more Mariposa School photos

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.

… or at least that’s how long Robin told Chris the Lake Lure ride would be. ha!

My last ride in North Carolina was with a wonderful group of friends, led by Deb Elliott, around Lake Lure. We started in Marion, and headed out for the 4+ hour ride. That’s right… Lake Lure is a 4 hour ride, NOT 2 hours. But Chris didn’t figure that out until we stopped at the halfway point for some food… and we’d already been out for 2 hours.

Now Chris didn’t think this was funny at all, but I sure did. Whew! What a great trick Robin! I’ll have to use it sometime. Man it was hilarious. I mean, seriously I think it was the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks. But I’m not laughing at you Chris… you’re definitely the victim here.

Anyways, the ride was very scenic, with lots of big rolling climbs and a few switchback climbs that were gradual enough you could get in a nice comfortable tempo going up. Lake Lure is the area that Dirty Dancing was filmed- my mom informed me of that after my ride. It’s really pretty around the lake area.

Deb and Robin both had on their new Kenda Tire kits. I think they look great. I like the look of the uniform.

At the beginning of the ride I thought I was going to have to turn around and go back to the car because it was still really windy from the winter storm that had went through the North Carolina Mountains the day before. Everyone was pacelining and stuff, and I just kept thinking, “What are we doing? This isn’t what I signed up for…” But finally the wind died down and it was really nice.

I ended the day with over 85 miles. What a great way to finish up training in the States!

I’m sitting in the Charlotte airport and wanted to make a quick post before I left US soil. It’s been a nice three weeks here in North Carolina, and I’ve gotten in good training and seen a lot of good friends. Most importantly, I’ve gotten to spend time with my parents and brother. I enjoyed a cozy home environment with the ones I love the most… what more could I ask for?

Now as I wipe the tears away from the sadness of leaving behind my parents, brother, and dear friends… I have the jitters and anxious happy shakes because I get to see Joe in a few more hours! All I do is sleep for a bit and wake up and he’ll be there waiting for me!

I will write an update about my last ride in NC and give you a full report from Munich tomorrow. Take care

I’ve been watching movies pretty much all day because we have a bad wind advisory here and I couldn’t ride. So… to pass the time, this is what I’ve seen:

*Wag the Dog
*Tripletts of Bellville
*some Keaneu Reeves movie, dunno what it was called
*Anchorman
*I Know What You Did Last Summer
*The Parent Trap- new one with Lindsy Lohan
*The Terminal
*Billy Madison

As you can tell, I’ve been bored. I’ve talked to Joe several times on the phone today, and I think he got tired of me calling. But oh well, he’ll get over it. So it’s been nice to pass the time watching movies on the multiple movie channels my parents get at the house.