Well, so I had a crash at Philly that successfully took me out of racing Nature Valley this week. For now I am living vicariously through my teammates and I am doing the best I can to heal up my shoulder for nationals.

I haven’t been doing much, but I thought that I would write a little update.

Basically I’ve spent a lot of time watching TV or laying around and surfing the net. Last night, I watched 2 hours of “So You Think You Can Dance?“… nothing like a reality tv show to turn you into a complete technical dance expert. Seriously, I know absolutely nothing about dancing, but after watching this show for 10 minutes I automatically turn into this crazed critical dancing judge. “Oh, they really screwed up there”… “Man, they are SO out of step” … “You see that? They are completely out of sync” … “They were okay, I mean, they hit the moves dead on but there just wasn’t any chemistry between them.” Wow, yes I was amazed at how much I knew about dancing after watching this show for just a few minutes.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how long it takes to do things with one arm… and my left arm at that. If you think climbing a mountain on a bike is hard… then just try shaving your legs left-handed.

Thanks to all who have sent me get well emails- it really means a lot and I have enjoyed hearing from you. I hope to see you back out on the road again soon!

Alisha Lion sustained a first degree separated shoulder after a crash 10km into the Philadelphia Liberty Classic. While her injuries were relatively mild to others who were in the same crash, she has been sidelined by the doctor for Nature Valley.

Alisha is currently in North Carolina resting and healing her shoulder before getting back on the bike at the end of the week. She will be cheering and following her Webcor-Platinum Teamates from her parents’ home.

Her thoughts are with all the girls who will be duking it out at Nature Valley this week… go Webcor-Platinum!

Alisha had an extended stay this year after the Mt Hood Cycling Classic in Hood River Oregon. Read about her reasons for staying in her “hometown” of Hood River in the local paper, The Hood River News.

I had a great ride with Mike Jones on an epic loop through Lolo Pass around Mt Hood today. There’s a 7 mile dirt climb section!

The views of Mt Hood were amazing, even though there was lots of clouds and overcast today. The weather just adds to the epicness of the ride… is that a word??
Now it’s time to pack for Philly. Here’s the pictures from the ride that Mike took. I have some that I took too, but I need to pull them off my camera first and then go thru and upload them to my site.

Til then, enjoy Mike’s Great Shots!

Alisha Lion wins the Queen Stage of the 2006 Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

With 7500ft of climbing in 75 miles, the Three Summit Road Race is the most difficult race of the season (in terms of climbing) aside from Elite Road Nationals to be held later in early July.

The race began with a long descent into the city of Parkdale and rolled to the bottom of the first epic climb to Lost Lake. This climb took riders on logging roads covered in moss and completely closed to traffic. In this climb alone the elevation gain was 2300ft.

Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics), Alisha, and Mara Abbott (Rio Grande/Sports Garage) crested the first climb together after sprinting for the KOM. Allison Powers (Rio Grande/Sports Garage) blazed past the trio on the descent, with Alisha the only one to be able to grab her wheel.

The riders then hit the second climb leading up to Vista Ridge. This was the steepest climb of the day with sections of a 15% grade and total elevation gain 2100ft.
The second climb was much the same, with Leah, Alisha, and Mara riding away from Allison early in the climb and Brooke Oruda (Colavita-Cooking Light) after the KOM. The group came back together at the end of the 2nd long descent and headed into the 3rd and final climb of the day.

The last climb returns the riders back to the Cooper Spur Ski Resort. The elevation gain is 2400ft over more than 10 miles. The finish is on a steep 200m stretch that really sticks it to the riders’ legs after all the previous climbing.

Leah and Alisha took turns surging and powering up the climb to gain as much time on Allison as possible to overtake her in the General Classification. Mara was smart and just sat on the pace, conserving and trying to protect Allison’s lead.

In the final 3km Mara tried to attack Alisha and Leah, but was unsucessful. Alisha countered Mara’s attacks, but was also unsucessful after the long tempo set on the climb up to the ski resort. Deciding to leave it for a stage win, Alisha powered with all her might up the final steep 200m for the first NRC win of her career.

Mara held on for 2nd, and Leah was 3rd securing her overall win for the second straight year in a row.

>>Full Results

VeloNews Article

Alisha dedicated her stage win to Dotsie Bausch who crashed out of the Downtown Criterium the previous night and sustained a broken collarbone.

Well, the Mt Hood Cycling Classic has come to a close for 2006. I ended up winning the 3-summit road race today and taking 2nd overall. (I think I have a thing for 2nd places lately!)

I had such a great time racing with Amber and Cat. They did awesome! Amber was 7th overall and Cat was 20th! Way to go Webcor-Platinum girls…

After the race we hung out for a cookout at the Cooper Spur Resort and Chad had the podium area all set up and ready to roll right at 3pm. Amber and Cat were planning on driving halfway back to California after the race, so it was really nice that he was on time and we were able to hit the road right after the ceremony.

We got back to our home in Hood River and I helped Amber and Cat unload the car and repack the car so they could hit the road as quickly as possible. It was sad seeing them go, but with a 5 or more hour drive I understand that they needed to get on out the door.

I spent the evening on the phone with my parents and then watched some Law and Order re-runs and the Incredibles on DVD.
I then treated myself to a bubble bath. I haven’t had a bubble bath in quite some time. I lit candles and set up my computer so I could hear all my new music that Cat let me import into iTunes. (Thanks Cat!) I listened to Jack Johnson and some Hear Music compilations… it was nice to just lay back and relax with nothing to do all evening.

After I got out of the bath I talked on the phone to Cat and Amber to see what their progress was on their journey back to the Bay area. It was funny because they had just gotten off the phone with Felicia and then Christine… we had a Webcor-Platinum round robin cell phone conversation going on this evening, that’s for sure.
Great job to all the ladies who were out there and suffered through those three climbs today. That was a tough race. My legs are still siezing up everytime I stand up and walk around or try to go up and down the stairs. Hmm… guess I rode my bike on some pretty hard climbs today, eh?
Time for bed now, More soon!

In the downtown Hood River criterium tonight Dotsie crashed in the downhill corkscrew turn. Alisha would like to personally wish Dotsie a quick and speedy recovery, as her crash effectively took her out of the race.

A crash is never something that a racer wishes on anyone, and it is very sad that the peleton is loosing such a strong racer for this event. Get well Dotsie and hope to see you back in the pack soon!