Catharine Pendrel

On Friday Keith, myself and the cats piled in the car and headed over to visit his parents in Revelstoke. No longer in training mode for a bit we didn't try to squish a ride in that friday, just enjoyed some BBQ'd burgers and Mt. Begbie beer. Saturday we drove out to Keystone standard basin - about 50 km North of Revelstoke towards the Mica damn- and then another 16km up gravel roads. The drive up the gravel road was slow so we decided to bike halfway. Immediately we felt the thinner air attacking our lungs and legs. It took us about 45 minutes just to reach the trailhead, then it turned into a tricky single track climb for about 15minutes before we were unleashed into the alpine fields. You could easily think you were in the Alps "Sound of Music like". You're surrounded by lush fields with alpine wild flowers, mountain peaks and valleys below. The trail is fun too. There are a couple hike a bikes, but mostly rideable. After about 1hr15 we reached the ca

The week was spent riding on the course (desc. below), checking out the national forest trails nearby, sharing cooking duties and resting up for the big day. The team relay was Tuesday and the course was very slick after a good rain deposit. Canada put out a strong race, but we were unable to hold off other countries for the podium. That night we went to the open air opening ceremonies. Dressed in many layers to keep warm we watched the Mauri people clad only in thongs – bare feet and all, perform a welcome challenge for us. Not holding true to our heritage of cold weather bearers we left after 45 mins to go get warmed up. U23 and Jr women raced Wednesday, Jr men Thursday (the course was wickedly fast this day…if only the rain would hold off), Friday and U23 men’s day and it poured all through the night and mud tires were a necessity. Max Plaxton of BC, Canada went on to run and ride his way to a bronze medal. Saturday was DH day and my teammate Fion Griffiths claimed 6th place

Flying to New Zealand was actually a pleasant trip. I got on plane at 7:30 in Vancouver, got to sleep a bit on the way to Honolulu and then spent some time in the open air airport there before getting on my next plane at 2:30 am ready to sleep. I didn’t even have to buy a blanket or food. There were about 6 of the team on the flight and more in Auckland when we arrived. Wendy and I caught I ride out to Rotorua with Rob Jones. It took about three hours of driving through lush green farmland to arrive at our destination. Rotorua is built on a thermal area and we were able to enjoy the benefits of that natural phenomenon when frequenting the hotel mineral pools and spa baths. Even the heating and warm water for the rooms was from the underground water supply. New Zealand was a bit chilly, it being their winter so it did get down to -4 over night at times and we awoke to frosted roof tops and icy puddles. I got onto the course Monday and was immediately relieved. Reading the co