It is worth re-reading Colin Fletcher, isn't it? Although the equipment has changed, the observations are timeless.
As to the NASCAR analogy, my recollection is that he wrote he had only two hiking paces: slow and slower.
I think he also wrote that when he had become a very knowledgeable expert on backpacking equipment, often sought after for his opinions, he realized, in the end, he had became nothing more than a bore. I think his 1970's word for it was a "fuddy-duddy."
Regardless of my pack weight, the older I get, the easier it has become for me to hike slower and be a fuddy-duddy!
