Cyclezen, I'm about ten years behind you. But I've got two long-standing injuries to soft tissues that have served to constrain what intensity and "power" I am able to accomplish during physical activities. With cycling, I've never been a hard-charger. It's always been an A-to-B transportation means for me, with the inherent healthful and happiness benefits.

As an adult, I have always kept my skills and abilities well within the difficulty+risk "curve" of the routes I ride. I won't ride on frosty or icy conditions. I won't ride if it's almost certain to rain heavily. I won't ride on certain types of roads, where if I am forced to "ditch" it's almost certain I'll land hard or badly (as I can't afford to no longer "bounce"). And so, most of my rides are fairly sedate by the standards of many riders. Has been this way for more than 25 years. I'm okay with that.

It works, for me. Keeps me safer. I'm on routes with surfaces that have good traction and few impediments (crud in the road). I avoid trails, except the hard-packed, well-maintained ones where there's precious little to go wrong. And I avoid routes where there aren't good "outs" for a cyclist who runs out of options. I also ride at a pace where, if I were to lay the bike down, I'd have a very good chance of avoiding serious injury.

Boring. But, these days, boring's good. I like boring, injury-wise. Back in my twenties and thirties, I could afford to "wring out" a trail or route. No can do, any longer. And that's fine. I can enjoy the cycling with vastly less risk, fewer obstacles to avoid.