Good morning, Pete. I share many of your same concerns and think I’ve stumbled across a ‘hack’ that at least works for me. At 65, I can ride all day in Zone 2 & 3. I just can’t push out the watts that others do but I’m okay with that. As well, my focus is and always has been to “preserve the asset”. In other words, avoid injury thus interruptions in training/cycling. You might want to try this “hack”. Go to the list of workouts and find one that represents how long you want to ride. For example, 30 minutes or 150 minutes. Pick the one you want. Now, when doing workouts, you can go to any world and pick a route. I have my unfinished routes in a list (under PLAN). The routes also have an expected time to complete. Pick the route and begin. This has helped me complete routes without injury AND no adjustments to my trainer. For example, I picked the workout “Endurance Journey” and route “Spiral into the Volcano”. Two and a half hours later, I completed the route but never was above Zone 2. You may find yourself traveling at 2 mph up steep portions of the route but you can complete the ride, without injury and enjoy your next ride. One last thought (or experience.haha). Once the workout is complete, you no longer have the ‘protection’ of the workout (zone 2 only) and you will return to the real gradient. I’ve learned to pick a workout that lasts longer than the expected route. If I don’t finish the workout, no big deal. It was a ‘mule’ anyway. BUT, if the workout is complete and the route isn’t, you may find yourself on a 16% grade with full engagement. It will make completing the route REALLY difficult.
Hope this works for you too!
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