Used to be poor but had a very light 16# Viscount road bike(c. '70's). I cycled most every weekend with a friend ten years my junior, in central Florida (headwinds, sand spurs, hurricanes, tourists, dehydration, water moccasins, gators, sunstroke, etc.). She rode a mountain bike. I kept up with her through sand and city riding for years, running with low pressure, knobbier road tires and reinforced tubes (forget type). I actually had an advantage in the sand because I used "Flickers" which drag lightly on the tires and knock off things like glass shards, nails and sand spurs--which puncture only after a number or revolutions drive them through the tire and into the tube. Surprisingly, she would have to stop immediately and use tweezers to pick sand spurs out of her knobby tires or risk a flat. My biggest riding problem occurred with cobblestone streets, which were a bit jarring, considering the short, stiff geometry of my frame. If you have strong rims you can do quite a few stunts on your road bike. Pedal clearance is the biggest issue then, but that only slowed me down occasionally. Popping curbs becomes a quick-stall-and-hop art form if you practice.