This is for rebeccaC and anyone who might wonder about aging and physical capabilities:

I was/am a geek and never was good in physical activities @school. For certain, it helps to have a good/healthy weight, diet as a baseline. So cycling is just something I love doing whenever I can. Performance is important in so far to me, that I can mount certain hill grades, go a long distance for trips, cycle with heavier baggage, etc.

I don't bike race but have cycled lots, etc. because I'm car-free for several decades. I'm the type of cyclist that will walk across an intersection with my bike if I know I will be at a very busy intersection with higher car speed roads. I especially do that when my panniers are overly heavy with groceries and bike balance is important.

@55, I have not yet broken a bone, but have been hit by a car as a teen pedestrian. Car going slow enough that I was lucky I was not thrown on top of the car hood. (Just had bruises and was in temperory traumatic shock for a day.) So, yes I guess that's where partially a source of my caution comes from.

My greatest concern these days are: people use cellphones while driving. It is disturbing, even the law in several Canadian provinces makes it illegal, people still do it.

I know these days there seems to be the cult of being physically courageous/admirable by cycling, running under difficult conditions/older age. I don't worry about feeling like a whimp/less because I know I've experienced other things in life which did require taking personal risks: career (by moving in several jobs), financial risk, etc.

Just my comments here --if others wonder if most of us older folks, experience major aches, pains, broken bones alot soon after ie. 40?