We live in a very competitive culture. People seem to measure themselves not by absolute terms such as performance but in relative terms such as being faster than the next rider. I have noticed in the cohort of riders around my age, many of them have dropped out of riding now that they can not ride in the fast group anymore. It is a shame. At over 50, cardio vascular fitness is probably more beneficial to your health and well being than ever before. So riding to "relax" is a very worthy motivation. If you ride to "ralax", you certainly are not going to give up because some 30 something with a Dura Ace carbon fiber racing bike can now drop you like a hot potato.