Heather was born in Silver Spring Maryland. She moved to Belmont Massachusetts when she was six, where she lived until she graduated from high school in 2000.  Her athletic endeavors began as a 7 year old when she joined the local swim club.  Competing throughout high school, she swam D3 at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.  As an endurance athlete,  she excelled in the 500, the mile, and the 200 butterfly. 

The lure of Sonoma County is what thankfully brought Heather to us after she graduated from college.  It helped that her folks moved here after she graduated high school, so not only did she have some roots here, but also the perfect environment for her job as a naturalist intern.  In love with the ocean, the parks, and the weather, she quickly settled in as a Northern Californian.  “I began interning at an outdoor school in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I lived on Pescadero Road (I need to do the road race there this spring!) for a one year, and then decided to save money and move in with my parents up in Sonoma County.  I've been living in Santa Rosa ever since.”  Currently she works as a program coordinator and lead teacher for an environmental education  non-profit in Napa. She coordinates field trips with Napa and Sonoma county elementary school students at state parks and private land.  “I hike, restore creeks, sing songs about banana slugs, and work outside all year long!” 
 
Heather joined Norcal Velo in 2006 while working at Norcal Bike Sport. She got right into the swing of things by attempting  the Terrible Two 200-mile Road Race in 2006. Realizing at Fort Ross that she was not going to make the 16.5-hour time cut-off, she called it quits.  Fearless, and in better shape, she made another attempt in 2007. “I did the Davis Double a month before, rode King's Ridge from Santa Rosa (about 110 miles) 2 weeks before, and then tapered really well for the race. The conditions were perfect that day, amazing pink/orange sunrise, super chilly and foggy all morning, and never too hot.  I paced myself well, got to Fort  Ross at 6 pm (2.5 hrs before the year before), and realized then that I might actually make it back in time!! "Put, foot, in, front" I told myself over and over again as I crept up the ridiculously steep road with so slow a cadence I probably could have walked faster:)  Once I got into Monte Rio I finally let myself have a Mountain Dew, and rode as hard as I could all the way back to Sebastopol. It was the most emotional  finish I think I've ever had.  I had tears in my eyes when I crossed the finish line in 15:58. What a day on my trusty pink steed! 
 
Heather has been such a positive addition to the team.  She was a consistant competitor in our local Grasshopper Adventure Series and garnered a first place solo finish at the Boggs 8 hour race. She came first at the Lake Sonoma Bike Monkey race,  first at the Napa Valley Dirt Classic, and second at Sea Otter. Next year she will rock the Sport Class and be even stronger. We are so proud of her!  “This is my first year of devoting myself to racing. I’m super excited to learn more about my potential as a bike racer.  My fall/winter training paid off it seems, and I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt on a bike.  My goals for this season are to strengthen my technical skills on the mountain bike, race lots, and have fun!”  Having fun on the bike is definitely something Heather does. She always has a smile on her face and a positive attitude and is such a hard worker.  Seeing her blossom this year has been so fun to watch and we look forward to what the future has in store for this incredible athlete.  Thank you Heather for being such a pleasure to have as a teammate.

By Sarah Piccolo