Maple syrup pancakes with... Norco Factory Team rider Catherine Hadley

Canada – home to amazing singletrack, cutting edge bike brands and a long history of world class riders. XCracer.com caught up with Norco Factory Team rider Catherine Hadley to find out more about her busy 2010 season and what the racing scene is like across the pond.

Hi Catherine, set the scene and tell us a little background of what you’ve done previously and how this influenced what you did this year?

I have been racing mountain bikes for close to ten years now. I started with local racing, then the Ontario Provincial Race Series, then the Canada Cup Series. For the last couple years the North American World Cups as well. This year I decided to head over to England and Belgium for the first two European World Cups, mostly for the experience of racing the higher calibre races. Racing the World Cup Series is definitely a goal so getting out and being able to do that was great. 

You’ve crammed a lot into 2010 (including getting married!), what have been the racing highlights? 

Racing for Canada at the World Championships in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec was definitely a high point of the season for me. Other highlights included a win at Mont Tremblant, one of the Canada Cup Series races and a 4th place finish at Canadian Nationals.  

Working 6 months, then racing 6 months, plus making the trip to Europe off your own back is massive dedication. It certainly looks like it payed off with getting selected for the world champs though!

I’d say it paid off. I can’t complain about getting to race my bike all over the world. There are definitely busy times in the winter trying to fit in work and training but I love the riding and racing. It has allowed me to travel to some pretty cool places, meet some awesome people and learn a lot about myself as I strive for better results. The trip to Europe in the spring gave me experience racing bigger, more aggressive fields. I earned some UCI points too and that helped me get on a National Team Project to get back to the Summer World Cups.  It is definitely a tough lifestyle at times, with working and training, but work gives me a nice break from solely focussing on cycling and helps me plan for when my cycling career ends. 

Unbiased question... Which was better, Dalby or Houfallize?

I thought Dalby was awesome. It was a course that I enjoyed riding. A lot of courses are just race courses and I’d never go choose to ride them but Dalby I enjoyed riding and racing.  The weekend after I headed to Houfallize and it was fun to get to race one of the classic World Cups and see the big crowds and famous waffles but if I had to choose just one World Cup course I’d go back to Dalby. To tell you the truth, I really enjoyed the race course at Midlands XC (Catherine and husband Matt headed over to the UK the week before the Dalby WC and used the Midlands XC as a warm up race) it was one of the most fun tracks I did in Europe – sometimes the World Cup courses are overbuilt and don’t have that natural feel that the Midlands XC race did.

How do Canadian races compare to what you’ve seen in the UK? Number of riders, number of female riders, types of courses, style of racing?

Depends on where in Canada but growing up racing in Ontario we would have up to 800 racers at our Provincial races. The Greater Toronto Area has a high population density and we’re able to get big numbers out. Women’s racing seems a little bigger than in the UK but we still are trying to attract more females to come out. Race courses in Canada are usually much more technical. Quebec and British Columbia are definitely known for their tough courses with lots of rocks, roots and climbing. Usually our races are based out of Downhill Ski Resort Areas so the vertical can be pretty solid.   Going from Canada to European World Cups one of the major differences I notice is the aggressiveness. European racing is all about holding your spot and keeping your elbows out, it is kind of fun though as there is great depth in the fields and always someone to race against. 

Canada has a strong tradition of top female racers. Is that nature or nurture?

Success breeds success. Definitely seeing Canadian racers at the top is encouraging to the riders coming up. Knowing that the likes of Catharine Pendrel and Marie Helen Premont have come up racing the same races and training in similar ways gives hope that you can make it as well. Having top racers in Canada pushes the level for everyone, to some extent we are able to train together and push each other throughout the year. 

What was it like representing your country at the world champs on home soil?

Racing in front of a home crowd was amazing. The cheering was so loud at times that I couldn’t think and was propelled by the yelling. Racing the European World Cups the crowds are always impressive compared to what we see in North America but the organizers and promoters did a great job for Worlds and it was really neat to see so much enthusiasm for cycling in Canada.

Was it frustrating that there was no Mtb race at the Commonwealth Games this year? Do you have an eye on getting a place for Glasgow 2014?

The Commonwealth and Pan-Am games offer a great development opportunity depending on UCI point situation at the time. Sometimes the top riders don’t want to attend and it gives the next level athlete the chance to experience the whole games atmosphere which is pretty cool. Glasgow would definitely be a goal for me to race. 

Norco is seen as more of a freeride/downhill brand in the UK, do you get a downhill bike instead of a road bike for training :-)

It is definitely seen as more of a downhill brand here in Canada as well. It is pretty neat when the whole team gets together as everyone does such different aspects of cycling (riders include Ryan Leech and Darcy Turenne).  The cross country team is pretty small but we try to help promote the XC side of things. I haven’t gotten the DH bike yet but I do have the DH pants and armour waiting!

It’s a rare thing to see snow in many parts of the UK, so when we get some it’s chaos! What’s it like training in Canada during winter?

I’m originally from Ontario and we would normally have snow from November until March. I used to spend a lot of time on the trainer, and rollers I guess I got good at entertaining myself. During University I used to multitask and study while I rode.  The last two years I’ve been in Kamloops BC which has amazing winter training. For most of the year we can ride outside in the valley, some snow riding but usually pretty bare. When it gets too cold, below -15ish degrees Celsius we’d head into the mountains for cross country skiing. I really like being able to do different activities in the winter, skiing, running and some swimming just to mix it up and have a bit of a mental break from riding. 

Do you and Matt ever race together (team events / stage races)? Any plans to follow in the footsteps of Mary & Mike (Kenda/Seven/NoTubes)?

We have done a couple team events, never stage races though. We raced a small 4 hour against our roommates Catharine Pendrel (Luna Mtb Team) and her husband, taking the win unofficially gave us fastest MTB couple in Canada status. Stage racing together could be tough; I’ve gotten worked over on enough training rides to know that trying to race with Matt would just plain hurt. We race for different teams but manage to travel together most of the season which is awesome and our teams are pretty supportive of the other rider which is really nice. Mike and Mary are some pretty awesome footsteps to follow in!

We have a bit of a challenge every race we do; we’ve calculated that the winning male is usually 15% faster than the winning female. So, if I’m within 15% of Matt’s time he has to do push-ups, otherwise I get to do push-ups!  

What are your plans for next year?

Next year I just want to build on this year. It was pretty neat getting to race most of the World Cup series and I learned lots about aggressiveness and racing, next year I want to put some of that into action. Head in with confidence and race experience and improve on the results. 

Anybody you’d like to big up?

I’ve definitely had lots of support along the way. Norco has been a great team and I really enjoy riding for them. My parents are super supportive, my brother got me into the sport, and my husband Matt is a great training partner.

Thanks Catherine, good luck in 2011!

Photo’s courtesy of Gary Barton