Neal Kindree will again be representing Canada - and Squamish - on the world stage during the Pan-American Mountain Bike Championships in San Juan de Los Morros, Venezuela on Sunday (April 6).Kindree said he was caught off-guard when he heard he'd been picked to race for his country - he'd been working hard to get himself into race shape for the start the season with a target date of May 17, the first Canada Cup race. "I'll do the best I can but I wasn't intending to be race-ready for another couple of months," he said. "It should be interesting."Kindree is looking to earn a third National Championship and a repeat as Canada Cup overall winner from his title in 2006.On the local scene, Kindree is vying to beat the Test of Metal course record of two hours and 37 minutes set by Todd Miles in 2000. Last year, Kindree won the epic race just three minutes shy of the record. As part of his training for the Pan-Am Games, Kindree has been competing in the Escape Velocity's Spring Series road events in Langley over the last few weeks. Road riding is a good way of building endurance through long rides without wearing out the body as much as on technical trails, he said. He's clocking some excellent times on training circuits and his form is coming along strong. The Team Squamish member won't be training with his local group as regularly as in previous years since he's had to move to West Vancouver to train with the National Team."For the level of riding that I'm at right now there isn't anyone there [in Squamish] who I can train with, so doing three to five hours of riding seven days a week is boring if you're out by yourself every day."However, he'll still be joining the squad on various rides over the season and helping to build the skills of Team Squamish's developing riders. "I enjoy it a lot and I think the whole is if you can teach somebody something you know you've learned it really well. For me it was a feel good thing and it definitely reinforces what I've been taught."
