This might sound crazy, but I think you should consider doing some cyclocross races in your spare time. It's a lot of fun and you'll pick up some very useful bike handling skills, learning what you can and can't do in an environment where if you crash it will usually be on grass rather than pavement. I'm a monumentally slow rider and getting slower as I age, but I love CX races and have learned a lot by doing it. For instance, there have been times on my commute when I've hit a patch of ice and started to slide but was able to pull out of it and keep the bike upright -- a skill I learned by trying to make fast turns in slick mud. Things like hanging a foot out in tricky corners will become second nature. You can learn things like that from experience just by commuting, but off-road riding gives you a lot more practice in a short time. Plus, in my experience the CX community is wonderfully welcoming and supportive of newbies. (At my first race, one of the course officials pushed me up a hill I was struggling with!)

If you're at all interested, it looks like there's a clinic this weekend (though I'm not familiar with CO, so I have no idea if it's near you): https://www.coloradocycling.org/site...0Clinic-v3.pdf