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Amber, Cat and I went with Chad Sperry (the race director of the Mt Hood Cycling Classic) for some local elementary school talks today in the Dalles. We met up with Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks who are cyclocross racers for Kona. They are racing this week at Mt Hood as well.

thegang

I was paired up with Ryan and Chad. We spoke to over 500 kids. It was so cool. Chad prepared a DVD opening presentation and everything! We threw out water bottles and stickers. I don’t know who had a better time… us or the kids!

talk autographs catandchad

Here are some pictures from my amazing run through Post Canyon this morning. There are great views of Mt Hood, Mt Adams, and of course the local vineyards.

mthood mtadams

vineyard whitehouse postcanyonrun

As you can tell, Hood River is just an amazingly beautiful place. I couldn’t stop taking pictures on my run today. Everytime I thought, “okay this is the last one”… there would be something else beautiful to catch my eye.

Post Canyon is located just outside my front door, and it offers miles of single track trails for mountain biking and running. Jen Wilson, my host friend, says that she runs a 10 mile trail running loop through Post Canyon. She is going to take me on it next week after the stage race is over. I look forward to that run so much! I got a short taste of the trails this morning and I can’t wait to do a 10 mile loop through there… it’s absolutely gorgeous!

I am so jealous of all the people that live here. It really is a sight to behold.

powerbars

I am now in beautiful Hood River, OR getting ready for the Mt Hood Cycling Classic with my teammates Cat and Amber. They arrived last night– here is a picture of us all smiles, happy to be together once again!

smiles

My morning cup o’ Joe, even though I’d prefer to have the real thing who is back in Munich. But I can settle for this right now. ;)

morningcafe

Alright, time for my morning run through the canyon trails. More pictures and adventures to come!

My husband is visiting for a short weekend before I leave for Mt Hood on Sunday. He flies back to Munich the same day I fly to Hood River via Portland. It’s a short visit but I am so happy he is home!

kiss2 kiss1

We took these pictures with my new macbook laptop. I know you are all jealous because macs are the best computers EVER… ;) but that is okay… maybe you’ll have one someday too. :)

Alisha finished on the podium for the second straight week with a 2nd place finish overall at the Tri-Peaks Cycling Challenge in Russellville, Arkansas. This time, however, she was the solo rider for Webcor-Platinum. It was tough for Alisha to race alone against other teams such as Victory Brewing, Cheerwine, Colavita-Cooking Light, and Kenda Tire who all had 4 or more riders each on their squads.

Tri-Peaks is a 3 day stage race in Nortwest Arkansas starting with a downtown criterium, followed by 2 tough road races and finishing at the top of a grueling, 18% climb up Mount Nebo. Without the help of a team, Alisha had to play it conservative, making every move count. During the criterium, Alisha positioned herself in a 6 woman break early in the race. Two riders, Rachel Heal from Victory Brewing and Kate Bates of Nurnberger, attacked the break and finished ahead of Alisha’s chase group by 1:30 (min:sec).

Stage 2 was a 92 mile road race, where Alisha again positioned herself in a lead break of about 15 women during the last 20 miles of the race. The break formed after the last climb of the race, as the heat and distance started to wear on all the riders’ legs. Leigh Hobson of Victory Brewing soloed off the front of the break to win the stage, and Rachel Heal took the second place time bonus.

The final day was an 84 mile road race ending on the top of Mount Nebo. The climb is steep and long enough that a good climber could potentially make up several minutes deficit with a strong finish.

The racing started on the first climb of the day when Charm Breon of Cheerwine established a gap. Victory Brewing chased after Charm to prevent her from overtaking Rachel in the general classification (GC). There were several attacks from various riders on different teams to attempt to bridge up to Charm. A small group of three riders managed to break free with about 15 miles left to race.

Coming into the base of Mount Nebo, Charm had a whopping 8:45 on the field and the chase group had around 4:00 or so. Victory Brewing had several riders set tempo into the base of the climb. Alisha took advantage of the fast tempo and picked up the pace just enough around the first switchback of Nebo to see what riders would be able to follow.

The climb took it’s toll on the field. Alisha caught and passed the riders in the chase group one by one. She crossed the line 50 seconds ahead of Rachel, effectively ‘climbing’ into second place on GC. Rachel secured her race lead with the time she gained on Alisha in the first stage criterium and time bonuses.

Charm remained out of sight and took a memorable win on the most difficult stage of the Tri-Peaks Cycling Challenge.

The podium at the Joe Martin Stage Race

Alisha made an impressive debut with Webcor-Platinum over the weekend at the Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas, taking 2nd overall in the GC, her best finish yet in an NRC event, behind teammate Erinne Willock. The race covered 4 tough stages in just 3 days, including 2 60+ mile road races, an uphill time trial, and a downtown criterium. Webcor-Platinum finished the weekend with 3 riders in the top 10 and the overall team award.

Alisha raced wisely each day, putting herself and her teammates in the best possible positions for each stage. The first stage came down to the line between strong sprinting teams, Colavita and Team Lipton, while the Webcor-Platinum core group finished safely together a few seconds back. The 2nd road race stage was much the same, as Tina Pic and the sprinters put more time into the group to stay in the lead.

Webcor-Platinum showed their strength, though, during the 2.5 mile uphill time trial in stage 3. Despite riding the last 1.5 miles on a flat rear tire, Alisha powered into 3rd place in the Time Trial, which also pulled her into 3rd in the overall standings. Her teammate Erinne Willock took the stage win and the leader jersey, and Felicia Gomez finished in 4th place, highlighting Webcor-Platinum’s strength and power.

Going into the crit in stage 4, Alisha was sitting in 3rd place, 18 seconds behind Dotsie Bausch of Colavita, but 12 second ahead of Kori Seehafer of Team Lipton. Alisha was put in the perfect place to race aggressively to protect teammate Erinne’s lead from Dotsie. Kori attacked, as Webcor-Platinum had hoped, and Alisha surged forward to cover her attack. The two rode together to the end of the race. Kori took the final sprint by a few seconds, but Alisha finished solidly in 2nd, and put enough time on Dotsie to pull ahead by 3 seconds into 2nd place overall. This was Alisha’s first GC podium finish at an NRC event, and 4th top-5 GC finish this year.

See the following links for coverage of the races, including quotes by Alisha and teammates:

May 17 – Update:

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