Late last month Windsor made the decision to give away his pursuit of a professional cycling career and instead concentrate on teaching.

It was not an easy move for Windsor to make given he started riding when he was just two.

“Rumour has it that Blair was going to win until a Christmas beetle caught his eye, which he thought that was more interesting than finishing the race,” his profile said of his ‘maiden race’.

That good humour has been a feature of Windsor’s approach. So, too, has hard work and in more recent times, playing a leadership role for the Budget Forklifts team he joined in 2008.

But now those traits will serve Windsor in his job as a teacher at Blayney’s St Joseph’s Central School.

“It’s a good time to probably step away from it to be honest, I know I have achieved everything that I wanted to,” Windsor said.

“The next step for me was going to be to step it up and go overseas and try and find that elusive World Tour contract.

“It’s really nice how it worked out really. I did a few casual days at St Joesph’s at the end of a season and I thought to myself if a job popped up there I’d go for it. Well a job did and I got it.

“I had to sit down and talk to everyone about it, but what helped me make the decision was that everyone was just so supportive.”

After progressing through the Western Region Academy of Sport, and having been part of the New South Wales Institute of Sport’s talented athlete program, in 2008 a Western Australian outfit signed up the Bathurst talent.

That team was Budget Forklifts and, aside from a stint Windsor spent racing in England, he has worn their black and yellow ever since.

He has represented them overseas, placing eighth overall in the Indonesian based Tour of Singkarak and second in the Hillingdon Grand Prix in Great Britain, but it was in the domestic National Road Series where Windsor really shone for Budget Forklifts.

His highlight came last year when he won stage two of the Tour of Adelaide and went on to place fourth overall. 

Budget were surprised by Windsor’s decision to retire, but were very supportive of their former team captain and life member.

“Unfortunately, I only got the one win, but there were a few podiums, I got a lot of seconds and thirds, but that win in Adelaide was the big one for me,” Windsor said.

“To make the decision wasn’t easy because I had sort of taken on that leadership role at Budget and when I sat down with the management at Budget, they were a bit shocked.

“The team still wants me to be involved in little ways here and there, so that’s really nice.”

Windsor’s racing for Budget Forklifts was limited this year after crashing in the annual Bay Classic and injuring his knee.

That incident made him reflect on where he wanted to take his cycling career.

“I had signed on for this year and the crash happened in the first race of the new year. I was there as a protected rider, I was riding well and the team was riding well and I got myself in the break,” Windsor said.

“There were only five or six of us in that break, so I was going to be in the points, but instead I ended up at Geelong Hospital getting fixed up.

“I fell on my knee so it was pretty cut up, I had five or six stitches and something in it was fractured. To be honest I have tried to forget about it and put it out of my mind.

“It happens in racing and I was on the bad end of it. It was quite an interesting race to end my career on.”

Windsor did line up in one more race for Budget Forklifts, the national road race. The field included the likes Cadel Evans, Richie Porte and Simon Gerrans, but after three laps the pain in his knee forced him to retire.

“Cycling has been a big part of my life and to put that away, it was a really big decision and I know I will miss it too,” he said.

“I still don’t know now, I’m kinda sitting around thinking if I made the right decision, but I am sure come the Bathurst winter I won’t miss it and will be happy sitting in front of my heater.

“It’s funny because I always think in elite sports the sport leaves you, you don’t leave it.”

Windsor will still contest Bathurst Cycling Club races – he was their roadman of the year at one point – alongside his older brother Dean and father Mark.

“The old man is riding really well at the moment. It should be it gets to the point where the father is getting beat by the sons, but it’s gone in reverse for us. Dean and I used to beat him but now he is beating us,” Windsor said.

“We might have to take up squash,” he added with a trademark quip.