Right now, I am barred from anything above z3, by my coach, who Hermes has given the title She Who Must Be Obeyed. I think mine is a more extreme limitation than most coaches use in the base period, but this is my first season, and I had been going hard in the past without ever having built any kind of base. I've only been on a road bike since last March, so I think you'd characterize what I'm doing now as taking basic algebra in college, after having ditched math in high school.

Today, as a New Year's gift from SWMBO, I was supposed to be able to ride with my group, for the first hour of the Sat ride, going just hard enough to keep from being dropped, then go off by myself for another 3 hours. But I got a new seat to relieve perineal distress, was installing it, and I broke the bolt in my seat post clamp with my gargantuan strength. I was trying to make sure my 210# body didn't cause it to self-adjust. Grrrrrr. I got a bolt that will work temporarily at Lowe's this morning, but it means I'll be doing my 4 hour base ride today alone, and only in zones 1-3. Hopefully with a seat below me the whole time.