Please try to enjoy your outdoor rides and don’t worry too much about getting faster or what other people are saying… 
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I do wonder if adaptive training and plan builder, as they are working now , build in enough recovery for older folks. An empirical question…
Okay I pulled some data for you on this!
For TR workouts completed by athletes 60+ years old in the last 120 days, the fail rate for adapted workouts is 87% less than for non adapted workouts.
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Those are compelling data!
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Does it have a walk mode? Try using that to help get it up the stairs
Thank you for using the plural.
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54 year old here. Dedicated roadie since age 21. Just wanted to say I’m enjoying this conversation and wanted to suggest a terrific book on all of this called “The Midlife Cyclist.” This is a plug only in that it’s a terrific book on aging and performance and what it all really means. Here’s a link to the publisher’s site for the book: The Midlife Cyclist: The Road Map for the +40 Rider Who Wants to Train Hard, Ride Fast and Stay Healthy: Phil Cavell: Bloomsbury Sport
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First off let me say I am 40 so not in your age bracket however I have an autoimmune disease which makes me very prone to fatigue. I’ve also had 13 knee surgeries (all on the same knee) so hopefully I can shed some insight about my experience.
Stop focusing on the “can I improve” aspect in the normal way. You can definitely improve - maybe it’s can I do this same workout but feel less exhausted the day after than last time I did this workout. Can I do it at 102% or 105% intensity today rather than 100% like last time. Can I get through it with less knee pain than last time. Improving for someone with a health issue needs to be measured in different ways than just is my ftp going up every time I do a ramp test. Also be ready and able to accept that many times you will go backwards or you will hit a fatigue wall and need a rest. You just have to accept this and pick yourself up again when you are able and carry on. I used to be very “normal results” focused and get really really down when I wasn’t setting my numbers go up. I’d do every workout and sometimes extra because I wanted so badly to improve but it would just send me backwards every time because I’d hit a wall of fatigue and literally not be able to ride at all for a week. I’m on a low volume plan and I probably miss one or two workouts per month because I’m too tired but I try to limit it to just a few, or swap a workout eg ditch the planned threshold workout and do an endurance one instead if I’m feeling a bit worn out. Don’t give up the weights! I also was doing 3 short weights sessions a week (35 min) but got too fatigued doing that so now I’m a lot more flexible with it - if I’m feeling good ill try for 3 a week but if not I’ll just do one or two - or none if that’s what I need. You have to be much more fluid and forgiving when you are walking a tightrope of battling fatigue and you’ll find the majority of coaches don’t understand that if they have never experienced it before. You can’t just “suck it up and do it even if you’re tired” like a normal person.
With regards to the knee the most important piece of advise is to get a bike fit from someone who is also a physio and fits you to accommodate your injury. I’ve had plenty of bike fits where they’d fit me like a non injured person and a month later I was so uncomfortable I couldn’t ride at all. Also with regards to the pain you get when going into a solid effort like vo2 I used to get this but now I change down a gear right when the vo2 (or hard interval) starts so I get some extra cadence and the sudden jump in power doesn’t hit me at once and put so much torque through my knee. It helps a lot, even if you start of pedalling a bit quick you can always wind it down a bit - much easier on the knees than suddenly taking a big power spike. I also watch my knees for a few minutes every workout to check my form and make sure I’m not getting sloppy and letting them move in or out - especially once you start getting tired. I ice after a hard workout and wear a compression knee bandage/support every night when I sleep to help prevent swelling. Sorry that got so long - i hope there is something of use for you there.
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Here are some basic kettlebell workouts that shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes. If those don’t float your boat or you want more info search “kettlebells” on Youtube. Kettlebell Strength Training for Cyclists | Cycling Workout Program
Kettlebells are the greatest home gym equipment out there. You can do a ton of stuff with just a couple and most of the exercises are highly functional and multi faceted with a big core component. You can go heavy and concentrate on strength or go light and they can be a killer cardio workout. They are perfect for a home gym. You don’t even needed a dedicated workout space. You can stick them behind a couch and pull them out when its time to workout. I’ve even thrown a kettlebell in the trunk of the car when traveling so I can keep up with my swings.
There are 5 basic human movements - Push, pull, hinge, squat and loaded carry - and any decent strength program will hit all of them. These are the things that make you human and working on them a bit will keep you human. These are the basic strengths a pro football player needs but they are also what allows you to get through day to day life and eventually to just being able to get out of a chair and play with your grandkids. Cycling, as great as it is for cardio, does not hit any of them.
If you think kettle bells are the greatest piece of home gym equipment than you haven’t tried gymnastics rings (which are
even cheaper)
I have a set of fake TRX straps which are similar to rings and they are a great fitness tool. Back before TRX got aggressive about going after copy cats, you could pick up high quality knockoffs for well under $50.
I do love my kettlebells though. Besides the fitness benefits, something about swinging a huge iron ball around makes me feel young
TRX overcomplicates things with a less functional result than simple wooden rings (eg. no way to do a muscle up in TRX) which can be had for half the price of your knockoff
Thinking about getting kettlebells for legs though but for now just using dumbbells and they still work fine
Love my kettlebells. Swings, Get-ups and Farmer’s Carry are a staple in my healthy old man program Lots of other functional play beyond that
I managed to score a weight set and bar on Craig’s list. Have built a home gym with the above, a couple of “dumbell handles” that I can put standard plates on, a bench, and a squat rack from Amazon that was less than 300. Today was deadlifts, Bulgarian Split Squats, pullups, overhead press, dumbell rows and bench press. I tried doing weights on the same day as a zone 2 ride, but that was too much for this 67 yo. Weights gets its own day.
Kettlebell users are like the vegans of the strength world. The fixie riders of cycling. The wild bearded runners of ultramarathons.
Like all these things, I get it. I just don’t get why people get so zealous about them! 
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Good information but not really addressing the question. First there is the mathematical component, if the failure rate was very low to begin with, 87% reduction is a really small number in absolute terms (i.e. failing 1 in 100 versus 1 in 770 workouts would not have a significant impact on users). So this only has a meaning when the starting failure rate is known.
Second and more importantly, the answer suggests that a lower failure rate is evidence that there is sufficient recovery time for 60+ riders. That logic can get people over-trained, or less dramatic, on sub-optimal plans. And really not a hypothetical situation, as three TR workouts plus a (intense) group ride on Saturday would be too much intensity to generate an optimal training response for many (of all ages).
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Don’t tell me that….I just ordered a small set of them!! 
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I use kettlebells and am a second level vegan. I eat things that eat grass, like bison.
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Be careful soon you’ll be extolling the virtues of backing into parking spots…
…and telling everybody about it.
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Uhoh. This is the only way I ever park.
Hoist by my own petard…
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My dad and I are both similar and life long endurance athletes. Age groupers. He managed to break 3:00:00 for a marathon and I managed to suffer as a cat3 who can hang in the pack in 35+ races with some good riders. Nothing special, 4 w/kg guys is all.
Dad’s aging experience and mine are similar. Am mid 50s and he is early 80s so I get a nice pre-view of what’s to come!
We both clearly peaked physically in our 30s and mentally in our 40s. In terms of competing. 50s were solid but PRs were in the rear view.
Dad has two regrets:
(1) He didn’t do enough strength training. In retrospect he should have stuck with lifting weights as a life long part of fitness.
(2) Total focus on marathons and fast centuries. In retrospect, he should have mixed it up more.
I’m taking this to heart and am adamant about hitting the gym and mixing up my riding focus to have variety.
Dad still does 5000 or more miles a year. It just takes longer!
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