At one stage, in the road race, Spiteri says he was riding outside white lines and was blown into the middle of the road.

Spiteri, riding in his first Australian Para cycling Road National Championships, said the experience had only made him keener to take on more competition.

“This was my first (para) race,” Spiteri said.

“I ride in local club races but I try to race against able-bodied riders and usually get left behind.

“At the championships, we were all riding in the same predicament.”

As the only C2-classified rider in Australia, Spiteri competed against faster C3 rivals in the road race and time trial on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

Both classes are related to limited muscle movement, for Spiteri the result of a car accident about 10 years ago. Spiteri captured time-trial gold in Caloundra then moved to the Glass House Mountains to tackle the road race.

Competition was tight with competitors hungry for points ahead of London Paralympic selections.

A world championship rider broke free from Spiteri’s field in the road race but he said the remaining field was close – partly due to wild weather.

Spiteri joined Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club about two years ago and enjoys training in Buninyong and Warrenheip.

He formed a partnership with Cycle City to help step up his cycling and join national ranks.

Now Spiteri has tasted national competition, he is determined to keep improving.

As cycling moves into track season, Spiteri is looking forward to being back on the road for the Victorian championships later this year.

He has a track bike but says it would be a whole new learning curve trying to ride on the velodrome.