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Cody Webb wins The Grinding Stone Hard Enduro |
Page, AZ – The Grinding Stone hard enduro once again lived up to it’s name. From bent bars to busted pipes, the race was unkind to most. Cody Webb was able to come away relatively unscathed to take the round two win by almost two minutes. |
Cody Webb Taking Checkers Photo: Jenny Keller |
The Northern Arizona town of Page is normally known to be warm and dry. That was not the case for the 2024 edition of the race. Heavy rains soaked the course on Friday. Those rains would make the riding conditions perfect for the Saturday morning qualifier. Webb and teammate Cooper Abbott knew they did not have to push hard in this race. Abbott would finish p2 and Webb p4. Saturday evening the festivities would move to downtown Page for a street rythym style race. This event would have the top 32 riders going head to head until only one remained. In the final, it was the FactoryONE Sherco duo of Cody Webb and Cooper Abbott. Webb would go on to edge out his teammate. |
Cody Webb and Cooper Abbott Head to Head Photo: Jenny Keller |
Overnight rain, sleet and high winds would force organizers to delay the Sunday proceedings as much of the course markings had blown of course. After getting the course reset, the morning race number two would whittle the field from 125 to just 25 for the grand finale. The weather once again added a layer to the difficulty as snow and sleet greeted riders at the starting line. The Sherco pair would ride smart finishing inside the top five to secure their place for the afternoon race. |
Abbott on Sunday Morning Photo: Jenny Keller |
The two-hour multi-lap main event stage was set. Riders were lined up in five rows of five riders each. Webb was in the middle of row one while Abbott was on the inside of row two. The riders would get away clean but it wasn’t long after until the course would wreck havoc. Webb, Trystan Hart, Will Riordan, Ryder Leblond, Abbott and Colton Haaker would lead the freight train on lap one. Bent bars seemed to be the menu item of choice at the 2024 edition of the race as rider after rider seemed to fall victim to this making things that much more difficult. As the riders came through the halfway point, it was Webb with a one-minute lead over Hart and Leblond. The rejuvenated Webb would continue to press on and would win by an almost two-minute gap over Hart. Cooper Abbott would be one of the bent bar victims causing him to lose a few places finishing p9. “That was so gnarly!” Exclaimed Webb. “From the weather to the pace to the track, the whole thing was rough. I am so stoked to take back-to-back wins to extend my points lead a little. The track was so sketchy and it seemed like it was eating up riders today. I was able to come away relatively unscathed outside of bending my bars a little, but not like some of the guys today. I rode patiently even though the pace was high from the start. I was able to pick the right lines and I used a bunch of my trials skills to navigate the course. I am so pumped for the team,” concluded Webb. |
Cody Webb Using his Trials Skills Photo: Jenny Keller |
Webb on a Steep Climb (You can see why they call it Grinding Stone as you can see foot peg, handle bar and pipe scratches in the sand stone) Photo: Jenny Keller |
Hallie Marks would take the win in the women’s pro class. Addy Albrecht would finish p3. |