Legana freestyle motocross rider Ben Madden is heading to China for four months of shows.
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The 23-year-old who finished second in the South Australian FMX championships a month or two ago has landed a gig with Sydney-based team Freestyle Kings.
Madden will head to Zhuhai, which is near Macau in southern China.
“We will be doing shows every night,” Madden said.
“After the South Australia FMX championships word got around and the owner of Freestyle Kings messaged me out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to go to China.
“I was completely shocked – especially when he told me I was going for a minimum of four months, but I am pretty proud of it but it will be hard leaving my family and girlfriend behind.”
Madden said the trip is the biggest opportunity so far in his young career and he was looking forward to it immensely.
“They supply the bike which will be a brand new 2016 YZ 250 Yamaha,” he said.
“I have to pull my bike down to take most of my stuff over to put on this new bike.”
Madden exceeded expectations when he finished second in the South Australian FMX Championships in August.
He has only been involved in FMX for three years after making the switch from BMX which he competed in from the age of four.
“I was racing those for about eight years and starting getting into freestyle BMX from 12 or so and rode them ever since until I started freestyle motocross,” he said.
“I met a couple of blokes who invited me out to ride freestyle motocross and I just progressed pretty rapidly from there.”
Madden practises his freestyle stunts at Jayden Bailey’s compound at Bridgenorth.
“I just watched YouTube videos of what the big-name riders were doing and practised when I went riding,” he said.
“It’s a dangerous sport – luckily I haven’t had any major accidents yet but it is bound to happen.
“A couple of big professional riders have passed away from it so it is not the safest sport to do.
“You just wear your safety gear and push to your own limit and don’t push too hard.”
Madden flies to China next week and will join the other dozen or so riders in the Freestyle Kings team in China.
“It is a dream come true for me working at riding my bike and it is something I’ve wanted to do as a career for years.
“I am hoping other opportunities might come out of this China trip.
“I would love to get some more rides on the mainland but we will just have to see what happens.
“Who knows where it is going to go?”
