A young Coquitlam cyclist continues to make new tread marks for women in mountain biking.
Natasha Miller finished second at the first pro women’s slopestyle race at the Red Bull Crankworx Joyride course in Whistler last weekend.
The 17-year-old was the youngest competitor and the only Canadian women at the event held at Whistler’s “Boneyard” dirt stadium, considered to be the “Super Bowl of the mountain biking world.”
Natasha Miller's race begins at 20:55 of the video below.
In March, Miller was part of the first cohort of women to ever compete in the Crankworx slopestyle world championship when she fourth at Rotorua, New Zealand.
Slopestyle is an extreme discipline of mountain bike racing where competitors have to hit a series of big jumps and execute spectacular mid-air tricks as they careen down a steep descent.
“You use your own creativity,” Miller said of some of the aerial manoeuvres like bar-spins and “suicide no-hands” she’s able to execute over as many as 10 jumps.
“You do whatever tricks you want to do. You’re not always doing the same thing.”
Miller came to slopestyle from trying tricks while zipping around the berms of the old BMX track at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park.
She said competing against top women from around the world has shown her where she has to develop her skills to be able to beat them, including more advanced stunts like 360 spins.
