Originally Posted by
livedarklions
Keeping in mind that he's talking about climbs in the Alps and such, and that climbing while racing is a lot more of keeping you from maxing out effort too early than regular riding might be.
QFT. Almost nobody lives by nor will ever ride even a Cat 2 climb. I'd dare guess 75% of riders. Yes, plenty do live near and ride them, but they're still in the minority.
For the climbs Jens is talking about also, sometimes the shallower grades are earlier in the climb and you can trade wheelsucking with others instead of busting it and giving people a free tow up the easier grades. Then, use the hammer when the grade goes up, which is likely in the second 1/2 to 1/3 of the climb.
Most rec riders doing anything equal or longer than a Cat 3 climb will just be doing it at tempo to SS power anyway. It'll take you long enough that the time duration will be well beyond anything threshold related. I say that because you likely didn't hop out of the car and warmup for 5min and immediately climb it. So you probably won't be able to go 100% up a climb near an hour. A 100% effort is one and done, so you're going to be below.
Around here? Shoot, there are weeks I don't shift out of the big ring. Just hammer up the sucker at what you got for 2 to 5 minutes. It's 6% at most, and that's probably only for 100 yards or so. I'd consider hills here just extended hill sprints. The KOMs from "competent" P/1/2 riders are in the 500w range for 2 minutes.