Dun Run lite - Friday 7th June
- Thread starter Flying Dodo
- Start date
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to celebrate.
robjh
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire - almost Essex
A great ride, well worth staying up all night for. Thanks to Adam for organising and route-finding (I would never had known about that missed turning if you hadn't said anything), and to everyone else for being great company. It was good to meet some of the London CC'ers and put some more faces to names.
After leaving the last of the gang on the way back to Darsham I enjoyed a good push from the tailwind to Ipswich, only to lose my orientation in the Ipswich one-way system so that I missed my 16.20 train to Cambridge by 1 minute, and had to wait an hour for the next. I dozed off several times on the train, and woke up again for a final push of 9 miles on the bike to get home just after 7. I then fell asleep over dinner.
In the 22 hours that I was away I had done 165 miles, beating my previous 1-day total by 40. From Hackney to Ipswich via Dunwich I made it 148 miles.
Looking forward now to the next one
Here's a photo of the group just before Needham Market
After leaving the last of the gang on the way back to Darsham I enjoyed a good push from the tailwind to Ipswich, only to lose my orientation in the Ipswich one-way system so that I missed my 16.20 train to Cambridge by 1 minute, and had to wait an hour for the next. I dozed off several times on the train, and woke up again for a final push of 9 miles on the bike to get home just after 7. I then fell asleep over dinner.
In the 22 hours that I was away I had done 165 miles, beating my previous 1-day total by 40. From Hackney to Ipswich via Dunwich I made it 148 miles.
Looking forward now to the next one
Here's a photo of the group just before Needham Market
OP
OP
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Well, apart from the fact that the head wind didn't drop, and that it was a lot colder than predicted, at 5° rather than 9°, and that it wasn't sunny in Dunwich, most of the rest of the ride went off OK.
In the end, there were 11 of us, although TC kept us waiting to 00:01, and blamed traffic for being late. I think the real reason was because he kept on stopping to smile at with his camera, which he'd set to his seat post to record the view behind. In my photos that I took, he can be seen on a number of occasions leaning over the back of his bike.........
Anyway, we set off from a very busy pub on what used to be the mean streets of Hackney, but now it's all very genteel there. My initial routing goes via back roads to quickly get you onto the A104. The traffic wasn't too heavy, and soon the street lights ended and we were out into Epping Forest. We marvelled at the nonsense that is the intermittent cycle lane of approx. 18" width which appears and disappears at random, and further along a raised kerb which does the same thing, for no apparent purpose. At the traditional re-grouping point of the Shell garage, I missed the side show of the skyscraper shoes mentioned above, as I was adjusting Rebecca's saddle, which was causing her issues. Epping itself was completely dead, with only a handful of people walking around, although the nightclubs were open. At 1:30 am, it's such a contrast from 10 pm at night, when there's a lot of hassle from boy racers. I hadn't realised until checking the GPS trace today, that that's the highest point of the ride.
Turning right into North Weald, the trickle of cars we'd had until then dropped away, as after cutting along the A414, then we got to the real countryside. With only 11 of us, we hit a steady pace, with the front only a minute or so ahead of the back, but we made steady progress. By 3 am you could see the sky start to lighten, and gradually colours started to emerge from the dark.
Around this time a barn owl swooped low across the road in front of us, no doubt on the prowl for breakfast (or supper). Another advantage of doing this route later at night became apparent as you could see buildings that on the traditional Dun Run were just shapes, but as we cross eastern Essex towards into Suffolk, the lovely cottages stood out.
Yes, there were some hills, but nothing too drastic to cause any issues.
Once we got further across into Suffolk, the range of colours used on some of the old houses became apparent.
At one point my chain jammed and bent my front dérailleur, so I was another one restricted to the large chain ring, but there's nothing more than 5% on this route, so wasn't an issue, and there weren't any other mechanicals. At Sudbury, with Ross & Martin heading off to make their return journey, Rebecca also left to get a train to leap frog the route to Darsham, and Kate and Andrew then left us at Needham Market, meaning we were down to 6 hardy souls, suffering in the wind.
As in error I hadn't told Rebecca where to find us in Yoxford, she was waiting on the other side of the village, and we found throughout Suffolk, nowhere seems to get a decent mobile phone signal. However, after meeting up, then the race was on for the beach!
In the end we did 113 miles, and I had recorded a moving average of 11.2 mph. Thanks to everyone for coming along, and also to Martin and TC for keeping an eye on the back end. As can be seen in the grinning faces, I think we've got some new converts to night rides.
All of the photos can be seen here.
In the end, there were 11 of us, although TC kept us waiting to 00:01, and blamed traffic for being late. I think the real reason was because he kept on stopping to smile at with his camera, which he'd set to his seat post to record the view behind. In my photos that I took, he can be seen on a number of occasions leaning over the back of his bike.........
Anyway, we set off from a very busy pub on what used to be the mean streets of Hackney, but now it's all very genteel there. My initial routing goes via back roads to quickly get you onto the A104. The traffic wasn't too heavy, and soon the street lights ended and we were out into Epping Forest. We marvelled at the nonsense that is the intermittent cycle lane of approx. 18" width which appears and disappears at random, and further along a raised kerb which does the same thing, for no apparent purpose. At the traditional re-grouping point of the Shell garage, I missed the side show of the skyscraper shoes mentioned above, as I was adjusting Rebecca's saddle, which was causing her issues. Epping itself was completely dead, with only a handful of people walking around, although the nightclubs were open. At 1:30 am, it's such a contrast from 10 pm at night, when there's a lot of hassle from boy racers. I hadn't realised until checking the GPS trace today, that that's the highest point of the ride.
Turning right into North Weald, the trickle of cars we'd had until then dropped away, as after cutting along the A414, then we got to the real countryside. With only 11 of us, we hit a steady pace, with the front only a minute or so ahead of the back, but we made steady progress. By 3 am you could see the sky start to lighten, and gradually colours started to emerge from the dark.
Around this time a barn owl swooped low across the road in front of us, no doubt on the prowl for breakfast (or supper). Another advantage of doing this route later at night became apparent as you could see buildings that on the traditional Dun Run were just shapes, but as we cross eastern Essex towards into Suffolk, the lovely cottages stood out.
Yes, there were some hills, but nothing too drastic to cause any issues.
Once we got further across into Suffolk, the range of colours used on some of the old houses became apparent.
At one point my chain jammed and bent my front dérailleur, so I was another one restricted to the large chain ring, but there's nothing more than 5% on this route, so wasn't an issue, and there weren't any other mechanicals. At Sudbury, with Ross & Martin heading off to make their return journey, Rebecca also left to get a train to leap frog the route to Darsham, and Kate and Andrew then left us at Needham Market, meaning we were down to 6 hardy souls, suffering in the wind.
As in error I hadn't told Rebecca where to find us in Yoxford, she was waiting on the other side of the village, and we found throughout Suffolk, nowhere seems to get a decent mobile phone signal. However, after meeting up, then the race was on for the beach!
In the end we did 113 miles, and I had recorded a moving average of 11.2 mph. Thanks to everyone for coming along, and also to Martin and TC for keeping an eye on the back end. As can be seen in the grinning faces, I think we've got some new converts to night rides.
All of the photos can be seen here.
U
User10571
Guest
Some excellent, memory jogging, photos there. Adam.
Nice one.
Nice one.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
+1. Great stuff.
I did have a bit of a night ride this morning/last night- Eddie's (splendid) show overran and didn't finish till eleven. Missed the last train to Pompey by five minutes or so, so ended up getting a train to Southampton Airport, which got in at half one, and riding the twenty miles home from there, which took just under ninety minutes, helpfully aided by one of those tailwind thingies.
robjh
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire - almost Essex
Great photos Adam
Once again great ride Adam
it's not about the destination it's about the journey
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjFVjQGW
thanks for the great company guys and the ladies
5 minutes thats how long i visited Dunwich after riding allnight
it's not about the destination it's about the journey
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjFVjQGW
thanks for the great company guys and the ladies
5 minutes thats how long i visited Dunwich after riding allnight
velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Sorry you couldn't stay for lunch but glad you made your train (presumably, as you weren't still on the platform when we got there!). Great photos!
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
That sounds terrifically hard compared to our little Oxford-London jaunt (although we have to cross the Chilterns, as Adam knows only too well, so that must be worth an extra 40 miles 
). Well done, and it is unusual to see all those Suffolk places by day.
). Well done, and it is unusual to see all those Suffolk places by day.
U
User10571
Guest
Almost like being there..........
eugenejordan
Senior Member
- Location
- London N4
Thanks for my introduction to the dark art of night riding Adam and it was lovely to meet you all! Having wolfed down the world's largest fish and chips in about 6 minutes I bombed back to Darsham with topcat1 worried that I'd miss connecting train to Ipswich but all was well.
rb58
Enigma
- Location
- Bexley, Kent
Great set of pics there Dave. Nice one.
Davywalnuts
Chief Kebab Taster
- Location
- Staines!
Oh my, i've just seen the piccy.. I missed a treat there!
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