Well, this should be interesting. I did finally have my shoulder specialist appointment (note that at this point it is with his PA). No MRI (yet) but the best judgment here is that my primary issue is osteoarthritis as opposed to softer tissue issues in the rotator cuff (rotator cuff most likely a secondary thing and not the source of my discomfort). The judgment is that my risk of meaningful further damage due to the activities that affect the shoulder and establish my quality of life (cycling, golf, and guitar) is quite low. So I rode outdoors today (30 miles) and will continue to do that and see what happens (I have only done four outdoor rides since mid April). Then I have a follow-up appointment in late June to see if this is manageable/acceptable.
Toward the end of today's ride I was not cringing when I needed to signal a left turn. But this was my first outdoor ride in 2 weeks so we will see how this holds up this time next week.
dave