Cody Webb’s European Adventure

To Hell’s Gate and Back

 

After the long flight, which seems like eternity at being almost 6’3”, I was happy to land in Milan, Italy. When I got picked up from the airport I headed to the race team shop for Beta and instantly started packing for a week of training on the island of Sardegna.

That next morning I was on another plane with the rest of the Beta riders, Oscar Balleti, Johan Carlsson, Fabio Mossini, and Fabrizio Dini. Our training course was equivalent to that of an extreme test in the World Enduro Championships and I knew it was going to be good for me to gauge my speed against some of the world’s finest. The rain and the bad weather never let up, which led to a week straight of slippery clay, rocks, and water crossings. The Europeans are very talented at this type of riding and I felt privileged to learn from them.

As the week went by, my muscles became more exhausted, but I was very happy that my lap times were getting faster and I was seeing improvement. At the end of the week I was happy to return back to Florence, Italy where the factory is located since I spent a week with no internet, computer, or television. In this day and age it’s not easy to be without that kind of contact with everyone back home for so long, so I ended up reading a few books.

Barcelona was the following weekend, and I was looking forward to getting some Endurocross training in before the event. Unfortunately, I only got in one day of riding with Johan at the factory, but that day was a good one. It was crazy for me how relaxed the rules are in Europe. We geared up at the factory and just started riding down the roads until we found a little Jeep trail that went off into the mountains. Johan and I were both testing the new Beta 350’s and they were hooking up good in the wet and icy terrain Italy had to offer.

When I arrived at the Barcelona Indoor I was looking forward to a fun weekend of riding and good results. After walking the track, I knew it was my type of race and was excited for the racing to start. In the first heat race I was lined up alongside David Knight, Joakim Ljunggren, and Graham Jarvis. Off the start it was all of us running up front with myself running behind Knight. On the third lap, Knight got hung up for a second and I snuck past him on the inside of a corner and pushed him wide. I was so stoked that I passed him since he was an idol of mine when he first came to America, but then at the same time I was worried that I passed him – because now he was behind me. I know he is notorious for being an aggressive rider!

Half a lap later I stalled my bike and it took a while to get started, and I finished fourth making it into the main event. In the main there were only eight gates so I unfortunately had to start on the second row. After getting a bad start I slowly was making my way through the pack before attempting to make a pass on Mika Ahola and went down after coming together with him. Once I got up and settled again I was dead last and too far behind to catch the front runners. There was very little time before the first and second race, so the mechanics had to rush to get the bike ready and to the line in time.

For the second race the starting order was reversed and I got a decent jump and came over the first obstacle in fifth looking to make my way up even farther. Right when I went to go over the second log I ran directly into it and realized my bike died. The worst luck available happened to me; my gas was turned off. Once I got everything situated and the bike started I was in last place again and too far back to catch up. I ended that second race very discontent with what had happened considering the chance I had to do well.

In the third race I had another bad start since I was on the second row and was battling through the pack. I made my way up to sixth place before my arms started pumping up really bad. It was all I could do to just ride around the track the last few laps, so I ended up finishing eighth. Even with my disappointing weekend in Barcelona, I was happy to finish the Indoor Enduro World Championship in ninth place for the season.

I was happy to return back to Beta’s race team shop that following Monday, since I was able to meet up with fellow American Kyle Redmond. It was nice to hang out with one of my friends from back home and a perfect English speaker. It helped kill the downtime between riding sessions and we were able to talk a little bit of strategy before Hell’s Gate.

We got two days of training with the mechanics before having to travel to Hell’s Gate. We got in late at night the day before the race, and Kyle and I were both very tired from a poor night’s sleep, and went out to walk the special test. After walking the test I felt a little more confident with how I would qualify for the afternoon’s extreme enduro. The day of the event, we were once again up early and made our way to the pits. All three Beta riders were out at 7:03 A.M. and I started with my lights on since, the sun had barely risen at that point.

The morning qualifying enduro was a six hour race alone, and after the special tests I was qualified second. I even had the fastest time once around the special test, which surprised me. Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake since it was my first enduro and went to the wrong check my first time around and was awarded an eight-minute penalty. So instead of starting second I was all the way back in 29^th out of the 30 riders who qualify.

I knew it was going to be very tough to fight my way through the pack, but I knew it was possible. The first 25 minutes of the race was complete havoc. I was passing riders anywhere I could – riding up on banks, bouncing off people, riding through the trees, and a little bit of crashing as well. I knew that if I wanted to finish the race it was important to catch the leaders as soon as possible. Midway through the second lap I had pretty much secured third place and was too far off Jarvis and Lampkin to catch up. They had built up a strong lead from the beginning of the race, and I couldn’t make up the time to catch them.

Jarvis rode really strong and he deserved his first victory at Hell’s Gate. The actual race, itself, is just being able to survive and keep going. Without a doubt, it was the gnarliest, slipperiest, toughest event I have ever done. There were endless slippery creeks to go up and back down again and again. It seems as though they were riding trials bikes when they designed the course, and wanted to make it difficult for your average local trials bike rider, so to race the course on an enduro bike was not an easy feat at all. I have never cramped up when riding before, but this race was a different story. Trying to ride up the creeks and pushing both my forearms and hamstrings were cramping. I probably had to stop for a few seconds every two minutes in the last long creek to beat the cramps out of my clutch forearm.

It was an amazing experience to race Hell’s Gate.

When I learned that I was kicked out of the race right before my last lap I was relieved that my trip to Hell’s Gate was finished, but was also upset with myself that I didn’t make it to Hell’s Peak and officially finish the race. Now that I know the format of the race, I am confident I have what it takes to do even better at Hell’s Gate for next year, and I am looking forward to making a return.

All-in-all my European trip was an amazing experience. I want to thank everyone back home for all their support and my sponsors, Tim Pilg at American Beta, EKS Brand goggles, Gaerne boots, Kal-Gard, Dunlop and AXO for helping make this trip possible. I gained enough experience to last a lifetime during my trip and made many new friends, so I already can’t wait to go back!

 

Cody Webb