This thread is encouraging! Pre-pandemic I was getting up at 5am routinely and riding, and then life got in the way. Now I'm trying to get back at it, and I can tell that my rides are not as long and as easy as before - but it's fun, and I'm not discouraged. I'm trying to pick trails around town in addition to my neighborhood road riding to keep it interesting, and that helps. I appreciate the advice in this thread, even though it wasn't meant for me... but it's still good stuff!