September 21, 2007 – Two Canadians, Kiara Bisaro (Can) and Catharine Pendrel (Can) will contest tomorrow’s Olympic MTB XC Test Event in Beijing, China. Max Plaxton (Can) was slated to attend for the men’s race, but cancelled after the World Cup in Slovenia last weekend, citing illness. The women race at 11:00 a.m. local time on September 22 / 11:00 p.m. EST (tonight), September 21. They will do 7 laps of the 4.5km course.

“The pollution isn’t so bad,” said Pendrel. “There is a constant haze hovering in the air, but the air feels okay.” For race day, the weather will likely continue to be muggy with temperatures in the high 20s.

Pendrel described the course as, “Interesting, but good. Traction is awesome – hard packed and smooth. The course is definitely a power course with many short steep climbs. Although the base elevation is 68m and the max elevation 125m, the course is for the most part climbing. The descents have had rocks planted in them adding new meaning to ‘Rock Garden.’ There’s a couple little drops with young officials yelling out caution so we don’t hurt ourselves!”