Catharine Pendrel

Skiing up at Stake lake Sunday was a little rowdier than the usual xc ski crowd. There was ice moto racing at the lake and it was crazy. The motorbikers raced this small circular track. They could really rip on the ice and the lean angles. Yikes. Aside from the exhaust it was pretty cool.

Keith and I were out on the mtb’s the other day. It always feels special when you can get a solid ride in outside during the winter and have sunshine no-less. As I was making my way down a snowy descent I heard a rumbling off to the left. Across from me, on the opposing hillside was a herd of 6 mountain sheep! For those that have never seen one in person they’re actually pretty big with amazing curved horns. Neat! Last Saturday was one of those rare days where you get 9 degrees and sunshine in January. It had been warming up for a couple days so the roads weren’t too wet or gritty and I was able to sneak in a 4hr road ride. Unfortunately the warm weather has turned the mtb trails into unrideable goup from what was well packed trails thanks to all the holiday foot traffic. It is January and won’t last long though so I’ll take it where I can get it! This week I’m off to New Brunswick to visit mom and Dad and some friends. NB has had some unreal snowfall this year so I’m looking forward

Sandra's shaking up some bevies Keith and I headed to Vancouver Monday and got in a ride at SFU before heading to Sandra’s for New Years. We cooked up a storm of 7 different pizzas (my favs were gorgonzola and grape and roasted veggie), sorbet and a fun assortment of bevies. It was an awesome night topped off with a piñata smashing fest –made by a real Mexican;-) Thanks Hector! My Photography does not do them justice After a pancake breakfast a small crew of us headed out to tackle some snowy climbs at Bunzen lake so we could giggle, crash and slide our way down the slippery descents.

So it is now a new year and for me that means a new team and a new bike. My Orbea Alma arrived in Kamloops in time for our New Years trip to the coast. Although joining the Luna team was going to make travelling a lot less stressful I was a little nervous to switch bikes after 3 years on Norcos. But Julien Absalon and Georgia Gould have proven that the Orbea is definitely a winning bike if you’ve got the form. It only took a couple minutes on the Alma for me to feel completely at ease and excited to be racing my full carbon hardtail. It is super light, decked out with Shimano xtr and mavic wheels. It’s super easy to flick around and handles the snow beautifully! Ohh and I’m loving the Fox fork! Keith is also excited about his nearly new race bike....a Norco EXC 1.0 :-)

Sometimes you’re just not supposed to get that good workout in. It was a pretty nice day out so I decided to forgo the trainer and head outside for my workout out. It was the 3rd week of a block and my energy and motivation were lacking. As I got further into my ride though my head was coming around and I started looking forward to some intensity. As I ramped up the speed and pushed into a nice little headwind my bike all of a sudden slid to a stop as my rear wheel completely locked up. I got off to see I had sheared my derailleur hanger in half! My derailleur cage was completely mangled and my frame even managed to suffer some scrapes. Without a chain tool I looked at my bike in dismay thinking of what a 20 km hike in bike shoes would be like. Fortunately a city bus was heading my way and the driver took pity on me and gave me a lift in to town where Todd and Trevour at Full Boar got me rolling again.