In the early 80s (I was in my mid 20s) I didn't even have water bottle cages on my bike, let alone chamois in my shorts or anything other than the stock seat, bar tape, etc.
I like to think smarter is what happened, not fussier. Ten years or so I went through kidney stones and my bad hydration habits probably were at the root of it. Last year at age 62 I did the Seattle to Portland ride and had my longest one day ride ever - 123 miles on the first day - and felt way better than I did doing my first century ride back in my 20s.
There are areas I'm definitely fussier - I no longer run tires until I can see the inner tube through them, or bar tape until I can see the bar and I became a believer in proper bike fitting. Wait, maybe those are all "smarter" too!