Saturday 2 March 2013

52nd Eddie Soens Memorial

Another great day at the races! The weather for the 2013 edition of the Eddie Soens Memorial race was much better than last years. The sun was out, and even though it was a bit cold, there was no wind or rain, which all added up to perfect conditions for a great race.
As soon as we arrived we bumped into Craig, the founder of Onix Bikes, and it was great to catch up with him, as I had missed the Onix twitter ride a couple of weeks ago. From what Craig tells me, there are some exciting announcements to come about the brand and its range this year, of course, I will keep you updated as I hear more from this fantastic, British company.

The next familiar face we bumped into was James, the Spin Cycle Magazine editor, and photographer for the Liverpool Echo. If you haven't checked out issue 2 yet, It is well worth it, just click this LINK and settle in for a great read.

My little Palefishers wanted to collect Autographs today, so armed with pads and pens we headed off to find some cycling legends. ( Craig was very surprised when the lads asked for his autograph!!)

It didn't take long to find a gaggle of famous riders for the boys to bug, 

Ed Clancy MBE

Dean Downing and Andy Tennant
After we had been chased off by the riders security we found ourselves a great spot near the start line and got ready for the race to get under way.

It was a big field today, 200 riders all wanting to make the best of the great conditions.
The race is set off in 4 waves, so that the Elites have to work to get to the front after leaving the start 3 minutes after the first group.

 4th Cat, Women and Juniors 3 and 4

3rd Cat and Junior 1 and 2

2nd Cat

Elite and Cat 1

 It only took about 8 laps, out of the 30, for the Elites to catch up and take hold of the front of the race.
The day didn't go without incident though. there were a couple of crashes, one on the back straight taking out about 20 riders. 

The last third of the race was without incident, and the last lap saw the elites line out in trains to get into the last corner and then a bunch sprint of over 100 riders.

The winner was Ed Clancy, with Thomas Scully second and Ian Bibby Third.

For the full results list head over to the Eddie Soens website HERE and for a race report with reaction from the riders head over to Velo UK HERE

Enough of my waffle, here are some shots I took today.

Fast!

Rapha Train

Two laps to go

Palefish Ken 

Ed Clancy Approaching the line

He didn't even look out of breath!

Tom Murray Metaltek Knights of old. Winner of the Sprint

First, Ed Clancy, Rapha Condor JLT(centre) Second Thomas Scully, Team Raleigh and Third Ian Bibby, Madison Genesis

A taste of the podium for the junior Palefishers

This one made the boys day.

The only difference this year, apart from the weather, is that unlike my dreamy thoughts last year of taking part, this year I have absolutely no desire to enter the 53rd edition next year!! 

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