That's why going back to downtube shifters is more appealing to me.

It's less of a reach than a water bottle, the reach works to centralize your mass rather than taking your hands out to the absolute ends of the bars where the slightest wrong movement will affect your steering, plus like most people my age I'm experienced with them.

It's nice to be able to cover both brakes while shifting, is all - you never know. I don't really find brifters any quicker than properly adjusted indexed downtube shifters.