Green. Yellow. Black. Red. Blue.
Locals adorned the sidewalk and the outside wall of Corsa Cycles with the colours of the Union Cycliste Internationale.
Also, unbeknownst to the owner of a silver Toyota pickup parked outside the building, her father had painted those colours on the doors of her vehicle.
“It’s acrylic paint, so if she doesn’t like it, she can take it off,” Richard said with a chuckle.
But it’s fair to say his daughter will probably enjoy the new look on her truck, as those colours are a badge of honour reserved only for world champion cyclists.
And now this was the badge of honour that was being given to Squamish rider Miranda Miller.
Locals flooded the parking lot of Corsa Cycles to await Miller’s return the Monday after she was crowned the gold medalist in the elite women’s world downhill division at the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns, Australia.
Miller was led blindfolded out of a friend’s vehicle.
When she took off the blackened ski goggles that covered her eyes, bottle corks were popped and she was promptly hosed down with champagne.
“It’s pretty cool – lots of people here,” said Miller during the slight pause between hugs from friends and family. “Makes me feel pretty special.”
“I didn’t think it was a first place run, but it all worked out,” she continued, referring to her performance on the weekend. “You never know, right?”
However, one thing that many people now know is that Miller has become the first Canadian world champion in the elite women’s downhill mountain biking division since 1990 – the year she was born.
The victory in the elite category means she came out on top against full-time professional female racers over the age of 18.
Footage of Miller’s run showed her swooping down the trail at speeds fast enough to kick her bike up in the air as she passed through bumps on the track.
Towards the end, she started pedalling hard, leaving clouds of dust wafting in her wake as she crossed the finish line with a time of four minutes and 10.245 seconds, edging out her closest opponent by just under one-tenth of a second.
Nicole Myriam of France trailed with a silver and Hannah Tracy of Australia received bronze.
Whistles, cheers, and the ringing of cowbells pierced the air.
It was a big win for Canada – her gold medal performance made national news headlines, drawing the attention of The Canadian Press and the CBC.
“It’s pretty crazy, don’t think it sunk in, but yeah,” said Miller immediately after the race in an interview posted online by Union Cycliste Internationale, the organization behind the event. “I mean, I feel like I had some luck on my side and, you know, I’ll take it. It’s pretty cool. I’m sure in a couple of days it’ll feel a bit different.”
“I’m just really, really happy for Miranda,” her mother, Tamsin Miller told The Chief. “She has worked so hard for this. She has come back from so much.”
Indeed, a small sample of the injuries Miranda has endured includes two broken arms, kidney failure and a broken tibia and fibula.
Her coach, Joel Harwood of Blueprint Athlete Development, said her victory was a long time coming.
“She’s deserving because she certainly has all the tools needed to win at the elite level,” said Harwood. “The fact it was world championship is just a bonus.”
He called her the “ideal athlete to coach.”
“She’s very hardworking and dedicated but she also is directly involved as an athlete,” he continued. “She enjoys feedback. She questions the reasoning behind the program, which actually makes things easier because then it’s more collaborative than top-down.”
“What I feel sets Miranda and all champions apart is their mindset, their will to succeed,” he added.
As for the next step, Harwood said that he and Miller will continue to work on refining her skill set.
He sees another big victory for her in the future.
She’s skilled enough that she doesn’t necessarily need to be riding at her very best to get those victories, Harwood said.
“I don’t think she necessarily felt she was on fire all weekend,” Harwood said.
“Now she knows she can do it,” he said.
“I think the next step in her career is to win another one.”
