So last year, my younger and more powerful brothers and I went to Italy and climbed the Nivolet (2600m alt ~2300m vertical over 40km) to celebrate middle bro turning 60. I averaged 165w for the first hour of the climb (being conservative), 220w for the second hour (steepest bit) and 200w for the 3rd hour (FTP is 235)
This year baby bro is turning 60 and we're going back to climb the Fauniera (1700 vertical over 25km) and the north side of the Stelvio (1880 vertical over 25 km). We'll have about 4 days between the two climbs.
Prep last year was me bumping my mileage by about 25% (8000km for the year), climbing everything I could find, doing a lot of 3 hour+ Zone 2 rides, and 4 5 hour rides with 1300-1500m of vertical that were~65% zone 1&2, with zone 3&4 on the climbs. I deliberately over-geared all the climbs because none of the local climbs were as long or as steep as what we would face in Italy, and I quessed (correctly) our gearing would be a on tall side. Also did 6 hill sessions of 4-5 x~6 minutes zones 5-6 in July and August (went to Italy in September.)
I had a good winter this year (thank you Zwift) and am well ahead of last year both mileage and quality wise.
I was quite happy with how things went last year, but am wondering what the collective wisdom might be if my aim is to climb a bit faster and to be able to handle the two climbs in short succession.
Regards,