November 1, 2005 – The Pan Am MTB Championships was an exciting race for all categories, and Canada did well never placing out to the top five.

On Friday October 28 the Candian team left for Mexico City, the world’s largest metropolis with 25 million people. We opted to go as late as possible due to the high elevation, 2,900 meters, and to minimize the impact of the heavy smog there.

It worked great for everyone but me… my bike didn’t make the flight. I was visibly upset and one of the Puerto Rican riders who had already raced the Master’s race offered to lend me his bike. So Saturday we set out to pre-ride the bumpy, hard-packed, course. There were no long climbs just short, steep poppers and some false flat climbs through twisty, pine-needle strewn single track. A super fun course where a dual suspension bike would definitely have been an advantage.

Race Day

The women went off first at 10 am – they changed it from 8 am which was a relief due to a two- hour time difference. Right from the gun the Americans went to the front. I was caught behind the Mexican National Champion on the first descent and had to chase a bit to get on the US train. My teammate, Catherine Pendrel (Bike Barn), had a rough start and was a bit further behind in fifth place. I caught up to Kelli Emmit (Ford-Specialized) at the top the course but she dropped me on the bumpy descent flying on her Specialized Epic dual suspension. Mary McCullough (Seven Cycles/Kenda) burped her tire on one of the descents and I passed her on the second lap moving back into third. Meanwhile, Kelli had caught and passed Willow Koerber (Gary Fisher) putting her in the lead.

On the last lap we were all within about 30-45 seconds but the gaps increased a bit towards the end. Mary won while I finished in fourth and Catherine had a solid race placing fifth place.

1. Mary McCullough, USA
2. Kelli Emmit, USA
3. Willow Koerber, USA
4. Trish Sinclair, Canada
5. Catherine Pendrel, Canada