In April 2006 Ben took on some of the best riders in the country in round 1 of the Scottish Downhill Association (SDA) Series at Innerleithen. With over 300 riders overall and with nearly 50 in Ben’s category it was going to be a steep learning curve, but he took it all in his stride and after a hectic practice day along came race day.

Race run 1 was looking good with Ben quick and smooth throughout his run until the last corner where he drifted slightly wide onto the loose gravel and slid out into the course marking tape which wrapped itself around the rear mech costing a large loss in time. Race run 2 was marred by a serious accident which meant Ben was stuck waiting to race for nearly 2 hours at the top of the course in changing weather conditions. When his race got underway Ben had a reasonable run but could only manage 24th place, but lessons had been learnt about how the big events are organised and run, a whole load of new friends and contacts made with 24 points gained for the series.