Behind the Loops Part V

Kamloops’ XC Sweetheart: Catharine Pendrel
This week’s victim is not what you’d expect from an exposé on a Kamloops local high profile rider but we are so very proud to have a World Cup overall XC Champion gracing the local scene out here. With videos of freeriding, dirtjumping and insane Kamloops booters being the norm we find it very interesting that the area is also attracting Canada’s top cross country competitors and luckily for our local scene Catharine Pendrel has made it her home. She is a really popular lady at the local dirt jumps as well and can be seen dialing in her skills there. It’s pretty funny for the local jump rats to see her climb to the top of the bike park then hit the jumps on the way back down. We’d like to think she chose Kamloops to be her home and since moving here has become the best rider in the world thanks to our long summer season, epic single track and great local community.

Bicycle Café – Who are you and where are you from?

Catharine Pendrel – I’m a horse girl from Harvey, New Brunswick that never thought she’d be an “athlete” but was lucky to have a brother that got into mtn. biking .

What made you want to be a Kamloops Resident?

My husband to be had a job offer in the area.  We thought with all the photos of Kamloops we had seen in bike magazines it would be a safe move.

What makes riders from Kamloops so successful? Do you blame radio active water or the fact that it’s like living on the sun in the summer?

Both could be contributing factors.  Good terrain and ride scene, fast trails and short, but good skiing winters make it pretty ideal 


Where is your favourite coffee stop in town? 

I like most places that serves good coffee, so Tim Hortons, Donought king… nah.  There’s a couple good ones, but nothing quite like waking up and putting some kicking horse in the espresso machine.

We seem to be obsessed with shuttling and jumps here, tell us about the XC trails here and why you dig em?

Fast is fun!  I can leave my house and be on trails in 2 minutes and hit up about 4hrs of singletrack. Lots of challenging climbs and twisty descents. 


Your husband Keith Wilson is a wicked guy who trail builds, races, coaches national level racers, and organizes races, does he ever get offended when people call him Keith Pendrel?

Ha, ha, He shouldn’t!  I think his favourite quote was when the Globe and mail described him as the “handsome Stranger”.

I hear people call you Kika all the time, where does that come from?

My brother came up with it when he was a kid. 


Your brother is also amazing and was a national team DH racer for Canada and has gone onto be the technical coach for the national XC team. How has he affected your riding and has his dh steeze given you some street cred?

He’s also the national DH coach.  Definitely he helped me get into the scene and let me tag along with his guy friends, learning how to ride and finding a love for mtn biking and the life style.  He’s given me tons of advice along the way about riding and what it’s like to be at big races. He’s so pumped when I do well, just like I was when he was winning Canada cups.  With races becoming more man made he’s also helped me gain some jumping skills and such without feeling like too much of an xc geek. Sometimes he’ll even where spandex. 


How have you been preparing your riding for the changes in the WC courses, how do you like the changes?

Races are getting a bit shorter 1:30-1:45 (I Like) to make them more televisible, the loops also cover less distance. This means sometimes they’re creating obstacles, rather than just finding natural terrain…so more rock gardens, jumps, drops and sometimes sketchy creations. I like more natural terrain, but new challenges are good too and keeping people interested in the sport is key to me doing what I’m doing!

World Cup overall champion in 2010, how do you follow that up in 2011? Do you go to Disneyland?

Been there done that.  The tea cups sucked.  Maybe a World Championship, that would be nice. 



Tell me some of your vices we don’t know about? Quarts of ice cream before bed? Beer?

umm. Beer is pretty tasty.  I don’t think athletes are supposed to love ichiban, we’re supposed to eat greens and whole grains, but I think vices with the good stuff is healthy.

Who do you look up to in XC riding? How about in the DH or FR side of the sport? 

I like how much fun Hermida has on his bike and Orbea teammate Julien Absalon is an amazing racer.  Marie and Alison have definitely inspired me as well. 
On the Dh side the Athertons Kill it.  I’m impressed by all the riders that perform consistently in a sport where you’re pushing to that line between extremely fast and out of control. 

If you could be in a rockband, which rockband and why?
Barenaked ladies, not really rock but they have fun and I could probably get away with my corny dance moves.

Favourite book?

I’d tell, but you’d make fun of me

How do you think your lap times on local DH trails would compare with the times of the local DH riders?  

ummm.  Are we both on xc bikes?

Do you believe in Unicorns?

who doesn’t?

---

This is obviously a bit of a departure for us – but I think Catharine is pretty awesome. Does your skin feel covered in sweaty lycra reading this or can you deal? Any guesses about Catharines embarrassing favourite book? Maybe we should have a contest? Winner gets a pair of her shorts? Give us your guesses here…