Catharine Pendrel

Canada Cup Finals: Mt. Washington, BC Friday I took my first look at our race course. I think I have to credit Mt. Washington for putting together the best course on the circuit. It is also one of the most beautiful rides I’ve done lately. We skirted Alpine meadows with a small lake and when going easy could enjoy views of still snowy peaks in the distance. The race course contained 3 climbs broken up by rooty descents and rocky mounds. The climbs varied from rooty single track to open roads - some with substantial steep sections. I opted to use the dually this weekend and am glad I did. It’s important in the middle of a racing block to keep riding as fun as possible and ripping down the descents on the dually did this for me. Due to showers Friday night and the fact we are at the end of a tough racing block the chief commissaire opted for a shorter race assigning 4 laps to the women and 5 to the men. From the Gun Alison Sydor took off and Kiara led the chase. Wendy, Mical a

Saturday July 15th Keith, Matt H and I headed up the hill to Sun Peaks, site of this year’s cross country mountain Bike Nationals. The temperatures were pleasant, creeping into the low 20’s, but I was fighting off yawns after a less than restful sleep. The women’s race was scheduled to do five laps starting at 11:00, the men 6 at 2:00. Around ten I started my warm up. My legs were feeling good and easy handled my warm up intensity sessions. A good sign. After completing my warm up I headed down to the start finish area. The Junior races were still underway, taking longer than anticipated and it was decided that the women’s race would be shortened to 4 laps and the start would be pushed back to 11:30. Time to chill out for a bit. At 11:00 I hoped back on my bike to keep my legs warm. The waiting made them feel heavy. Being the fifth ranked Canadian in UCI points I was fifth called to the line. A nice front row starting position. The course saw some mid week changes to it –

Canada Day saw us up at Sun Peaks bright and early for a work out before Norco VPS Fest was set to begin. The Nationals course had yet to be marked but we hoped on a bit of the older course and surrounding fire roads. After the ride we hung out in the Norco tents meeting a lot of the staff, getting some photo shots and helping people get out on their Norco Demo bikes for a day of DHing. After a busy and successful day and tons of wicked draw prizes we retired to their Condo for a feast, refreshments and good times. Never ones to stick around for long though; Sunday Keith and I were off to Revelstoke to visit his family and my soon to be in-laws and of course to do some riding. The trails in Revelstoke are so fun that we decided to shift my rest day to Tuesday to get in some more trails. So Fun! After Monday night at home, enough time to give our cats a little TLC, we were back on the road Tuesday. This time to Penticton to visit the Bike Barn and catch up with that crew. After

Almost three weeks have passed with scant thought put into this blog. It has actually been a pretty busy time however. Following the Norba at Mt. Snow. Matt and I headed back to Karen and Matt’s for a couple days before heading to the World Cup in Mont. St. Anne, Qu. The weather in New Hampshire definitely made a turn for the better and we enjoyed sunshine before driving the 5hr drive to Quebec almost directly north of us. The WC race was Sunday so we still had a lot of time to prepare and ride the slightly altered course. Containing most of the course’s trademark sections I was quickly feeling at home. After last weekend’s blow up, this weekend I was going to try to pace better. The race got off to a good start. I had a decent call up and remained in the top 40 through the start lap, loosing a couple spots before the climb, only to regain them when it steepened. The first lap went well, but I didn’t feel the fire I had the previous week. Lap two I had a crash and then lost