January 28, 2010 (Blind Bay, BC) – Canadian cross-country MTB National Champion Catharine Pendrel, who placed fourth at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, had the honour of carrying the Olympic torch yesterday during the relay as it made its way through the community of Blind Bay, BC, 85km northeast of her hometown of Kamloops as the 2010 Winter Olympics draw near.

Pendrel had a dedicated fan club on “her” 300m stretch of road, which overlooked Shuswap Lake, including elite mountain bikers Matt Hadley (Xprezo) and Catharine Vipond (Norco).