Talking Mountain Biking with Catharine Pendrel

Canadian mountain biker Catharine Pendrel is known internationally as a threat on two wheels. This fast pedaling and smooth climbing British Colombia resident is coming off of two strong rides at the Dalby World Cup and the Houffalize World Cup. Growing up in New Brunswick, Pendrel took up mountain biking in her senior year of high school and was quickly hooked. Pendrel, really got noticed after her fourth place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Pendrel races for the Luna Pro Chix team and this season finished in 6th place at the Dalby World Cup and in fifth place at the Houffalize World Cup.

Between the traveling, racing and recovery, Pendrel sat down to answer some questions about her season so far, the season ahead, and life in general:

Tell us a bit about your race at Dalby?
Dalby was great. The course was really fun and I felt strong. I had two mistakes, a bad start and a crash on lap 2 that made me waste a lot of energy, but otherwise I was super happy with the race. It was the first time that 3 Luna Chix got to race and work together at a world cup. It is definitely motivating to have such strong teammates.
What are some things you’d like to change about how you raced at the Dalby World Cup? What are you really happy with?
I’d definitely redo the start. Maybe line up more on the outside where the ground was firmer and then dig as hard as I could to get into the woods ahead of the traffic.
I’m happy with my form and felt technically sharp..aside from the cyclocross dismount section where I got absolutely schooled by my teammates!
You are on a pretty deep mountain bike team, do you race as a “team” or is it all-for-one race? Do team dynamics play into mountain bike races as they do in road racing?
You don’t normally get the chance to ride as a team on the mountain bike, particularly at a world cup. Everyone has different strategies. I follow the Alison Sydor school of go out hard and see how long you can hold it. Not everyone is a fan of this style, but it works for me. If we can help each other (Luna Chix) stay at the front of a race till near the end it’s great. After that though it’s every woman for herself!
Sometimes you can work with other riders on flats and in the wind or to judge pacing, but it is definitely a much smaller component than in road racing. The closer I am to the front though, the more tactics come into play as all of the women are so equal. You can’t just ride away so you have to start planning your strategy based on where the others are strong or weak on that course.
What do you do between the race weekends when you’re not at home?
Well after Dalby we went to London and went sightseeing by bike. If we have a whole weekend free we find a good base for training, scope out all the good local restaurants, Internet (much needed when away from home) and coffee shops. Then we’ll see what there is to be seen, castles in Germany, the zoo in Australia and mountain passes in Italy and Switzerland, but sightseeing can be a rare specialty!
What are your thoughts on the Houffalize race course? I’ve read that there are some punchy climbs.
Punchy…haha, more like grueling! They changed the course this year. They kept the starting 19% paved climb, but removed the other fast paved or dirt road climbs. Now, the climbs aren’t as fast, being all on dirt and steep steep steep. In preride it was dry and dusty, but rained hard race morning making it super slick up and down.
How did you feel going into Houffalize?
I felt good. Rested and ready. I think I got thrown off by the change in conditions and it was my first time on mud this year. I rode poorly on the descents and found it hard to get into a nice rhythm as we were always changing from steep up to slick down. You have to have it all to win.
What is next for you after the second World Cup of the season?
I go home for 2 weeks, play in my yard, go mountain biking with my husband and work on skills I felt weren’t 100% at the last 2 races. I fly back to Germany a couple days before World Cup number three.
This is your second season racing for Luna, what is like to race for such a mountain bike team?
I’m actually on year 3. Time flies! It’s great. I don’t miss the days of arriving at a race and not having a feeder or mechanic at all! The team is pretty diverse and can be a lot of fun on and off the bike.
Can you tell us how you got into mountain biking?
My brother wanted more girls into biking so he generously gave me his old bike and was amazingly patient taking me out riding. Probably why he’s a good skills coach now and I hope I have helped bring women into the sport too.
Favourite place to train?
I love training at home in Kamloops and in Revelstoke where my hubby grew up. Penticton is another fantastic town for road and mountain biking.
Tell us a bit about your approach to training. Do you focus on riding your mountain bike or do you do some training on the road as well?
Training has to be fun and sport specific. In the off season I love mixing things up with skiing to keep mentally fresh and respect the seasons, but come February I’m pretty much bike 100%. I think both road and mountain biking are important. On the road you get in steady state riding it’s hard to get on the mountain bike. Mountain biking is at least 70% of my training though. Specificity! You have to be fast technically and fit and having fun on your mountain bike reminds you why you do what you do.
A lot of our readers are new to racing, can you tell us how you prepare on race day?
Sure Breakfast is about 3-4 hours out from race time. For me it’s oatmeal with fruit, nuts and some yogurt. I’ll have some Clif Bloks or a small Luna bar about an hour before. I generally start my warm up about 45-60 min before race time as we get called to the boxes 10-20 min prior to our race. My warm up will look something like 10-20 min steady and the 3 x 2min at 80, 85 and 90% with 2 min easy between. If I need it, I may hold the efforts a bit longer. I may then do 1-2 start activations. I keep gears lighter to warm up the muscles without overly fatiguing them.
How did your race go at Houffalize? Favorite moments of the race?
I had big expectations for this race after finishing 2nd last year and feeling strong in Dalby. I wasn’t prepared to not be descending well on the day and am disappointed that I wasn’t fighting for the win, but it was a solid result.
Favourite race moment was having one of the Orbea staffers run up a climb beside me. It infused some energy into my racing.