April 07, 2019 (Aguascalientes, Mexico) – Pedal caught up with Canada’s Catharine Pendrel from Kamloops, BC, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and twice MTB Worlds champ, who finished just off the podium in 4th in the Elite women’s 5-lap cross-country mountain-bike race at the Pan American MTB Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Congrats on a solid day in fourth… are you happy with your race and your form coming into the season ?
Catharine Pendrel: Yes. Of course I would have loved to medal but the competition is very strong and I was not able to do altitude preparation so I thought it was a strong ride at 2000m
The course looked tough and dusty – what about big climbs ?
CP: Yes!!!! There was a 10-min climb from 1,950 to 2,078m. It was quite technical at the bottom and then just a long windy drag to the top.
How were the conditions today ?
CP: It was windy which actually really helped the heat. The main factor was definitely elevation and trying not to make mistakes in the loose terrain
CP: The top three were definitely the favourites coming in. Daniella [Campuzano (Mex)] was quite strong and riding with Kate [Courtney (USA)] but double flatted. I was happy to make the first lap selection and then rode solo most of the race after a mistake until Daniella flatted and we rode the last lap together which helped me go faster than my previous two laps.
With your 4th place and Raphael Gagne’s win in the Elite Men’s race that has to feel good overall ?
CP: Absolutely. It has been a great week with the team. Having a group that can have fun together but also share ideas really helps us perform. Jeff Ain [Canadian Team Manager] and Adam Trotter [mechanic] have also been key to our success making sure everything runs smoothly for us. There are always lots of last minute surprises at these events.
Anything you’d like to add… ?
CP: We all race tomorrow in a C1 at 1:30 MST and then head to Sea Otter.
Congrats again and all the best in 2019.
CP: Thanks