Catharine Pendrel
Catharine Pendrel is a cross-country Olympic Mountain bike racer from Harvey Station, New Brunswick. She currently lives in Kamloops British Columbia where she can access some great mountain bike parks.
Q: When and where did you learn to ride a bike?
A: I inherited my older brother’s hand-me-down mountain bike and learned to ride a when I was 16 years old. I learned by riding homemade trails in rural New Brunswick. Within two weeks I had competed in a local race, and I have loved it ever since.
Q: Do you or did you play any other sports other than mountain biking?
A: Before I was 16, I was a competitive horse rider, and my mom says that I could ride horses before I could even walk. This was all before selecting mountain biking to be my primary sport.
Q: When was your first Olympic mountain bike race and how did you do in it?
A: My first ever international competition was at the 2004 World Champions in Les Gets, France. I was disappointed with myself after I finished 46th but I didn’t give up and I kept training and kept signing up for as many races I could.
Q: What other medals have you won and when?
A: I have won 2 gold medals in for the World Championships in 2011 and in 2014, in 2016 I won a bronze medal for the Olympics, in the Commonwealth Games I won a gold medal in 2014 and in the Pan American Games I won gold in 2017 and silver in 2015.
Q: How do you prepare for races training-wise?
A: My morning usually consists of a 10m core and a 10m Meditation before breakfast. After breakfast, I go for a 2.5-hour ride with threshold focus and, in the afternoon, I go to the gym for 1 hour.
Q: Do you coach mountain biking?
A: I joined Cycling Canada as a national team coach, working on endurance athletes
Q: What is your favorite mountain bike race that you have been in?
A: The Mont Sainte Anne world Cup was my favorite because it is close to home, and I have won many races there.
Q: What does the future look like for you and your mountain biking career?
A: My plan is definitely to stay involved. Having built a career for 15 years in mountain biking and with Keith and my husband Wilson doing so much coaching cycling, it has definitely been our world and our friend circle. I feel like I have spent 15 years developing an expertise that is pretty unique and would like to be able to share that.
Q: Do you have any advice for people who want to become mountain bikers?
A: Keep it fun. That's how you stick with it long enough to find your potential.
Q: What is your earliest memory on a bike?
A: Crashing!
​
