Thanks - it was sobering and also pretty awesome to see a rider basically noodling at the upper end of their endurance power whilst I was pushing well over threshold into VO2 just to hold the wheel.
Kind of amazing to realise how fit a person can actually become!
Fitness shmitness. Obviously, you just need to buy a new bike. The 137 gram difference between your antique 2023 model and a new 2025 model, combined with the massive reduction in CdA will more than make up the difference.