Pendrel back to normal training volume
Catharine Pendrel has returned to normal training volume following an April Fool’s Day crash that proved to be no laughing matter.
“It was one of those crashes that shouldn’t have happened. I was riding a jump I had done several times that week, but with confidence sometimes comes lack of judgment as well,” wrote Pendrel, on her blog. “I still went for the jump line was too tense came down nose first and went over.”
The result was a broken collarbone, an injury she sustained in 2013. But this experience was totally different, and for the better.
The second worst thing about breaking your collar bone on April 1st is having to convince people it's not a bad joke.
— Catharine Pendrel (@cpendrel) April 2, 2014
“I wasn’t off the bike for any significant amount of time,” said Pendrel in an interview with Canadian Cycling Magazine. “I have been able to get out a bit, and I am hoping to get on my mountain bike this week.”
Things aren’t completely back to normal yet. Pendrel has to modify some of her training while the break continues to heal. She’s yet to do any climbing out of the saddle, and certain core and yoga exercises remain off limits. Instead, Pendrel spends an hour a day doing extra physical therapy to help the healing process, and when resting is using an ultrasound machine designed to help bones heal.
“I’m getting a chance to work through some books in the downtime I do have,” said Pendrel, who closely watched the opening round of the 2014 XCO World Cup. “South Africa looked like a typical early season race, where some people are more on form than others. But that will change pretty quickly, things will be different at the Czech and German world cup races.”
Pendrel plans to return to competition at the Nove Mesto na Morave World Cup, in Czech Republic, May 23. She’ll face a few challenges at the start, including a lower start position than usual after the UCI reverted to World Cup ranking, not UCI points to determine start order. She’s also seen how good form on a road bike doesn’t always translate to success on single track. Plus, it’s unlikely any of her competition will underestimate the two time World Cup champion and 2011 World Champion. There’s a lot of evidence that top riders can return to competition in winning form, something Pendrel hopes to demonstrate.
“Julie Bresset came back from injury to win Worlds, Sabine Spitz came back to win her first world cup in three years,” said Pendrel, who will aim for a strong performance at the Czech world cup. “We have some work to do. With Emily (Batty) and I having problems over the last 12 months, Canada has dropped down the nations standings, so we have to fix that too.”
