Dunwich Dynamo (Sat 16th - SUn 17th July)

[Aperitif]

?

'e' commerce is alive and well - "help" himself...

 

[frank9755]

i'd like to give my new bike a proper test ride. do i get crud racers and 23c tyres, or just ride 25c tyres which i have and no 'guards?.. i also need a pair of summer weight overshoes - any good ones (ideally thin softshell)?

last year i rode back via ipswich, manningtree, colchester, tiptree, billericay.. managed to clock 577km including fnrttc the night before. if the weather is really bad on sunday i'll hop on the train in colchester or billericay.

On the basis that there is not much difference between 23s and 25s, and crud racers are useless, just use what is on the bike already - or, even better, do it on your commuter!

Weather forecast for Sunday is looking very good.

 

[Tynan]

'e' commerce is alive and well - "help" himself...

teef too bloody clever/straining to make a quip as per ...

 

[Tynan]

On the basis that there is not much difference between 23s and 25s, and crud racers are useless, just use what is on the bike already - or, even better, do it on your commuter!

Weather forecast for Sunday is looking very good.

Saturday afternoon heavy rain, Sunday afternoon heavy rain, inbetween rather good it seems, perhaps not heavy rain on Sunday afternoon

zigzag should have to drag a tractor tyre full of weights to even things up a bit

as for the return, at the mo all I have is the same way backwards, there were routes around last year that loosely followed the train stations, just in case, zigzag clearly has a route even if it is in his head ...

 

[Tynan]

Good grief, its RedJedi's return route from last year that some rode back and pronounced satisfactory other than 2 miles of 'forest road' whatever that means

linky

 

[zigzag]

i remember thanking myself many times last year on the way back for leaving my commuter at home.. it was hard enough riding solo, with little sleep two nights before and all those miles in my legs. the gps route that redjedi created and tynan linked is the one i've used last year, it goes via railway stations and towns with many food and bail-out options. forest track is ok if it's dry, but it will be too muddy for a road bike if it's wet. the route around it adds few miles (4-5?). the weather was perfect last year and we had a luxury of stevevw's van in sudbury and dunwich. without the support van and with rain this can turn into a very tough weekend. still looking forward to it!

 

[Tynan]

erm zigzag, for those of us not quite at full fitness and not really all that well prepared, remarks like that from you aren't awfully encouraging

not enough sleep and too much riding before hand is a massive downer though I assume? I remember you conked out in that ditch last year

fingers crossed no rain, not much anyway, if there's heavy rain on Saturday afternoon, I imagine the forest road might still be soggy on the Sunday?

today and tomorrow are rest days for me in an attempt to have Monday legs on Saturday, so my brutal prep of riding to work and back a bit faster than usual has now tapered to 3 or 4 miles of brisk Boris biking a day

 

[zigzag]

erm zigzag, for those of us not quite at full fitness and not really all that well prepared, remarks like that from you aren't awfully encouraging

not enough sleep and too much riding before hand is a massive downer though I assume? I remember you conked out in that ditch last year

i think i was just having a bad day, as i've done longer and hillier rides with less effort before. there were also millions of tiny flies in the air on my way back, they ended up crawling all over me (under the helmet, inside sunglasses lenses..). i was also scared and chased by a dog.. oh well. this time it will be better!

didn't go in the ditch though, what about you?

 

[Tynan]

stop it with the ride home tales of doom

it wasn't the ditch, it a trench between the edge of the road and the verge, I was entitled to a few more inches of tarmac and a smoother transition

I also have soe low blood pressure issue that tends to make me 'tired' sometimes, so the wee hours, tired etc etc, I'm going to give some soft of caffeine tablet a whirl this time to stop any idea that I crash every DD taking root

what time is your eta at Dunwich? I want to ride back if legs/knees/shoulder/arse permits

 

[User10571]

Having just listened to a podcast of The Bike Show on ResonanceFM I understand that a chap called Leo is doing the DD on a Boris Bike, this year.

 

[4F]

Grrrrrrr car's buggered (gearbox ) so I regret no option of food stop at the end now as this won't be back with me for at least a week (yeah right). Apologies for anyone that was relying on this at the end.

So I will also be joining the queue at the cafe in Dunwich and riding back home via Ipswich afterwards.

 

[zigzag]

this is apparently the 2011 cue sheet, gpx etc

is that the "official and approved" route? i used 2009 route last year, a bit different but probably just as good.

 

[Tynan]

supposedly so zigzag, it had all the supposed actual instruction on a cue street

I'm sure they're all much the same, whatever gets us there is the thing

Having just ridden a Boris to lunch and back, good for him, I very doubt he knows what he's letting himself in for, they're good for what they are but they're very short hop in my considerable experience of short hops around London, and of course one size apparently fits all barring the seat post

 

[redjedi]

Grrrrrrr car's buggered (gearbox ) so I regret no option of food stop at the end now as this won't be back with me for at least a week (yeah right). Apologies for anyone that was relying on this at the end.

So I will also be joining the queue at the cafe in Dunwich and riding back home via Ipswich afterwards.

Looks like I picked the right year to do the Brighton ride instead.

 

[redjedi]

Here's the GPS from last year's ride if anyone wants it.

HERE

Careful of the little diversion after Sudbury, where we had the food stop which was not the official one but much better.