Miller completes career podium trifecta in Idaho

California Giant/Specialized Cycling’s Meredith Miller races during the 2012 USA Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships on Sunday in Ketchum, Idaho. (Provided photo)

Meredith Miller, a member of the California Giant/Specialized Cycling racing team, finished fifth in the 2012 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships on Sunday in Ketchum, Idaho.

Miller finished in the women’s short-track division with a time of 30 minutes, 18 seconds. She was 20 seconds from cracking the top three.

Lea Davidson, a Virginia cyclist, won the race with a time of 29:23, beating out Georgia Gould of Colorado by one second.

By finishing in the top five, Miller completed the career podium trifecta of the national championships. Three years ago, she won the USA Road National Championships, and two years ago, she took third in the USA Cyclocross National Championships.

“Short track is tough because it’s 20 minutes in three laps, so the start really means a lot,” Miller said. “… The start was really fast, it’s on gravel, there’s one line going through the gravels, so once things got strung out, I was probably top nine.”

She maintained her top-10 spot and began to make her move when other riders felt fatigued.

It’s Miller’s first top-10 performance since June 17, when she was eighth in the Nature Valley Grand Prix. She was last on the podium on May 27 during the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.

Miller plans to head to Europe to compete in several road race events. She’s competed in 24 events so far this year.

In the men’s shot-track division, Cody Kaiser finished 15th with a time of 31:23. He was more than a minute behind eventual winner Todd Wells.

Kaiser ended up competing in three events in the national championships.

His best finish of the three was in the men’s Super D division in Sun Valley, Idaho, coming in sixth with a time of 22:07.7. It was his first top-10 finish since he won the Nevada City Bicycle Classic last month just north of Sacramento.

He also took 13th in the men’s U23 cross-country race, finishing with a time of 1:45:37.



For the complete article see the 07-10-2012 issue.

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