This year I've found myself in a similar position. I hate having people wait for me. Anyone can have a bad day but if we are, every ride, far enough behind that the group is inconvenienced, time to move on. Covid has made it easier this year to choose riding solo. I've also seen my group change to less interesting routes, obsession with earlier start and finish times, more wrecks caused by enthusiastic but less attentive new riders. Long time cycling friends aging out is also sad. Recently I've been limiting myself to 30-40 miles because it's what I can do with 2 water bottles and I want to avoid the country stores where they are unmasked, etc. It hardly seems worth getting togged out but I still enjoy it. Downsides of getting old but still better than having to go to work every day.
