Dunwich Dynamo 2018

[nonowt]

this pre-booked food stop in Sudbury is worth considering for those of us who worry about where our next meal is coming from:

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thecyclist/179438/

 

[PeteXXX]

Did anyone do the DD then?
I left it until the last few hours to decide to go or not but had family stuff going on so couldn’t make it this time.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Did anyone do the DD then?
I left it until the last few hours to decide to go or not but had family stuff going on so couldn’t make it this time.

I too cancelled, but it was right down to the wire given the fact that local transport made it a headache to get to the starting point. Then there was the strong gusts of wind and warnings of thunder or rain on parts of the ride.

Im a little disappointed as i had spent a least 2 months getting mentally and physically prepared for it -- trust the weather to suddenly change so dramatically after weeks and weeks of sunshine and soaring temperatures.

 

[PeteXXX]

Shame, as it was the night after the full moon!
Could have almost done without lights

 

[Justinslow]

Rode from Sudbury down 60 miles to the pub then back to sudbury (near to where I live) so not the full route. Ride down was tough into the headwind but there were 4 of us so the stronger riders took the burden!
Ride home was good with a tail wind, didn’t seem seem quite the masses of a couple of years ago when I did it. It was pretty cloudy so lights were definitely needed out in the country.
Overall a good ride, was totally spent back home with 130 miles on the clock at 2 am.
A friend of a friend who rode had a can thrown at him from a car of louts, hit him in the eye, he was ok but his glasses cut his face under his eye, this was just after Finchingfield going downhill out in the sticks, cnuts.

Me at the front for a stint heading to London.

 

[nonowt]

Yep. I did it for the 1st time with a couple of friends. Left about 9.30 got to dunwich at 8, after numerous food, beer and pee breaks. Lovely night once the moon came out from the clouds, really quite magical. It was easier than I expected - riding uphill in total darkness seems to take some of the pain out. I didn't seem any bad behaviour but we did get diverted at high beech (10miles from the start) where I believe, tragically, a cyclist had had a fatal heart attack (RIP).

High points:

• Broad demographic of people doing it
• Feeling like the road is pulling you through the blackness
• People waving you on, selling flapjacks and filling water bottles from their front gardens
• The Weather (also see bad points)
• A granny cycling covered in fairy lights with DD illuminated on her jacket.
• A guy on a recumbent with a fibreglass shell painted as a race car.
• Pub stops and the very welcome pre-booked grub at the cyclist in sudbury.
• Seeing groups already cycling back to London
• No punctures, no cramp and a pint of stout for breakfast.
• Completing it!

Low points:

• Fatality mentioned above (Not that I knew what had happened during the ride) and seeing another cyclist getting treatment at the roadside.
• My saddle working loose and becoming progressively uncomfortable until I worked out what the problem was.
• Change in the weather - showers and headwinds for the last 5 miles or so. It also pissed it down the entire time I was in Dunwich.

I'd definitely do it again , providing I can get a lift home. It was a really great experience.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Yep. I did it for the 1st time with a couple of friends. Left about 9.30 got to dunwich at 8, after numerous food, beer and pee breaks. Lovely night once the moon came out from the clouds, really quite magical. It was easier than I expected - riding uphill in total darkness seems to take some of the pain out. I didn't seem any bad behaviour but we did get diverted at high beech (10miles from the start) where I believe, tragically, a cyclist had had a fatal heart attack (RIP).

High points:

• Broad demographic of people doing it
• Feeling like the road is pulling you through the blackness
• People waving you on, selling flapjacks and filling water bottles from their front gardens
• The Weather (also see bad points)
• A granny cycling covered in fairy lights with DD illuminated on her jacket.
• A guy on a recumbent with a fibreglass shell painted as a race car.
• Pub stops and the very welcome pre-booked grub at the cyclist in sudbury.
• Seeing groups already cycling back to London
• No punctures, no cramp and a pint of stout for breakfast.
• Completing it!

Low points:

• Fatality mentioned above (Not that I knew what had happened during the ride) and seeing another cyclist getting treatment at the roadside.
• My saddle working loose and becoming progressively uncomfortable until I worked out what the problem was.
• Change in the weather - showers and headwinds for the last 5 miles or so. It also pissed it down the entire time I was in Dunwich.

I'd definitely do it again , providing I can get a lift home. It was a really great experience. View attachment 421705

I also heard there was some guy who almost got his bike stolen.

It was announced on the DD FB group page.

Since i only planned to carry one of these

like i always do for these rides. I would have been absolutely distraught if it had happened to me. Doesnt take much effort to cut through this cable at all

 

[mmmmartin]

If you like this sort of thing take a look at the website of the Friday Night Ride to the Coast

https://www.fnrttc.org.uk/augustwhitstable

We do a dozen or so rides a year, at night, starting at 12 from South Bank in London and going to the coast for breakfast then take the train back.
The next is Whitstable in a couple of weeks or so. Membership is needed at a whopping £2 a year, you can do all our rides for 12 months after you've joined for that.
There's a week touring Europe every year, we are just back from Normandy.
No one left behind, we have a back marker and pride ourselves on being friendly and inclusive.
Over to you.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

If you like this sort of thing take a look at the website of the Friday Night Ride to the Coast

https://www.fnrttc.org.uk/augustwhitstable

We do a dozen or so rides a year, at night, starting at 12 from South Bank in London and going to the coast for breakfast then take the train back.
The next is Whitstable in a couple of weeks or so. Membership is needed at a whopping £2 a year, you can do all our rides for 12 months after you've joined for that.
There's a week touring Europe every year, we are just back from Normandy.
No one left behind, we have a back marker and pride ourselves on being friendly and inclusive.
Over to you.

And I think I'm right in saying no one has ever had their bike stolen on a Friday's ride, right?

 

[nonowt]

I also heard there was some guy who almost got his bike stolen.

View attachment 421715

It was announced on the DD FB group page.

Since i only planned to carry one of these

View attachment 421716

like i always do for these rides. I would have been absolutely distraught if it had happened to me. Doesnt take much effort to cut through this cable at all

I saw that too but apparently it happened in Paddington before the rider had set off.

I took a lock that is basically an overpriced cable tie. In the end I didn't even use that (most of the time someone stayed near the bikes apart from in the Dunwich where they were left leaning against a fence, abandoned to the rain, whilst we had had breakfast in the pub and waited for our ride home.

 

[mmmmartin]

If you like this sort of thing take a look at the website of the Friday Night Ride to the Coast

https://www.fnrttc.org.uk/augustwhitstable

We do a dozen or so rides a year, at night, starting at 12 from South Bank in London and going to the coast for breakfast then take the train back.
The next is Whitstable in a couple of weeks or so. Membership is needed at a whopping £2 a year, you can do all our rides for 12 months after you've joined for that.
There's a week touring Europe every year, we are just back from Normandy.
No one left behind, we have a back marker and pride ourselves on being friendly and inclusive.
Over to you.

And I think I'm right in saying no one has ever had their bike stolen on a Friday's ride, right?

Right. Where necessary we have bike guards, watching with vigilance....
Although it may be that after refreshment has been taken, riders might have found it tricky to be reacquainted with the location of their bike. Possibly.

 

[BromyG]

6th consecutive DD completed! The ride to the beach was great as it was warm with a favourable tailwind. This was the first year riding on 'big wheels' and not the Brompton and the earliest we've ever arrived, just catching the last rays of sunrise! We cycled on to Ipswich to pick up the train home, but that wasn't so pleasant with an incessant headwind and eventual downpour of rain

 

[RoubaixCube]

show of hands for 2019 DD?

My DD partner of past rides decided he didn't want to partner up with me no more for various reasons, so weather permitting i'll be flying solo.

Should you complete the ride with me, there will be a ride home for you though the driver who is a close friend of mine may ask for a little gas money (though its a diesel so it shouldnt be too much) for the ride back and maybe a few quid on top for some snacks while he waits.

Do note - im not a speed demon and i havent been out on a long ride for a while so there may be some points where i break down mentally and start crying but other than that im looking to set a steady pace and hopefully make it to the end.

 

[Blue Hills]

May do it again this year but will be making my own roundabout way back if I do.

To be honest roubaix I would be inclined to do it solo and drift into companions/groups along the way.

That can be fun and a way of enjoying the best of the dynamo - its ramshackle companionship doing something a bit daft at night. Sod the racers.

 

[RoubaixCube]

May do it again this year but will be making my own roundabout way back if I do.

To be honest roubaix I would be inclined to do it solo and drift into companions/groups along the way.

That can be fun and a way of enjoying the best of the dynamo - its ramshackle companionship doing something a bit daft at night. Sod the racers.

Usually i do as my partner has conked out early into the ride on multiple occasions so I ended up covering some 70-80miles by myself alongside whoever i come across. But its mainly for safety reasons... Taking turns to look after each others gear at toilet or food stops etc etc.