May saw Descend Hamsterley organise a two race weekend, with 4x racing on Saturday and Downhill on Sunday. Unfortunately Ben’s DMR 4X bike was undergoing a rebuild at the time so he had to race both days on his Nicolai Downhill bike. The 4X racing consisted of 3 heats or motos followed by finals, in his heats Ben came in 1st, 2nd and 1st again putting him straight into the A final in his category, a race in which he finished 2nd, chasing the winner all the way to the line, picking up a trophy and prizes.

Sunday arrived and with it a total change in the weather, heavy rain was falling as were the spirits of most riders. The course was laid out over the most challenging terrain Hamsterley could put together with plenty of tricky sections over rock gardens and an awesome 20 foot drop to finish (optional, a chicken run route was there for safety). After morning practice the first race runs got underway, in the slippery conditions, Ben put in a good run but found himself lying in second place in his category. A short break for lunch was taken, in which Ben’s bike was given a clean down and re-lubricated, a job his father does at least 3 times a day at race meetings. Race run 2 came and with the rain still falling steadily Ben set about the task with renewed enthusiasm, pedalling wherever the conditions would allow, using the suspension to glide over the rock gardens, round the berms (banked corners), over the last huge drop and through the finish line in 2min 16secs putting him firmly out in front and claiming 1st place, with a trophy and various goodies.

A couple of weeks later and it’s off again, straight from school, change of clothes and into the car already loaded for the next round of the SDA in Ae Forest close to Dumfries, Scotland.
Driving up in the rain a feeling of deja-vue was creeping in, but we awoke to a beautiful morning and a good day’s practice ahead of us. The rock garden half way down the course seemed to be catching a fair amount of riders out, with a split decision on the best and fastest route through. After watching a few of the Elite riders pass through this section, Ben was persuaded to have a go over the large rocks and drops in the middle and after giving it a good going over it was decided this was his line for the race. The large drop in the last part of the course proved to be no obstacle for him as did the elevator into the finish, so practice passed with everything still in one piece which is more than can be said for a lot of the other riders, with various parts broken off bikes, a very high rate of punctures and a few retirements from injury.
With the bike washed, checked and lubricated it was off for a meal and a good night sleep to make ready for a full day ahead.

After a few hours rain the evening before the track looked a little slippy in the morning, but nearly 300 riders putting in a last minute practice run or two conditions were only going to improve, the only question was how long before it rained again. Practice over, bike cleaned and it was off for the uplift and race run 1 was underway. A little apprehensive after all the previous days crashes Ben managed a clean run with a time of 3.10.00 a time he felt sure he could improve on. Bike cleaned and Ben fed and watered it was time for the uplift and the 2nd race run.

5,4,3,2,1,beep and it’s off, pedalling hard to get the bike moving, down over the rocks and onto the off camber grass. Through a couple of corners, in and out of the woods then over a drop and into a set of switchbacks still trying to pedal wherever possible, On towards a gap jump then into a long sweeping corner remembering to avoid the tree stumps at the end.

A couple of tight corners sets up the drop onto the road gap giving you a short respite from the bumpy ground then it’s straight onto the rock garden taking the middle line, cleanly over and it’s back into the trees. Mud and tree roots combine here to make riding as hard as possible, with the wheels wanting to go in opposite direction, good control required here as you exit the thick trees and head on downhill to the step down. Round the corner with just enough time to put in a couple of turns of the pedals to build up speed before launching over the edge and lining up your landing spot and the next huge set of berms. Riding the lip of both berms, pedalling to keep up speed and into a small gap jump, then left and right through the gap in the wall and the finish is in sight. Only the elevator left now, a 20’ near vertical slope then a jump over the ditch and hard on the pedals over the finish line, hit the brakes and time to take a deep breath. A quick turn of the head to see what time, 2.57.57 great! 18 other riders still to finish then it’s the wait whilst the results are posted on the board.

16th place in youth category is another improvement and after packing away all the gear and watching the rest of the riders finish it’s time for the journey home, job well done.

Back home and after looking back on where he could have made up more time by taking a different approach or line through various parts of the course it was time to look ahead to the next race in Fort William on the World Cup course.