-I'm around middle of the pack on the local Tuesday night road ride. Not bad, considering that my "road bike" is a commuterized CX bike, complete with rack, fenders and 35 mm tires. I think it weighs about 30 pounds.
-Going over potholes and gravel bits is not a big deal on a CX bike, but apparently more difficult on a road bike.
-Going over horse **** is no big deal with fenders, but apparently sucks on a road bike.
-The biggest downside of the CX bike appears to be rolling resistance and aero, since it was fairly straightforward to keep up on climbs, and I had to drill it a couple times to close gaps going downhill.