TheKillerAnt - King of the Mountain (Mt William)

View from summit of Mt William

TheKillerAnt WINS the 2006 Mount M*ther F*cking William Road Open Classic..in style, sort of :)

Think open road race pain, add altitude as shown and its obvious isnt it, this Mt William classic is a hard mans race.

I don't really know what to say in regards to my big win, it took a really big gamble, a lot of courage, and lots of hard work training for the last 5 months to get me to the 1170metre summit first!!

The Race: The first 50kms to Mt Difficulty was very fast, sometimes single file but it was'nt too taxing, it was a good warm up for the 15km climb up Mt Difficulty and myself and CW smashed the race to pieces as the climb began. By the summit we had only ourselves and 3 others remaining, on the descent 1 guy caught us, making 6. The descent was hairy, we dropped our follow car completely, used both sides of the road etc.

The Real Race: Mt William was something i had never seen before, and at that stage i didnt know its the highest mountain in the grampians. Roughly 2kms into the final 12km climb i felt quite good, and more than ready to twist the trottle a touch, with 10kms of Mt Willliam to go, i up'd the tempo and no-one came with me, i didnt attack as such, i just lifted the pace by about 3-4 km/h. The next 4-5 kms was great, i got right out of sight, really climbing fast, seemed like i was double speeding the B-graders i was passing, but the 3kms or so leading to the 2km kite (and carpark) i gave it everything i had...when i got to the 2km to go kite (seriously Tour De France style blow up kite, over the road) i had not much left in the legs, they were heavy, sore, and cramping would not be far away.

Hell on a bike: If you have ridden, walked or driven the final 2kms of goat track (single car width, crap, loose-ish surface) i really dont need to tell you anything about the agony we were all in store for. With basically a perfect bike, a fit and lean me, a 12-27 cassette and all the guts i could muster, facing off against something steeper than the first 600metres of Terry's Ave that lasts for 2kms, at an altitude over 1 km above sea level is just insane. (its 22%, terry's is 'only' 20%) I just kept on digging into some reserves i didnt know i had, mental toughness at its best :)

Just: To cut a long story short, i hung on for a win of 15 seconds, losing minutes and minutes in the final 2kms. I judged my move perfectly in terms of taking home the win. Of course i could have waited much later in the climb but im a gutsy rider and regret nothing. With some luck, lots of hard work and great advice from Gunsle over the years, i had my first open road race victory..and a smile to match.

The wash-up: I was so over-tired from my effort i only managed another 4hrs sleep that night. The next day i was tight, sore and my lungs felt like they were 50% of what they were. Another day later and i still felt the same, but i got out and trained and did a gym session too. Today i did a full session of f8ck off SE's and the body wasn't too retarded, thankfully.

Whats now? Just keep getting experience i guess, training hard, look forward to watching monster win either the overall or at least a few stages of the ToB. He's one strong and super fit fella, i have FULL respect for his racing ability. Strong, Fit, Climbs & Sprints awesome, TT's okay..My prediction Monster wins ToB overall or at least a few stages :)

Looking 4ward 2 cing the new hizzle at mt beautiful t9e0!