her_welshness
Well-Known Member
I had already decided to go for this, after hearing so many people who had done it and loved it. I had prepped the husband (many months before) who had agreed to pick me up in the car at Dunwich. Its fantastic that there is the option to take the coach back to central London, but I had been told it was like the Naploeonic forces retreating from Russia. Getting the train back did also not appeal, after hearing about tales of people fighting to get back onto trains and confrontations with their staff.Getting the bloody route onto my Garmin was a pain in the proverbial. Even Mr Allsopp could not get the route sorted out for me. It was a combination of Garmin themselves and another yacf-er and after 7 days of fettling that I finally managed to get the blasted route onto my GPS! As back-up I had already assembled a hash of photocopied OS 50K landranger sheets.
The weather was looking good for this, the forecast was clear until midnight and then 3 hours later there looked to be a fairly big area of rain that was going to hit Suffolk.
Anyway, pasta made, pannier bags assembled and Garmin mounted onto the handlebars it was time to go!
I met up with the Southwark Cyclists feeder ride in Island Gardens around 6p.m. which contained a mixture of DD virgins (one had a pannier full of fruit and nothing else) and seasoned riders – including the redoubtable Barry Mason. The ride to London fields (the start of the ride) was very straightforward. Once we got there Tom C and I had some lager and then lots of people came up and said hello, including cycle chatters and yacfers alike. From around 8p.m. the park was festooned with bicycles. It was simply a celebration of cycling. The weather was beautiful.
I visited the pub loo in London fields and this girl asked me if I was cycling to Dunwich an she could she join us as she had come up from southern England to do the ride on her own. The general plan was to cycle with a collective of folk - and Bermondsey Bill had navigated the first section amongst the canals and quieter roads, but it seemed doomed that we would work in smaller groups with varying pace. It was with great relief that I discovered that a chap called Daniella liked my pace so we formed a partnership and after Epping we both kept on swapping the lead to keep it up! After about 30 miles the odd negative feelings kept entering my head: 'you have only done 34 miles and there is so much more to go, how on earth are you going to finish this ride'. I just kept ignoring the doubts, making sure I drank and eat lots, although after mile 45 the flapjacks were like ash in my mouth. If you think its detestable to keep eating then it is, but keep stuffing your face – it will get you there.
The general camaraderie of this ride was brilliant but there were two bits that really pissed me off. One guy on his fixie suddenly came right past us cackling loudly and waving a fluorescent lassoo at each cyclist as he passed. ****ing Idiot. The second annoyance was people riding 4 abreast which can get you stuck behind them for some period of time. I do remember being called a sergeant-major by Daniella for instructing very loudly for people to move in.
After tackling a sudden sharp incline we got to the halfway-stop around 1.30a.m to find an already huge queue for fodder. Daniella went to queue, whilst I sat down and tried to eat the pasta that I had prepared earlier. Frankly, I could not eat much of it, where is the joy in eating cold pasta? This was agreed by Daniella, who as an Italian did not merit the cold pasta dish served indoors, but he appreciated the hot soup. I spotted the marvellous Aperitif (sagas should be dedicated to those legs) who was having doubts about cycling back to Staines. We both agreed that it would be silly to get the train, but with the combination of FNRttC and DunRun did he not deserve a break? He also told me that Mr Allsopp had asked him to look out for me which was sweet. I then started hallucinating about where I had left my bike and bags and Bermondsey Bill had to guide me back to them!
We left rather later at 2.50a.m., I blame this entirely on Daniella after his mammoth queuing for food. The next section was probably the worst bit of the journey, some bumpy bits (with lots of clothing changes) but that feeling that there was a lot more to go, although you kept telling yourself that more than half of the journey had been completed. Soon, pink patches started to appear in the sky and with 40 miles to go we pulled into Needham Country Park to use the excellent toilets there and to watch the coming dawn over the lake.
The pace that Danniella and I had set before was now diminishing but we still clocked up the miles, plus the pineapple goodness of my caffeine drink also helped, as well as the fizzy cola bottles and wine gums. With 30 miles to go we pulled into the side of the road to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise. Just after this, it started to rain gently. Nah, this won't last I thought, but it dogged us right up until the end and then some. I do remember thinking that Suffolk was rather beautiful. I don't remember feeling weary by this stage, but it was rather humorous after pulling up some gentle hill to discover 6 cyclists lying fast asleep in the grass at the side of the road.
For some reason my GPS had started to stuff up at this stage, but with 16.4 miles to go we were by now buzzing, but eager to finish the ride. So we decided to pootle along the A12 (I'll admit that we had got a bit lost around this point) until we hit the signs for Darsham/Dunwich. By this time several people were cycling back towards London and were nice enough to say hello. The last 2 miles were probably the longest 2 miles EVAR, and bumpy bits showed you that the legs did not have much to give but that brief downhill into Dunwich was lovely as well as seeing other folk who had completed it and I felt rather emotional about finishing. The first ever view of Dunwich was of Bermondsey Bill, who had gone fully immersed with his cycling clothes into the sea and was now welcoming people into Dunwich. The Dulwich Paragon coach was also preparing to leave.
Mr Welshness and his best mate had driven up from London through the night to meet us in the car park at Dunwich with food and drinks, so we sat on the shingles and had gin and tonic and beef sandwiches. Then it was time to get the bikes loaded and head for home. I thought there is no way I'm going to be able to sleep in the car, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
The weather was looking good for this, the forecast was clear until midnight and then 3 hours later there looked to be a fairly big area of rain that was going to hit Suffolk.
Anyway, pasta made, pannier bags assembled and Garmin mounted onto the handlebars it was time to go!
I met up with the Southwark Cyclists feeder ride in Island Gardens around 6p.m. which contained a mixture of DD virgins (one had a pannier full of fruit and nothing else) and seasoned riders – including the redoubtable Barry Mason. The ride to London fields (the start of the ride) was very straightforward. Once we got there Tom C and I had some lager and then lots of people came up and said hello, including cycle chatters and yacfers alike. From around 8p.m. the park was festooned with bicycles. It was simply a celebration of cycling. The weather was beautiful.
I visited the pub loo in London fields and this girl asked me if I was cycling to Dunwich an she could she join us as she had come up from southern England to do the ride on her own. The general plan was to cycle with a collective of folk - and Bermondsey Bill had navigated the first section amongst the canals and quieter roads, but it seemed doomed that we would work in smaller groups with varying pace. It was with great relief that I discovered that a chap called Daniella liked my pace so we formed a partnership and after Epping we both kept on swapping the lead to keep it up! After about 30 miles the odd negative feelings kept entering my head: 'you have only done 34 miles and there is so much more to go, how on earth are you going to finish this ride'. I just kept ignoring the doubts, making sure I drank and eat lots, although after mile 45 the flapjacks were like ash in my mouth. If you think its detestable to keep eating then it is, but keep stuffing your face – it will get you there.
The general camaraderie of this ride was brilliant but there were two bits that really pissed me off. One guy on his fixie suddenly came right past us cackling loudly and waving a fluorescent lassoo at each cyclist as he passed. ****ing Idiot. The second annoyance was people riding 4 abreast which can get you stuck behind them for some period of time. I do remember being called a sergeant-major by Daniella for instructing very loudly for people to move in.
After tackling a sudden sharp incline we got to the halfway-stop around 1.30a.m to find an already huge queue for fodder. Daniella went to queue, whilst I sat down and tried to eat the pasta that I had prepared earlier. Frankly, I could not eat much of it, where is the joy in eating cold pasta? This was agreed by Daniella, who as an Italian did not merit the cold pasta dish served indoors, but he appreciated the hot soup. I spotted the marvellous Aperitif (sagas should be dedicated to those legs) who was having doubts about cycling back to Staines. We both agreed that it would be silly to get the train, but with the combination of FNRttC and DunRun did he not deserve a break? He also told me that Mr Allsopp had asked him to look out for me which was sweet. I then started hallucinating about where I had left my bike and bags and Bermondsey Bill had to guide me back to them!
We left rather later at 2.50a.m., I blame this entirely on Daniella after his mammoth queuing for food. The next section was probably the worst bit of the journey, some bumpy bits (with lots of clothing changes) but that feeling that there was a lot more to go, although you kept telling yourself that more than half of the journey had been completed. Soon, pink patches started to appear in the sky and with 40 miles to go we pulled into Needham Country Park to use the excellent toilets there and to watch the coming dawn over the lake.
The pace that Danniella and I had set before was now diminishing but we still clocked up the miles, plus the pineapple goodness of my caffeine drink also helped, as well as the fizzy cola bottles and wine gums. With 30 miles to go we pulled into the side of the road to take pictures of the beautiful sunrise. Just after this, it started to rain gently. Nah, this won't last I thought, but it dogged us right up until the end and then some. I do remember thinking that Suffolk was rather beautiful. I don't remember feeling weary by this stage, but it was rather humorous after pulling up some gentle hill to discover 6 cyclists lying fast asleep in the grass at the side of the road.
For some reason my GPS had started to stuff up at this stage, but with 16.4 miles to go we were by now buzzing, but eager to finish the ride. So we decided to pootle along the A12 (I'll admit that we had got a bit lost around this point) until we hit the signs for Darsham/Dunwich. By this time several people were cycling back towards London and were nice enough to say hello. The last 2 miles were probably the longest 2 miles EVAR, and bumpy bits showed you that the legs did not have much to give but that brief downhill into Dunwich was lovely as well as seeing other folk who had completed it and I felt rather emotional about finishing. The first ever view of Dunwich was of Bermondsey Bill, who had gone fully immersed with his cycling clothes into the sea and was now welcoming people into Dunwich. The Dulwich Paragon coach was also preparing to leave.
Mr Welshness and his best mate had driven up from London through the night to meet us in the car park at Dunwich with food and drinks, so we sat on the shingles and had gin and tonic and beef sandwiches. Then it was time to get the bikes loaded and head for home. I thought there is no way I'm going to be able to sleep in the car, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
I think that folk on here would love it.
90% certain I will be doing it this year so there is a space in the car reserved for you!
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