Originally Posted by
Tango1
I’ve discovered riding almost exclusively in the 52 ring actually works pretty well and every time I drop down to the 42 it feels like I have lost a lot of momentum - I usually end up walking shortly after downshifting.
It sounds like you need practice riding in smaller gears, no matter what. Learn to spin a higher cadence smoothly. You'll have to allow yourself to go slower if you want to do Zone 1/Zone 2 training.
I'm not a big gear rider, so my first order of business would be to get a 14-28 6-speed freewheel and a new chain.