Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
Go and watch a race stage sometime-- your viewpoint will change. The bulk of the peleton is 20 years old and weighs 130lbs. So you have no reason to feel inadequate, unless you're secretly 20 and 130lbs. This is why Strava allows you to sort by age and weight. There's a steep hill that's part of a race stage near my house-- in the general sorting I'm a mediocre 487/715. Sort by age or weight and I jump to 50th.
Take heart in knowing that though we may never have been as fast as they are now, someday they'll be as slow as we are.
Obviously I was writing this in a humorous frame of mind. I wouldn't expect at 70 to keep up with an average rider in his 20s let alone a pro! In fact, in all sports, it's almost impossible for even a locally-competitive person to grasp the chasm between himself and a world-class athlete. I used to ride motorcycles and thought myself a decent sport rider until I took a ride on the back seat with a professional road racer -- simply unbelievable the way he got us around that track in total smoothness at lean angles that scared the @#% out of me!