Catharine Pendrel

Discovering Yoga has been a welcomed addition to my training regime.  One of the bonuses of being a full-time athlete is having more time for it!  Ironically, it is when we are crazy busy and think we don’t have time for it, that it is really needed!  It is amazing how taking time to slow down and breath deeply can alter an entire day. Escaping to a park on a 10hr layover to take in some sun.  Travel energy restored! So where does yoga fit into my cycling training? I like to start my day with it and this is something that everyone can do.   Take 10 minutes first thing in the morning to gently wake the body up with some sun salutations.   Start the day breathing deeply and becoming aware of how your body is feeling.   It takes only a few minutes to increase your range of motion and bring some heat into tight muscles.   This is also an ideal time to add in that core workout you like to avoid!   Spend another 10 minutes doing some crunches, planks, core rotation and hip stren

Centennial Cone Never having done any high altitude training before, I figured it was finally time to give it a try.  October isn’t the typical time for a cyclist to head to altitude, but this wasn’t about peaking for an event, it was about seeing how my body responded to it when it wasn’t going to mess up a World cup result. So by mid-October I was off to Colorado, first spending some time near Denver at 1700m and then heading up to 2800m for another 12 days. I think the first week was the hardest as I learned going too hard too early would feel horrible, but this was easily remedied by daily hot tub sessions so all was well. Whether or not altitude actually makes you faster at Sea level is still debatable after many many studies.   There are those who swear by it and those that debunk it.   There is some evidence that altitude works, not because it creates physiological changes, but rather because of a placebo or “training camp” effect. In other words you think yo

  Sweet pumpkins at our host hotel   Coming into the finish of Iceman in the lead is one of the more memorable moments of my career.   With 4000 people starting the race before the elite women and a beer garden at the end, there are a lot of people waiting for us at the finish, making a lot of noise. Perspective; it’s a funny thing, For the last hour of racing I thought I wasn’t able to create a pace or move hard enough to shake Chloe, meanwhile Chloe thought “ Catharine’s pace was insidious… I had a long time to suffer on her wheel.  I wish I could say that I was waiting to make a move… but that move was only going to be dropped.”   It was a lesson for me in sticking to my guns and persevering even if success is not immediately apparent . After racing Iceman two years ago …my first race as the World champion, I learned a thing or two about how to race the course.   DO NOT DO ALL THE WORK!   Actually that isn’t fair; Chloe Woodruff and I traded up pulls equally in 2011 for

          Luna again claims the number 1 team position in 2013 By Monday afternoon I was in Oslo and greeted by sunny skies, a beautiful 21 degrees and teammates Georgia and Dusty.  We settled into our condo in Hafjell for the week.  I liked Norway immediately…probably as it felt like home.  Driving from Oslo to Hafjell I could easily have been driving from Vancouver to Whistler…although highway speeds were much slower! The course in Hafjell was a nice change from the now normal charge from manmade feature to feature.   I felt like I was just out riding trails…unfortunately the RedBull coverage didn’t showcase the course that well.   There was a lot of climbing and rocky descents with enough shale to puncture more than a few tires on race day. After a relaxing week of good riding and team-time including dinners in Lillehammer and Oslo I was towing the line of the final World cup of 2013. It has definitely been a turbulent year for me, never finding my best form or confi

After World Champs in South Africa I got to spend another 2 days with team Canada taking in all-you-can-eat Sushi on the Indian Ocean in Durban, riding through Sugar cane fields and monkey havens with Maghs, David and Dan and of course the Tiger-Tiger Worlds after party.         Sushi sandwich  From there it was on to another adventure in Solothurn, Switzerland.  When I first raced World Cups in 2007, Sandra Walter and I stayed with her aunt and uncle in Bern for several weeks, loading up their Golf every weekend to head to the races.  There I also met the Schneitter’s.  Nathalie was one of Sandra’s teammates and her family welcomed myself and other visiting Canadians into their home.  They became my #1 cheering squad in Europe. Below Sepp, Prisca, nathalie and Sonya So it was back to my roots for a week with Nathalie and her family, speaking a mixture of English, French and hand gestures.   The weather was fantastic, great for rivers swims in the Aare, good