ASU grad racing professionally this weekend
By Steve Behr

Alisha Lion was already familiar with competition. In fact, she loved it.

She was a five-time state champion in cross country and track and field at East Burke while in high school and ran first for North Carolina State and then Appalachian State before graduating in 2003.

Lion was fast, but since graduation, she’s learned to go a bit faster. The former runner is now a professional cyclist and a member of the Ford-Baise cycling team.

Lion, 24, will be racing with her teammates in the Bank of America Invitational Criterium in Charlotte Saturday. She’s come a long way from her earlier days of cycling, which she used as a way to stay in condition for her running while at Appalachian State.

She became interested in doing triathlons, which got her on a bicycle. Lion was quickly hooked on cycling and decided to do it full time.

“I was running and I wanted to do triathlons, so I got a bike. I started riding around (Boone) while I was in school and I just fell in love with cycling, especially in this area.”

Lion, a Morganton native, has participated in the Blood, Sweat and Gears bike ride, which is the main fund raiser for the Watauga Red Cross, the past two years. She uses it more for a chance to return to the area and to get in a good workout as opposed to winning it.

She saves her competitive riding for the professional circuit, which takes her and her teammates all over the country. Lion’s first race was the Greenville Training Series in Greenville, S.C., where she finished second. Since then, she hooked up with the Ford-Baise team and has ridden in races from California, to Texas to Virginia to Colorado.

She got on the Ford-Basis team this season by sending team manager Nicole Freedman, who was on the American’s 2000 Olympic team in Sydney, Australia, a resume. The two talked on the phone and Freedman asked Lion to go to a race in Colorado as a guest.

She tried out and was selected for the team.

“They liked what I brought to the team on the bike and off the bike,” Lion said. “I became full time this year.”

Last week, she and her team were in Altoona, Pa., for the Tour de Toona.

“I’ve always been competitive,” Lion said. “I was a state champion in cross country and track while I was in high school and I was on the varsity team in college, so it was kind of natural to do something to stay fit. It was a good exercise hobby that I wanted to take to the next level.”

Lion said the upcoming Bank of America Criterium is one of the biggest races of the year. More than 215 professional racers are expected to descend on the multi-lap race.

The women’s race begins at 5:30 p.m., while the men start at 7. Lion and her teammates were in Boone for a couple of days this week to rest for the criterium and to enjoy the area’s scenery.

“It’s the biggest criterium of the year,” Lion said. “It’s a short, fast loop of Charlotte.”

Lion feels most comfortable in stage races and in climbing. She attributes that to her cross country running and the distances that went with it.

“I think that running transferred over tremendously for the climbing aspect of cycling,” Lion said. “But cycling has a whole mental layer that makes it completely different from a running race. The strongest rider doesn’t always win. You have to be smart and make your move at the right time because there’s a drafting element involved.”

Lion won’t be in town very long. Married to former Watauga runner Joe Lion, she will be joining him in Munich, Germany soon. Joe Lion’s business took him overseas and Alisha Lion is looking forward to being with her husband.

The two live in Holly Springs the rest of the year.

“I’m excited,” she said. “It’s sad that this is the last race for me of the year, but I’ll be happy to see my husband. I haven’t seen him in over a year.”