Dunwich Dynamo 2019

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RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Its nearing that time of year again where a few thousand of take off from the streets of hackney and embark on a long pilgrimage through the dark countryside in the dead of night, right to the coast.

Dates to mark in your calendars if you haven't already done so is the 13th and 14th of July.

Judging by what the beeb and other sites tell me, Is that there is an oncoming heatwave that will last 3 or 4 months. so In theory it should feel more like the 2016 or 2017 ride.

Usual details apply - Ride starts off at pub on the park in Hackney about 8pm though you're free to arrive earlier, relax, socialise and have a beer in the warm sunshine before the mass exodus begins. I've been told that people start to gather as early as 5pm but earliest i've ever arrived is 7-7.30pm to wait for my friend so YMMV.

The ride is unsupported, so if you suffer a mechanical you'll have to rely on your own skills or wait for others to help you and there will normally be a whole gaggle that stop to see if you're OK if you're stopped by the side of the road.

Tickets for the lift home are already sold out but you might be able to blag one off someone on their facebook page otherwise you're left to make your own way home. Nearest station as far as i can see is DARSHAM and that's a small journey back the along the same route heading straight into town towards Yoxford. I have always managed to have a lift home organised so Ive never taken a coach or train home

Make sure you take enough food and water for yourself though there will be food stops along the way offering various tasty morsels - One of the best places is around halfway where they grill burgers and hotdogs and the smell alone is a real booster if youre tired and hungry.

Anyway enough nattering. Heres a basic map of the route

Dunwich_Dynamo_1024x1024.jpg


More details on the ride can be found here on their official webpage and also their facebook.

make your your bike is in good condition and your lights are all charged up and ready to go.


I will be riding solo this year so it would be great to see and ride alongside some friendly faces along the way.

Weather should be pretty good, so hopefully it will be a good turn out.
 
Location
Essex
I'm havering between shuttling the van near to the finish a day or so before, or just riding back to Southend through the Sunday. Decisions, decisions...
 

BlackSchmuck

New Member
Hi
I'm doing the DD for the 1st time this year. Can't wait! Getting the coach from Lowestoft with Dunx Cycles and my lovely wife is picking me up on the beach.
I haven't ridden at night before, it'll be the longest I've ever ridden - but my plan is to take it easy and enjoy the journey...
 

nonowt

Über Member
Location
London
This will be the 2nd DD for me - really looking forward to it! Last year was fantastic. ...well, until the rain kicked in but we'd arrived by that point. Just starting to get a few longer rides in in preparation. Which is also a great excuse to sneak out for a few hours on a Sunday morning.

My non-expert tips for anyone thinking of doing it:

Fitness: I commute about 45 miles a week and found that four or five 30 - 55 milers were enough preparation last year. The route is fairly flat with the longest uphill stretch being the 9 mile gentle rise from Hackney up to Epping.

Through the night: With a few early nights in the run up I found staying awake less of an issue than I was expecting. An afternoon nap on the Saturday would make sense too (if possible). Decent lights - cheap battery power rear and a high power battery pack powered front. I used one of these but a friend just cable tied on a couple of cheap LED torches.

Fuel: two 750 water bottles filled up whenever you can, one with Electrolyte hydration type stuff in it. Some snacks: a banana, some dried fruit, couple of flapjacks and a veggie hot dog and a few beers bought on route was enough for me. I seem to remember food being sold at pubs/along the roadside in most villages until after Sudbury where the options started to thin out (possibly because it was after 3am by then).

Clothes: bibs shorts, jersey and arm warmers worked for me last year but obviously it depends on how the weather is on then night.
 
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Location
London
Think I may well be doing it. If so this year probably on one of my £30 700 wheeled ridgeback builds rather than the 26 inch exped ridgeback of last time. Will probably kip somewhere odd rather than return immediately. Will try to carry less stuff than last time, though more organised, with espresso pot and stove closer to hand.
 
OP
OP
RoubaixCube

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Forget the train from Darsham - all bikes are banned from the East Suffolk line for the day.

That is a shame. I heard one time they were handing out numbered slips of paper alongside ticket purchases so they could have a set number of cyclists per train instead of total chaos with riders putting their bikes on the seats and taking up whatever space that was vacant
 
Location
London
I'd never have.tried to get on at darsham. I used to know a woman who did the dynamo years and years ago, very early days when it was way way smaller. She wasn't a very experienced cyclist but heard about it somehow and did it on a whim. Did the ride, pretty worn out. Went to darsham.
Even way back then the guard refused to let her on.
She burst into tears.
He let her on.
Wouldn"t advise you rely on this technique Roubaix.
 
OP
OP
RoubaixCube

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
I'd never have.tried to get on at darsham. I used to know a woman who did the dynamo years and years ago, very early days when it was way way smaller. She wasn't a very experienced cyclist but heard about it somehow and did it on a whim. Did the ride, pretty worn out. Went to darsham.
Even way back then the guard refused to let her on.
She burst into tears.
He let her on.
Wouldn"t advise you rely on this technique Roubaix.

I always have a friend in a support vehicle for lifts home ;) the headache of trying to get home has never bothered me very much
 
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rogerzilla

Legendary Member
Getting back by train is always a nightmare. You have to ride to Ipswich or Lowestoft and book in advance due to demand. Beccles used to be an option but I think that is covered by the ban. There is reasonable bike capacity from Ipswich only.

I know the sheer volume of motorised transport in the car park at the end depresses the organisers but that's the problem with finishing the ride in the boondocks.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I know the sheer volume of motorised transport in the car park at the end depresses the organisers but that's the problem with finishing the ride in the boondocks.
No, it's a problem with our railways. There just aren't any bike-ready Motor Luggage Vans to hire in any more for events like this (Scotrail is building some but only what it wants and I don't think they'll be compatible with Anglia's new trains so no help there for DD2020...) and even if there were, I'm not sure there's a way to sell bike tickets since CTC got them made free in the 70s, so no incentive for train companies to supply to meet the demand instead of ban. Unintended consequences...
 
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