Getting back out on the bike again

After a far-too long layoff, I'm working on getting back out on my bike again.  I hate the process of getting restarted.
When I was last riding (about 18 months ago), I was riding as well as I had been doing in several years.  Then came equipment issues (especially problems with flat tires), winter, scheduling conflicts, sickness (including a bout with COVID, and more recently a viral infection), general laziness, winter again, and more laziness. Now I get to start again with a baseline of more or less zero, including working off a number of accumulated pounds, even if not quite as many as I had feared.
Next step... get out bike, and check condition.
Tires flat, no surprise there.  Drive train in good shape -- I replaced chain and cassette last spring. Tool bag -- missing spare tube, son "borrowed". Handlebar tape needs rewrap -- I have a couple of rolls, but haven't gotten around to installing. Speedometer -- battery totally dead, meaning I've lost all the accumulated mileage (and forgotten the numbers) and I have to remember to make sure I correctly reset for my wheel/tire size when I replace the battery. Lights seem to be OK, but I don't really need them right now.  Water bottles -- ugh! Need to get those completely cleaned out, but fortunately, I was able to swap in a fresh set.
Actually, I like the summer heat, and am kind of annoyed that I missed most of April and May, although it will be close to October before I have to get out the arm warmers for early morning rides.
Clothing seems to be all OK, and all in the expected storage places.
And of course, the hardest part is getting shorts on and actually getting out onto the street.
I got out this morning, and after a little less than a mile, I felt the rear tire softening. I don't know if there's a new puncture there, or just one that I forgot to fix.
I pumped up the tire and headed back for home. I got less than 2 miles on this ride, not even enough to get warmed up.  In my current state of fitness, I had planned to go out only about 30 or 40 minutes. Big disappointment.
Thus, off to the bike shop for a couple of new tubes and a patch kit (our dry air means that a tube of glue is generally usable only once before it all dries out and evaporates).
Of course, that doesn't count all the un-fun rides that will be necessary to build up my fitness again.  The last time I went through this, it was close to 500 miles before I started feeling decent again, and with my riding schedule, that's going to take a couple of months to get to, even if I can get to getting out 3 or 4 times per week.
Whine....
Did I mention that I hate getting restarted after a long layoff?
Smith