I have a new old bike. It's a Trek 720 Multitrack , which was given to me by an old lady, who kept it inside, and hardly ever rode it. I've had it about a year, but I've only been riding it since May of this year , 2010.
I replaced the tires about two weeks ago, because I saw signs of DRY ROT, the rubber in the side-walls was peeling away from the threads of fiber.

Last Saturday, I went down a big hill (maybe you saw the video), and I couldn't really stop in time, I had to snake past a stopped car on the right. (It was a tee intersection with the side road on the left)
I even put my foot on the curb to help stop.

My question is, could the brake pads have dried out, the same way the tires did?
This bike is a 1992 or 1993 model, so the brake pads are 17+ years old. This bike is so old, it has cantilever brakes!

Should I invest in a new set of brake pads?