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.