For the DeathRide I did so little climbing that actual bets were placed that I wouldn’t finish the DeathRide. And again for Mt Figueroa HC climb a year+ later. I finished before some similar W/kg guys that mostly trained in the Sierra foothills.
I didn’t make this up, searched the Internet in early 2016 and found this video:
key points in that video:
- sweet spot and work on longer and longer intervals (up to 2 hours for 2 hour climbs)
- reduce cadence
- sit upright instead of getting aero
Seriously that’s all I’ve needed to prepare for targeting 1-3 hour HC climbs at 85% FTP. The foothills of the mountains are a 40 minute drive from here, and I live in flatland so the majority of my training is out the door. Its possible to effectively train for long climbs in flatland by sitting up and lowering cadence, to simulate the increased torque and muscular endurance required on long climbs. For me the biggest bang for my training buck is to reduce cadence on all those 2 hour endurance rides I do during base.