I live, pretty much, where beta lives (I'm riding out to your neck of the woods today, beta, for the OP parade and bbq at my sisters!).

I am not, however, as fast as beta, since she trains more than I do! On my "old" bike (Marin Larkspur hybrid), fast was 18-19 mph. On my Bianchi Veloche, my top speed so far is 25 mph. Briefly. On the flats with no significant wind and no stop signs, I hang out around 20 mph. Into the wind, I'm lucky if I can maintain 12-13 mph. I can't fathom (yet) seeing "30" on my spedometer! The wind on the prairie...argh! If someone can post an explanation of how the wind can feel like it's blowing from every direction at once, I would appreciate it!

Speed is nice, I love speed. The light, fast bike really helps. People getting off the bike path for me really helps. The freaking wind just stopping really helps. Training my body helps. As others have said, unless you're racing, do you need to be at a certain speed? You sound like you ride long and hard and well to me!