There is a difference to learning something when younger and keeping it going as compared to doing it while younger, having a break for the usual reasons (money/work/family) and then coming back to it. You are never quite the same on the return. I played rep rugby as a teen and early 20s. I know there are seniors/master teams but 15 minutes of contact footie and I would be fucked, probably have a stroke, coronary, screw up a joint, tear muscles and basically become a jibbering mess all at the same time.
Riders who keep going, keep their skills alive and ticking over will be better for it. Riders who don't and then get older, well....
I would also argue those who put the bikes in the shed for the winter and roll them out again come the warmer (?) weather, are effectively returning riders every spring/summer. They have gotten older and none of their skills have been maintained for months. Look at how rusty professional athletes are when they first come back from the off season and those guys never really stop working.
Bottom line, what is the problem with maybe slowing down a bit and giving your reactions more of a chance. Get some training, how bad can a day on the bike be? R4E courses are $50 at worst, a couple of fills of fuel? pffffft! Cheap as chips! IAM offers mentoring completely free of charge (you do need to pay membership subs of course) There are options there to keep the brain engaged and in a way you can pace yourself and still get some fun out of riding
Sometimes I find the most objective way to baseline where I am at is to seek outside input and measurement or critique. Why? Well my perception of what is acceptable might simply be an adaptation to something which is sub-optimal from the beginning. Maybe its just me
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