Alisha finishes 4th in the Sunset Road Race and gives a quote to the local paper. Redlands News Scan
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Alisha finishes 13th in a cold & wet 102,5km road race.
Today I spent the morning volunteering at Mariposa Elementary School. 
It was wonderful to be in a classroom, as my degree from Appalachian State is in Elementary Education. My dad would be proud to know that I am using my degree in some fashion. 
I talked to two 5th grade classes, all of third grade, and then all of 4th grade. The talks went very well… I touched on bike safety, how I got into cycling, what it’s like to be a female professional cyclist, ect… but the main point that I drove home to the kids was to “go for your goals and dreams.”
After my presentations, the teachers thanked me for coming and all of them commented on how inspired the kids were after hearing me talk. I hope that all of the kids at Mariposa are doing well and going for their dreams… whatever they may be!
read Kele’s comments about this picture on her Blog
The good news is that the sun has finally arrived in Redlands. Today the weather was a warm and springy 72 degrees… I actually rode with no leg warmers today! I thought I was going to have to faint after all the crazy weather we’ve had in California this month.
I really had a great time with Kele in San Dimas. We stayed with Joe and Jen Zambrano in Pasadena… right near the Rose Bowl. We’ve made a home with the Zambrano’s the past couple years during the San Dimas stage race. It’s become quite a tradition… and it feels like going home every time we stay there.
I also had a very pleasant surprise during this race– I met up with Gary Dowd, a friend of mine from Boone, NC. Gary and his family moved out to San Dimas, CA a couple years ago from Boone. He was on the first Wednesday Night Magic Cycles shop ride that I went on just a couple years ago, and I enjoyed many Jim Harmon group rides with Gary and others. In fact, anytime I go home I always try to hit up a Harmon group ride… it feels like I’m going back to where I started from, and I love seeing old friends.
So, Gary showed up at the Road Race at San Dimas before the start and was yelling my name, “Alisha Lion?? Has anyone seen Alisha Lion??” … I waved to him just before we took off for our race, and the entire time during the race Gary was cheering me on. He was on his bike as well, so he cruised around to different points of the race and cheered. It was cool to have someone from North Carolina there.
After the crit on Sunday Gary and his wife hung out with me and Kele at Starbucks, and then let us shower at their house before the drive to Redlands. It was a nice treat… especially since Starbucks and coffee are always welcome in my daily agenda. oh yeah, the shower was nice too… hahahahaha…
I must say that the weather we had in Fresno was some of the worst I have ever raced in. During our road race we had hail and it really HURT! Here is what I felt like during the race:
A great big thank you to Denise and her husband for letting the Velo Bella women take over their home during the race weekend. They were amazing hosts, and it was really nice to have a home for the entire team. 