Prepping for hills.

You don't give much background, and don't have a training log, so can't give specific advice. However, I would want to caution against doing hill-specific work unless you already have established an adequated base of training, especially if you already have knee issues. You'd be better off putting in more mileage (i.e., Ride Lots!) than subjecting your knees to hill stress without first building some strength.

100% agree with bear on this one.

Including hills in your workouts is a good thing especially if you are going to have to race in them, but doing hill repeats without a solid base (and good climbing technique) is a recipe for some painful and frustrating workouts.

I agree with the above.  I understand that you are concerned about the hills on the course but you have a good amount of time to prep (6 months) which should be sufficient for you to concentrate on base (no hills, no tempo, no intervals) for the next 3 months...just concentrate on low intensity volume.  The more intense training won't do you much good without a sufficient base to build on so be patient for now.  If you get your base work in through the winter and early spring you might be able to start adding hills and intervals in the months leading up to the race to build more strength and power.  It also sounds like you live relatively close to the actual course that you'll be racing.  If I were you I'd definitely make a point of riding/running that course a bunch of times this spring (after you have a good base).  I'd love to be able to incorporate the race course into my training plan.  Not sure what your knee issuea are but are you currently on a weight training program?  This is the time of year to get into the weight room and move some iron around to prepare for the build phase of tri training.  Here is one example of a simple but effective weight training program.  Please don't just jump into something like this without first consulting a doctor about your current knee problems.  Squats and lunges may present more risk depending on what your current issues are.