Rider profile - Heath Miller
Instagram handle
@heath_mhmm
Team or worthy cause
Let's Talk About CX. I've been helping to run these weekly training sessions for a couple of years now - it's been great to see the Melbourne crew grow.
Tell us about your bike!
I've got a second hand Norco Threshold I picked up at the start of last season. Pretty stock standard other than the wheelset that I upgraded to Curve AL's after an unfortunate incident with the drain gap at Beechworth last year. I've only got one set of wheels so have been running the Vittoria Terreno Mix tyres which I've been pretty happy with.
You'll find me riding or racing in...
I'm based in Melbourne, race VICXS B grade and NCXS M2.
My riding/racing is supported by...
The CX community in general (emotional support only, though would be happy to take donations /sponnos)
In my day job I'm...
I'm an acoustic engineer, so I spend most of my days trying to make buildings sound better (send me your egg-cartons).
An interest I have outside of cycling is...
Trying (unsuccessfully) not to kill my houseplants
What brought you to cyclocross?
I'd raced CX a couple of times in Auckland on a borrowed bike before I moved to Melbourne in 2016. The scene over there is much smaller and after watching a race at Fields of Joy at Essendon I couldn't put off the transition from road to CX any longer. My roadie pretty much lives on the trainer now!
What riding do you do aside from CX?
Mostly bike packing and Audax Mixed Terrain rides. I'm planning on riding the Vic Divide 550 route with some friends leading into the CX season.
Tell us about your first race!
Baptism of fire at Fields of Joy in 2017.
What's your proudest achievement in CX?
Racing Tom McQuillan at Mount Beauty in 2018 for a B-grade mid-pack position as if there was a world champs jersey on the line. We were very closely matched and because Tom and I had trained and raced with each other a tonne it was a really fun battle (think brake checking, pointy elbows and numerous questionable passing moves). By the last lap Tom had dropped me and ended up beating me by 30 seconds (for 28th place). It was a proud moment because we were just feeling really confident in our skills and able to have some fun in what may have otherwise been a fairly average race.
[Ed: Tom can confirm it was great fun!]
What's your CX strength?
I think I'm pretty ok on the technical stuff.
What's your CX weakness?
Backing it up on the 2nd day of a double header weekend. Also greasy flat corners.
How can we spot you on course?
TBC - in the market for new kit!
Should we offer you handups, and if so, when?
If I can see straight I probably won't say no.