Catharine Pendrel

While most of my team mates are killing it on the Cyclocross scene, I’ve been home learning how to make cross country skiing a better training tool…. as well as hoping to try my hand at some racing. I was invited to take part in two ski camps, the Glenn Bond ski camps and the Silver Star Super camps.  Both were fantastic! It felt so amazing to be back on skis. I spent 5 days living at Silver Star, footsteps away from the trails and got 2 lessons in a day separated by lunch at the Bull Dog.  There is nothing quite like living on the mtn and skiing from your door.  Rather than worrying about “getting in a work out” I wanted to be fresh for my lessons and get the most out of them.  It snowed every night and the conditions became more and more like wonderland. Leah Guloien and Sandra Walter join in for the weekend SuperCamp! Words of Wisdom After a week there, Keith and I had to test out the DH conditions at Sun Peaks and our local xc ski trails

This weekend Keith and I travelled down to the coast for Cyclocross nationals.  After a nice drive over the Mtns. Friday night we awoke to cool rain on Race day.  Hey it’s cross. Keith raced first, settling into a top 10 ride only to flat a front wheel, change it and then have problems with his spare…settling for 18 th in the end.  It was a bummer after going into the race feeling strong and having worked his way up from a back row call up.  Local boys and Interior cross racers Chris Mcneil and Martin Bojesen went on to claim 2 nd and 3 rd in Masters 1-2.  Wahhoo By my afternoon start the rain had picked up and the temperatures dropped.  With no cross UCI points and last minute decision to register I got the experience of last row call up, but I like a challenge so I focused on a good start and by the 3 rd corner I was in the top 10.  For 3 laps I felt technically awesome on my bike, nailing corners, descending fast and running...well not so fast but doing it.  I caught u

Ok so it’s the fall and you try to take some time off the bike and do other stuff like Hot Yoga, Zumba, trail hikes and running, but my sponsors keep sending me awesome stuff to try!  Luckily ec3d compression wear has also sent me some goodies to test!!! So what are some of my favourite new toys of 2012-2013? Well let’s go Obvious:  The Orbea Oiz is a thing of beauty and has made the “off season” a lot of fun.  The Oiz rides as smooth as it looks I have been testing a lot of different bikes and wheel sizes lately and it seems to be coming down to what bike do you enjoy the most, because when you push them equally hard each bike gives you a fast ride! Fox dropper seat post: Unreal for those mountain adventures that have you climbing up for 2hrs to get 30+km of singletrack descending! http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/013/Content/AuxilaryProduct/DOSSseatpost.html App: Also new from F ox Racing for 2013 is a phon

Roc D’azur A trip to France was the perfect way to end the mtn bike season.  Flying into Nice, I enjoyed the beautiful Cote D’Azur and hospitality of Orbea bicycles as we launched their latest beauty, the Oiz. 2013 Oiz Last year at Worlds, Orbea’s engineers came to visit the Luna team to ask for our feedback in creating a great xc race dual suspension.  They were surprised by some of the things we were looking for, one being that I saw the biggest advantage of a dual suspension as maintaining power over flat rough terrain (seeing more rough grass sections on our WC courses) and for singletrack climbing rather than on the descents.  Races can be lost on descents, but only occasionally won.  After our meeting I kept in touch over email with the engineers and in June the first prototype was ready and delivered to me just days before the MSA World Cup.  I was able to win that race in large part due to the efficiency of the bike.  I just made fewer mistakes than the other