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When you have a big gap off the front at the National Championships, it probably does not take much motivation to keep pedaling hard, but when Jon Miller of California found himself in that position in the Men’s Masters 65-69 race on Wednesday, he did have someone whispering in his ear.
“The coach; he had a big stick,” Miller said about his motivation for the afternoon. “He was riding around the course and yelling at me. He saw me about ten different places.”
Masters 65-69 Men get set to head out onto the course. Masters 65-69. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Miller started the race fast and quickly established a large gap back to the other riders. Behind him, Doug Long, Tom Webb, Don Bauder and Eric Perryman jockeyed for position as the primary chaser.
Jon Miller used multiple kinds of motivation to get through the sand. Masters 65-69. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
The biggest challenge to Miller’s supremacy on the morning was a crash on the technical off-camber during the third lap.
“I fell down once at the bottom of the downhill,” he said. “I was like, oh crap, the brake bent in and stuff, but it was okay because I had a gap. Everybody told me, ‘Calm down, you gotta get it together.’ You never know, you have to just keep pushing.”
Another rider joined Miller in navigating the downhill. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
When Miller went down, Webb almost eliminated the gap, but Miller recovered and opened up his lead again. With one to go his advantage was 30 seconds.
The last lap was smooth sailing for Miller. Minus that one crash, he had played it perfectly to win the Stars-and-Stripes. And sometimes a little extra motivation helps, even at the highest level of the sport.
Riders show a little bit of relief to be done. Masters 65-69. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Behind Miller, Webb and Bauder fought for position. Bauder almost caught Webb in the last lap, but the Reno native Webb was able to hold onto his second position. Bauder rounded out the podium in third.
CXM contributor Lee Waldman got his chance to race at Nationals on Wednesday. Masters 65-69. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Interviews and results are below.
Men's Masters 65-69 Results: 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals
| Place | Bib | LAST | First | Team | City ST | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 438 | MILLER | Jon | Newbury Park CA | 41:07 | ||
| 2 | 426 | WEBB | Tom | Reno NV | 41:47 | 40 | |
| 3 | 428 | BAUDER | Donald | Flathead Cycling Race Team | Bigfork MT | 41:57 | 50 |
| 4 | 432 | PERRYMAN | Eric | Denver CO | 42:38 | 1:31 | |
| 5 | 442 | LONG | Doug | 360 Racing p/b Kline Van / Wood | Chillicothe MO | 42:58 | 1:51 |
| 6 | 430 | PEARSON | Richard | Team Kaos/Joyride Bicycles | Fremont NE | 43:18 | 2:11 |
| 7 | 450 | FOX | Thomas | San Francisco CA | 43:48 | 2:41 | |
| 8 | 449 | WALDMAN | Lee | Wheatridge CO | 44:19 | 3:12 | |
| 9 | 427 | DILLON | Robert | BMB Racing | Warren VT | 44:37 | 3:30 |
| 10 | 436 | SCHWYHART | Mark | Portland OR | 46:25 | 5:18 | |
| 11 | 434 | LIVESAY | Jonathan | Montrose Bike Shop | La Canada CA | 47:04 | 5:57 |
| 12 | 437 | BROOKS | Erik | Egencia | Seattle WA | 47:16 | 6:09 |
| 13 | 441 | BARTON | Kurt | Meadow Vista CA | 47:19 | 6:12 | |
| 14 | 446 | PARKER | Harold | 360 Racing p/b Kline Van / Wood | Lenexa KS | 47:41 | 6:34 |
| 15 | 445 | FETHERSTON | Bob | Los Gatos CA | 48:01 | 6:54 | |
| 16 | 447 | SMITH | Timothy | Placerville CA | 48:02 | s.t. | |
| 17 | 435 | DOWNING | Tim | Boulder CO | 48:35 | 7:28 | |
| 18 | 444 | CRABTREE | Joseph | Pacific Grove CA | 49:19 | 8:12 | |
| 19 | 439 | KOPPE | Michael | Larkspur CA | 39:02 | @1Lap | |
| 20 | 429 | SHIELDS | Kerry | Advance NC | 40:21 | @1Lap | |
| 21 | 440 | WHITE | Jerry | Auburn NH | 40:39 | @1Lap | |
| 22 | 433 | WELLINGS | Norman | Oskaloosa IA | 41:57 | @2Laps | |
| DNF | 443 | SACHS | Richard | HOUSE INDUSTRIES - WITHINGS - | Deep River CT | ||
| DNF | 431 | COWMAN | Terry | Manchester MA |
For more from Reno, see our continuing coverage of the 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals on our dedicated Nationals page.
Photos from the races and reports are available to license here, with more to be added throughout the next week.
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