So much winning..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=delrXVb8oI4

Bloody Beetroots x Benny Benassi - I am Drunk

Favorite Youtube comment: "Dirtier than my google search history!" <--Classic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_nRqB4YzcE&feature=related

It's been some time hasn't it..

Yes, it's been quite - and I mean QUITE - a while since I've been back on the blogging trail, let alone thought about it. I suppose you're wondering why? Do I hate you all? Am I still Vegan? Have I regressed to pre-vegan fatty-ism? Is this even Alex typing this blog or his evil meat-eating twin? Or maybe you're wondering, will employment ever be the same again? What's with Occupy Cal? Will I step into the throne in Syria? No doubt, you've got the questions. Lucky for you though, I got the answers. At least, I hope I do.

Dearest readers, I apologize for my long overdue apology and post. I had some significant things happen in my life, traumatizing things, wonderful things and even delicious things. We've got a lot to catch you up on (refers to self in third person) so let's make haste. I'll take a moment so you can blend that vegan smoothie...don't worry, I'll wait.
(WAITING)

Okay, glad you're back. In these past months, I have made some pretty cool discoveries. One of which being: I feel totally happy and in my element riding my bike. Needless to say, I've hung the running shoes and my aspirations of making the elite kenyan runners eat my dust a fantasy for now. Instead, I turn to riding my bike and riding my bike as hard as possible with my gimpy legs. There's a discipline in the sport called 'time trialing' which is basically: YOU + Bike + really cool helmet and clothing + painful legs = time trialing. There's no one else around you..just you, the elements and your heart pumping at 194 bpm. Yea, it's brutal and yet so justifying. There's a reason they call it the test of truth - there's no hiding behind anything, no 'saving until the last moment' just a competition of YOU vs. YOUR WILL.

When I think about the challenges that I have faced over the past few months, I realize much of it can be described as interpersonal battles between me and my will. Sometimes I win, sometimes my will wins - and that's just the way the cookie crumbles. In these past few months I yearned for alone time on my bike - eschewing from riding with groups and racing, I opted instead for time trialing because of the places I would go. Not physically but internally. Imagine for a moment that you're legs are on fire, that you're breathing is audible and you're eyes are bloodshot. You wonder in your head 'why, oh why the f*ck am I doing this!?' In all the times I have asked myself this question, the answer has been the same: "because this is what I'm about." Resiliency, humility and hunger for more have become my motto as of late.

In all of this, I have learned that the greatest highs I've felt have sprung from the deepest lows I've experienced. Finding the heart and will power to push the pedals harder has inspired me like none other. So much so, I took 4 weeks off the bike and have since been in the gym, killing the weights and cycling hard on weekends. I crave that point where pain meets unbearable because I know that if I hold out a bit longer, I'll be stronger in the end. As cliche as it sounds, I believe that's a lot like life (ESPECIALLY after college!). It's easy to be happy when times are good...but it's when times go wrong that we see the personal integrity of people. That we see the difference between folding and focusing.

So consider this blog my vow to you all to bring you along my journey. Where it leads, I have no clue...I just know that my feet are moving forward and my head is in a good place. To answer your biggest question, "No, I don't plan on running for the King of Syria." To answer your second question: "Yes, I'm still vegan...and yes I'm motherf*cking back!"

Next blog will delve more into what's gone on and the music that pulled me through. But for now, sit back, rejoice and meet me at the intersection of pleasure and pain. :-)