Similar age and the same thing happened to me in terms of not being able to unclip in time. I just chalked it up to age and reaction time. Not wanting to get injured and end my cycling enjoyment I went with platform pedals. Took me a while to get used to them, but in the end I enjoy cycling a little bit more, since I do not have to be worried about unclipping. But I know some diehards that would never go to platforms no matter what.