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Catharine Pendrel made her return to the race she dominated in the past and made it look easy again.
The Kamloops resident and former Olympian recaptured the elite women鈥檚 title with plenty of time to spare at the 2014 Test of Metal race on Saturday (June 14).
Pendrel returned to the TOM course for the first time since 2011 and won her record fifth overall TOM women鈥檚 title.
She dominated the women鈥檚 race with a time of two hours, 55 minutes, 15 seconds, beating out Valemount鈥檚 Jean Ann Berkenpas by more than 10 minutes. Pendrel still holds the women鈥檚 record set back in 2011 at 2:45:45. However, a flat tire might have cost her a chance at a personal best.
鈥淚t was pretty good out there today and I was feeling really good riding with a good group of guys, but I had a flat tire before the Plunge and lost a decent chunk of time,鈥� she said.
Pendrel finished ninth in the world in the cross-country mountain biking event at the 2012 Olympics and said she loves to return to the TOM.
鈥淭his event is always so much fun,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or me, a lot of my racing is so far away from home, so to come here and get connected with the community out here it鈥檚 so fun and social. It makes you realize why you love mountain biking 鈥� it鈥檚 such a good group of people.鈥�
With the win, Pendrel receives an entry into a draw for the Tour of the Dragon race in Bhutan in September. The one-day race sees riders travel 268 kilometres through rugged terrain in the Himalayas. The draw occurs later this year. Last year saw 2013 TOM women鈥檚 winner Sandra Walter win the chance to compete in Bhutan.听
Former TOM winner Wendy Simms from Nanaimo placed third, with Squamish鈥檚 Brandi Heisterman finishing fourth. Heisterman was the top local rider and posted a time of 3:06:57. Unlike last year, Heisterman was unable to win any of the 10 primes, which were all won by Pendrel.
Other locals in the top 50 women included: Meghan Kindree (eighth), Zoe Dawson (10th), Julie Miller (15th), Sarah Greenwood (17th), Petra Hauke (22nd), Brittany Shalagan (26th), Karen Mann (32nd), Veronique Rochon (33rd), Barb Cooke (34th), Heather Macintosh (36th), Holly Schulte (39th) and Renee Brickner (49th).听
For complete results from the event, visit www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=24000.
