this is true.
i think without kids entering the sport, it is both tougher for older folks (parents) to stay involved and tougher for people to care moving forward.
i'm the parent of a young boy, and i've found myself saying the following a number of times when people have asked if i want him to race as i do.
aside from the fact that it is a hobby for me, i'd have a hard time putting my kid -- as a junior -- into scenarios where he is training and racing on open roads. it is one thing for me to do this as a masters athlete, where i both know and accept the risk. kids simply lack the capacity to make proper judgment calls and/or to truly grasp the risks they face, and mistakes can get one of us killed when we're up against multi-ton vehicles operated by people giving less than 100% attention.
it pains me a bit to say it. i can see why MTB and CX are growing more from this safety point of view.
i won't coach juniors and younger riders for this reason; i don't want to be responsible for sending a junior out on the open road to do VO2 intervals in traffic, esp when they might not realize they should end a 3' interval at 2:40 when they hit a stop light rather than push on through.
i don't want to pick on dieter at all here as i have loved his battenkill race (traveled across the country for it multiple times!), but i cite an incident this year as an example: even during a race event where racers are looked after, there was an unmanned intersection on the course. i'd front-flatted going down one of the dirt descents (no neutral wheels for me...
sad day), and at this point i was in a car with my friend and his father, two area locals. we were following the head of a couple races, catching them at a few points. one of the intersections was either a 4-way stop or -- i think -- open in the direction of the race and stop signs crossing the course. my friend and his dad (folks who have lived in the area 30+ years) noted that locals simply ignore those stop signs.
point o all this is to say that had i not flatted and been at the front of the race as i'd hoped, i'd still use my old-guy judgment and even throw away the race at an unmanned intersection like that in the name of safety. if a 14-yo is there, s/he is more likely to blindly follow whoever is in front.
importantly, i think the junior races dieter set up are on a smaller portion of the course, and in general (aside from the lack of neutral support in my field!
) the events are VERY well organized/run. i'm merely citing this as a recent example of a situation that i've thought about that can have a bad effect on someone younger/with less discretion.
we've all been on race courses where a volunteer is asleep, or a car just decides they're going to jump on the course because, hey, they're a motor vehicle and screw the bikers. not sure i'd unleash my kid in that way, esp if he had less than world-class talent.
on a related note: i recently raced in europe. the race was 7 euros, and for that we had full support and closed roads. the race was an EVENT. it was basically all people mid-20s and younger (if you're mid-20s and you haven't made it to a pro team, you basically get on with the rest of your life) -- one field. there was real-deal traffic control (gendarmes) at every possible spot. it was super hectic and crazy due to traffic circles and road furniture, but it was very safe otherwise.
while it was a big event for the town, they shut down roads for ~3h, not all day (e.g. to run 14 different fields).
of course cycling and racing in europe is a very different culture.