Catharine Pendrel

Waldek -the man behind the women- on the balcony of our hotel in Offenburg. It was full on spring in Offenburg. The course is surrounded by blooming fruit orchards and vineyards. There were thousands of Spectators out enjoying the sun and racing Sunday, creating an awesome atmosphere. Many fans rode cruiser bikes there so the orchards were makehift bike parking. Canadian Gals! I've been horrible at taking pictures so am borrowing Rob's. For more pictures and race stories check out Canadiancyclist.com Georgia and I riding together mid race. We had wicked weather leading up to the race making the course mostly dry and fast. Yeah Sunshine! Luna takes the team title again with my 8th, Georgia's 13th and Katerina's 26th. Yes those are 5L cans of Beer. Today Zeph and Waldek started the drive to Spain. They are awesome and definitely a huge part of the Luna Team's success. The gals get to fly in so we headed to Frankfurt today and fly to Madrid tomorrow.

After working myself over rather nicely at Houffalize I decided to try being a little smarter and conservative this weekend. I love the course in Germany with lots of time in the woods and was excited to race it. The start was okay, but I let myself get squeezed out a couple times and ended up in the 20’s before fighting my way back up. Going into lap one though I was still within sight of the leaders. I got up to Sabine’s wheel and after being blocked by her a couple times trying to get by I figured there were worse wheels to be stuck behind. Sabine, Lene and I caught up to Georgia and the 4 of us were in a group together for about 3 laps. I felt comfortable on their wheels, but momentary inattention combined with Ren joining us allowed the other two to get away from me. Lap 4 I decided it was time to step it up and Lene and I would yo yo back and forth with the gap widening and closing. It felt great to be able to step it up the last quarter of the race and also made things

We spent Monday to Thursday near Houffalize in a house we had rented for the week. I don’t think I’ve been that worked from a race in a long time. I felt like crap for 2 days and by the time I started some intensity Wednesday my legs were still angry with me. Wednesday afternoon we drove to Huy to watch the finish of Fleche Wallone. We got to catch the last 500m up the wall of Huy (steep!). It’s kinda crazy to see all the classic and tour riders up close. They’re just human after all- young lean guys suffering. I was hoping I’d get to cheer on the Canadian women for their race, but we missed it. Afterwords we headed to Liege for some Thai food. Georgia’s family has been staying with us creating some nice non-bike-focused conversation and making sure we’re all eating well, very well. The weather has been pretty gray with a dense layer of moisture always in the air, but not much rain. The grass is so green and all the blossom and tree buds have opened up. Thursday we drove to O

So after Houffalize I was given a new nickname, JD (for John Deere), because of my tractor-like desire to pull people around a course, short track, whatever. Good news is that when I can pull people around and still stay in the top 5 I’ll get a nickname upgrade, JDTI, John Deere Turbo injection. Oh yeah.

How do they get the fruit filling inside the waffles? I’m not sure, but they’re delicious. I arrived in Frankfurt Germany on Thursday and met up with Georgia, Katerina, Zeph, Waldek and Georgia’s mom Susan and partner Bo at the airport. From there we drive to Houffalize through German and Belgian country side. Houffalize is a small town with cobbled streets and stone houses. We rented a place outside of town in Cologne. It’s a great house with a wood fireplace, deer in the back yard and an overly friendly jack Russell next store. It felt more like fall than spring when we arrived and I was regretting that I hadn’t packed my winter gloves as we did our road spin into Houffalize. Day 2 we rode into Houffalize and hoped on the course for some easy laps. The course is fun with lots of climbing up streets and trails and multiple line descents through the woods. On the way home we picked up some fruit filled waffles (cherry and peach) and some tarts to go with dinner. I don’t know how Eur

This morning I awoke to a great view out our bedroom window. It’s gonna be a good ride day! I got home late last Monday after a flight delay which leads to a missed connection. I’m pretty used to airports by now though and found a nice little area to finish watching 24hrs solo on my computer and do some stretching. Just being away 2 weeks has lead to a lot of catching up…. Well maybe it was the 100 lbs on new gear I brought home and had to unpack plus the two bikes I had to assemble. All good though! I kept myself very busy till Keith got home from work and we headed out with the guys for the after work group ride. The guys have been busy while I was away and there is a very cool trail network arising from the dead pine debris littering Kamloops. Keith and I have gotten in a couple great rides and I’ve gotten in some miles on my new Orbea Diva road bike. I’ve never had a 16.5 lb road bike before and am loving being back on Durace! Friday night a bunch of us headed out to the local pub

Yes, the farmer tan has once again marked my skin. By my 7th day in Arizona I appear to be developing a tan rather than the initial red glow... and they laughed at me using SPF 45 Sun Block! Waldek, our team manager/soigneur and philospher has been a constant source of wisdom and advice. After drinking only 2 of 4 water bottles at the last race he has been continually expounding the importance of hydration. “Water is powerful. It moves boats”. He’s always good for a quote. My job at the 2nd NMBS was not only to finish well, but to completely drain my bottles every lap. This job was made easier by the fact it was a 40+ minute lap and 30 degrees out. The penalty for not drinking would be cleaning the water bottles of the entire team. The race I got my first front row call up for an NMBS race and was ready to gun it for the front. My start got off well, but I saw my team mate Katerina go down hard on the pebbly ground before the single track. The course narrows really quickly and I found

The Luna Rig Saguaro Cacti - It takes 50 years for each limb to sprout At the course> The venue itself was pretty flat but mountains surrounded us on all sides NMBS 2 in Fountain hills Arizona was an Omnium event. We arrived Monday after a long day on the road to be greeted by pleasant temperatures and many Saguaro Cacti. Racing Started Friday with a super D (more aptly named TT), Short track Saturday and xc Sunday. This meant we had a pretty relaxed schedule so lots of time for desert rides, coffee and putting the feet up. Keith had no sympathy when I complained of boredom one evening. The mechanics were stoked because the free time meant they could get in some wicked rides. Tuesday night all the mechanics and a couple riders got together for a BBQ and I got the inside scoop on how not to be a pain in the but rider! The week was also a good chance to get to know my team mates better without so much other stuff going on. Super TT – the course was a sub 20 minute predominantly fire