Thank you all for your advice. A lot of great suggestions here. It sounds like I’m in good company using a 20-minute test instead of the ramp. I’m just about to start a build cycle and will switch from Sustained to Short Power to get some more VO2max enjoyment. It didn’t come up, but some leg and core weight training probably wouldn’t hurt either. It would be nice to gain a few Watts, but as many have pointed out, the denominator in W/kg is still kg. When I’m out riding, many of the people who blow by me are seemingly some years older. There are a LOT of really fast 60 yo out there–I know it can be done.
One thing that would be very nice to see in the training plans is some indication of how hard a given ride should be, taking into account where it falls in the cycle. I understand that the perceived exertion would vary a lot for different riders depending on their strengths/nutrition/sleep/etc, but I’m always wondering if I worked too hard or not hard enough. This is particularly true in SSB, where I’m never clear if I should keep boosting the percentage until the 60-minute SS workouts become really tough. The podcast talks about being gutted after certain workouts, but that’s all I’ve gleaned so far.