A new thing I've noticed about being old is that not only do I need more time to recover from hard rides, but that too much rest makes me slow. I've definitely been strongest this season after periods of heavier training, even though I was stressed. There seems to be a fine line between exhaustion and loss of that last edge of fitness.
In other news, just as my oak mite bites were getting better, I was stung three times by something nasty on the way home from work, yesterday. Now that has stopped hurting and started itching too.