I'll add my two cents
I'm late to this thread, but it seems worthwhile to add my two cents. I built up a very nice carbon frame for the purpose of really giving Masters 40+ racing a go this year, after contemplating a comeback for some time. I raced back in the late 1980s as a junior and saw some success, also in the 1990s into the early 2000s as a Cat. 3. Family, career and other pursuits took me away from it, but I really missed it.
I STILL miss it. I will always miss it. But I think I miss the idea of it more than the actual suffering and danger involved. I also built up a really nice vintage Italian frame last year, that I raced on in the 1990s, and just going out and rolling around on that thing is in some ways far more enjoyable than racing. I think maybe we need to come to terms with the following fact: perhaps one of the pinnacle achievements in life well lived are those when we could finish top 10 at some big bike races or just plain finish a hard crit. I even stepped on the podium a few times and won a race. I went to Junior Nationals in my teens. I was also a bit of a tortured young man when I was bike racing at my best.
I've found a lot more peace in my 40s and you can't put a price on that.