After having taken a week off the cross bike to go to Boston to visit family, I was feeling very rested, and a bit apprehensive (aka. rusty on my skills) for the 3rd race in the series.  But alas, as Gabe says, you never know how you will do, sometimes the days you feel the worst or most anxious, end up being you best races!  So, going with that, I was excited to race at night under the lights in SF.  The course was fast, mostly flat, tight turns, and with a few steep run ups and a rad bmx style half-pipe like drop and rise (where all the fans/hecklers congregated).  I had time to pre-ride the course before my race, and felt decent, just a little frustrated that I didn't seem to have the courage to ride 2 of the 3 the steep short climbs...Anywho- I felt good knowing that I would get plenty of practice dismounting and re-mounting on the course:)  I got a call up to the start line again which allowed me to put myself in the front row, sweet!  The race started, and I felt great!  I battled with a number of women throughout the race. I definetely had the advantage on the flat twisty turns with my low center of gravity and little mountain bike.  But, a lot of the women were catching and passing me when I was running up something they could ride up.  I guess that's cross for ya:)  Anywho- I gave it my all, and did have one shining moment when I made an aggresive move to overtake a woman at the top of a steep ride up.  I made it up just a little faster than her, and then took the outside line on the tight right hand turn, and dropped her!  I sprinted to the finish, and even though my friend Alexis Collin out-sprinted me at the line, I'm proud of my result.  11th place for the night and that has somehow managed to land me at 5th overall in the series!!  Sarah P. had a great race finishing 8th in the A's, and I think we are both excited about the rest of the races!  Thank you Alexis-mama for your courageous bottle feed, I was so lucky to have such a great friend there to miraculously land the bottle in my hand for me when I was incapable of coordination of any kind.  Also, thank you Gabe for your support and encouragement!  Thanks for reading,
 
Heather

Tonight we headed to Sierra Point for the 3rd Pilarcitos race. It was a night race under construction lights and a full moon that was a creepy orange smog induced hue.  It was cool though and there was great energy all around. 21 women were in the A cat and I got a great start and settled in 4th. I had a technical mishap which cost me in the end as I faltered up the hill after the run-up and was in the wrong gear, losing the pack. I then got passed by a roadie gal and settled for 8th. It was my best Super Prestige out of the other 2 but I still wanted to do better as I felt great. It was a perfect example how a small error can be a missed opportunity. Barb Howe won followed by Kathleen Hannon, Sarah Bamberger, Melissa Shultz, Stella Carey, Karen Brems, the roadie gal who got me at the end, myself, and Mary Anne Hunter for the top 9. Alison our Gianni and Norcal friend came in a strong 11th which was very respectable for her first big cross race of the season.   Most importantly the course rocked, lost of twisty turns, and pretty much all rideable if you were in the right gear. I honestly could not down shift in front so had to ride my big ring the entire time, making for some slow hill climbs but still felt super strong and had a great time. Heather Cafferata put together a strong 11th in the B field. I started the race in 10th overall so will definitely get a call up again for the next one at Golden Gate which should be a fun spectator course for those of you all who want to come check out cross--

-Sarah P.