Catharine Pendrel

First off Just want you to know my Bro finished 3rd at Canadian DH Nationals. Ripping! This set the weekend up nicely for another Pendrel on the podium. Mt Washington Resort on Vancouver Island hosted the 2007 Mtb National championships. Mt. Washington is a beautiful hill with great vistas, riding and alpine meadows and lakes. As usual Tim Hortons was sponsoring the event and kept the riders and volunteers full of warm coffee and treats. These were especially appreciated this weekend as the weather was not cooperative. It rained pretty much straight from wed afternoon until Sunday morning. At times it was a light mist and at others full on down pour. Tuesday I did a tempo lap in 24 minutes (dry), but by race day lap times were 28-30. After many days of rain, the course was very mucky. The opening climb forced all riders to dismount at some point. MHP as expected took the lead from the start, but I was able to maintain my top 5 starting position into the base of the climb and was fairly

At the Mtb Venue It’s pretty tough to sum up the last couple of days in a little blog report. The Games have surpassed my expectations. I don’t mean this in terms of my own performance, but the event as a whole. Doing a multi sport games is so different than going to a bike race. There were over 5000 athletes in the village from the 42 countries in Pan America. Athlete's Village Each morning the cycling crew would head to the meal hall decked out in our Canadian clothing and walk by people training on roller blades, bicycles, in soccer teams, and running groups. Each athlete, manager, coach etc was decked out in the colours of their countries. All around us were the banners of our sports and the flags of our countries. Each building contained athletes from one country and was covered top to bottom with flags. The interior of our building had a Canadian flag that was 10 stories high and filled the inner balconies. Matt Toulousse and Ricky Federau sample the meal plan The athletes h

Me, Ricky and Cam arrived in Rio just before noon today with some Canadian swimmers and Badminton players. Although a 9 hr flight from Houston we all got in some good sleeps and were feeling rested....but hungry! Pan Am games staff was there to greet us at the airports and we had our very own customs line. We were loaded into Pan am game deckled busses and shipped off to the village through the rustic and poor looking city. Although looking a bit run down, South American scenes always make me breath deeply and smile. There's something really appealling to the simpler parks and buildings, to the people patiently going about their daily routines. Upon arrival we were sent through airport like security stations and given our accreditations. All the Canadian stay in one building with cycling getting two apartments. Showers had to wait. we wanted food! Off to the huge cafeteria we went and loaded our plates with the great selection of food. Back in the apartment after a 2:30 lunch m

So if you're reading this you've already realized I don't stick around home much. Thursday Keith and I took off for the Vancouver area. We did a quick stop by Norco and Marzocchi to pick up some stuff. Got a sweet new Norco back pack by Ogio. Naz got me dialled with my Corsa too. We then headed for Grouse Mtn. It was the start of some bad luck for us though. We did the nice climb up to 7th secret. Keith letting me do some intervals on the way up to the trail head. Some guys from Big Bike in france were there test riding some Norcos. Keith unclipped at the top and Crap. His pedal spring broke. Using stiff clipless shoes without being able to clip in on North van trails seemd a bit sketchy so we dissappointedly headed down the fire road. By the time we got to Oil can though Keith was grumbling and ready to give it a try. He could actually descend pretty good unclipped and we had a wicked time on the new trail. We had a great night hanging out on the beach in Van, had some ja

Just wanted to post a Happy Birthday to High school friend Kim Paquette Today. Kim and her husband Mark had a new addition to the family on the 13th of June with the birth of their first baby Nicholas. Congrats guys!!!!

On Tuesday the 10th I head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Pan American Games. The Games are held every 4 years. I’m home for just a week, but Keith and I already have some epic rides planned in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton this weekend! I will racing for a gold medal on the 14th. I haven’t a clue what to expect of the course or the weather. It will be winter in Brazil and the course from all accounts is pretty much flat. The US will be sending Mary McConneloug, Mexico Lorenza ? and Brazil Jacquline Mourou. On the men’s side Canada will be sending Matt Toulousse and Ricky Federau. I’m hoping to have the opportunity to meet some past heroes from my horseback riding days at the games and to meet some top Canadian athletes in other sports. With Nationals the following Saturday, however I will have to be very focused on quality workouts and lots of recovery. Ricky, Matt and I return to BC on the 16th after a long flight and begin our Nationals preparation.

My awesome travel buddies Sandra(L) and Mical (R). We shared the backseat of a very well packed subaru for the 4 hr+ trip from MSA to St Felicien. The Hadley brothers commandeered our ship and are responsible for the efficient use of space demonstrated in this pic. I’m flying home from what was definitely a career best performance for me. Still flying in my head with more than a little disappointment mixed in. I finally got that great call up I was striving for being ranked 22 on the World Cup circuit, but with Fullana and Dahle missing I was wearing plate 20. I had done 2 days on St Felicien’s course and was feeling good. It had been raining on and off the last 3 days, but the course was holding up well. Even though it was littered with roots and predominantly single track, traction was awesome with my Kenda Karmas. Everyone was talking about how fun the course was, how much work organizers had put into the event and how spectator friendly the course was. My only trepidation headed