On the 26th of February I travelled to Innerleithen with my dad. Innerleithen forest is one of the 7 stanes and is located just past Peebles. It took a couple of hours to get up and we arrived at around 11:00. I went and got changed into my shorts and shirt. Kneepads, back brace, elbow pads, gloves, helmet and goggles all had to be worn. I unloaded my bike and lubed it up ready to go for my first practice run of the day. I then met up with my friend Joe Paterson from New Galloway and we headed for the uplift. When we got there we loaded our bikes on to a cattle float and went and sat on an ABC bus. It was quite strange as I knew the bus driver because he lived round the Castle Douglas area. Once we got to the top on the uplift we had to push and extra bit to get to the very top. When I was sitting in the hut waiting to go on my first run I could feel my nerves building up. I took off following Joe down the hill. It was very rooty and icy with some technical drops. The hardest part of the course was the bottom. It started to get very steep and twisty. The ice did not help. After about four runs of the course we headed off to our hotel in Peebles. After good nights sleep, it was time to get up and head over to Innerleithen. My race run was at 12:07 so I had plenty of time to get another practice run in. The course was now really slippy and the temperature had dropped to -6. At 11:00 I headed to the uplift to do my run. I could feel my hands shaking as I was in the starting box. 30...15...10...5...GO! The course was now extremely slick as the tyres of other riders had been polishing it. Luckily I made it down safely to finish 5th which I was very pleased with. The last round was held on March the 21st. It was the same format but luckily this time the conditions were much better. It was a new course with loads of big jumps and drops just what I like. Once again I finished 5th and was very pleased. I am looking forward to taking part in the SDA's this year.