Eh, it's not so bad now. The impaired aerobic capacity motivated me to try strength training again, for the first time in decades. My health insurance includes a free Silver Sneakers pass to some gyms (Planet Fitness in my area).

I've done about four sessions and am enjoying the challenge of working muscles that I've mostly ignored for years. My chesticle moobs are beginning to fill out again in the upper region just below the clavicle. I've done pushups for years, but it doesn't work the entire pec region like some of the fancy weight machines. I liked the old Nautilus machines back in the 1970s (never cared for free weights and only use a few dumbbells and light barbells for curls), and the current batch of commercial gym grade weight machine enable a nicely controlled range of motion with less risk of injury.

And on the bike I can still keep up with friends for casual group rides. I haven't done any fast club rides since just before the pandemic and probably won't ever again. Besides the aerobic compromise from the respiratory virus, neck arthritis pain from old injuries makes it tough to ride a drop bar bike in the most aero position for more than a few minutes at a time. Even back in 2019 I was finding myself getting just a wee bit sketchy in some tight pacelines because I couldn't easily keep my head up and quickly peek over my shoulders. I don't want to crash at my age, or be the cause for a crash, so now I confine my hard workout rides to solo rides. If I happen to crash, nobody gets hurt but me. A friend brought over a recumbent trike to try out and it's very comfortable, although heavy at over 35 lbs. It's not intended to be fast, but maybe I'll eventually try a lightweight two wheel recumbent.