I like this topic.
I’ve seen friends and acquaintances come and go through cycling. A lot of them got better than me quickly, and that was a little hard for me to experience. Now I’m still here, and they’re doing motorsports or focusing fully on a career or raising kids.
The prevailing theme to them leaving the sport was that they only wanted to participate in it with 100% commitment, and once that wasn’t possible for them, they stopped enjoying it. As sad as that seems to me, I try to understand that position as I tend to be an all or nothing person as well. I’m just glad I’ve been able to adjust my expectation with cycling over the years as a recreational rider turned very competitive amateur racer, turned back into a more casual rider now focused primarily on the longevity of my participation in cycling in one form or another.