Awesome, congrats @
GMJ! I had a similar season in 2011 with two wins, a couple seconds and a few other high places. Welcome to "the ultimate category"
.
My agenda in racing these days is to make it fast, safe, fun and positive. I'm part of a big team with lots of participation at all levels and so there is always someone moving up the ranks that I can assist. 9/10 times we have a plan, and it usually involves (me) attacking, covering moves, pulling hard on the front and shepherding other riders. It's what I like to do.
Winning is great but I seem to have lost the same killer instinct that I had when I was winning as a 4/5 (in college), and frankly I'm a different person. I think a lot of it is because I want to be one of the stronger ones in the race and that's not realistic for me at the 1/2 level.
I've always gotten as much fun (as winning) out of being a team player and mentor, which seems to be enough to keep me excited about participating and being in shape. I'm one of the more experienced guys at this point and I like to lead by example.