Around 45, my knuckles started getting a bit sore after long rides on drops.
A bit of background: Aside from my teens, I didn't start riding until my 40s. A few years ago, I moved up from super-flat and super-dry Los Angeles to super-hilly and super-wet Seattle, and I started caring a lot more about my brakes. My gorgeous Paul Racer centerpulls got replaced by unattractive-but magical Ultegra hydros, and I couldn't be happier. I can brake with 2 fingers from the hoods and it slows and stops in any weather. I can now ride 200 miles without feeling like I have crab claws at the end of the day, and I'm far less likely to die.
With that said, I've also done long-ish rides on flat-bar (well, trekking bar) bikes with old-fashioned v-brakes, and it's fine, probably because I can always use 4 fingers. But the mountain bike and roadie have hydros and always will.
So here's my newest challenge. I'm thinking of trying out single-speed cyclocross this fall, to keep the legs in shape after track season. There are a ton of light, cheap, used bikes with cantis that fit the bill. I can get a high-end bike from 6 or 7 years ago with great wheels and tires for $500 or $600, which is half the price of something new and hydro-equipped like a
Norco Threshold, and the throwback canti bike would be a nice, bulletproof, thrasher. I'm just not sure about cantis (which have notoriously bad leverage) on drops, especially if I'm braking from the hoods. I feel like I'm either going to kill my hands from squeezing or kill myself from not braking hard enough.
Then again, on a SSCX track, maybe I'm never going to be going fast enough for it to matter, and a general "slow down request" will be enough?