2015-07-04 Dunwich Dynamo XXIII

That'll be the problem. I've never seen the food stop at sible hedingham!

Again some highlights, somewhat in contrast to Ludd's points before the ride. (Though I agree with most of what was said there.)

1. Friendly locals. So many people standing and sitting by the roadside to wish us well and give us a wave.

2. Interesting people on the ride. Spoke to few strangers and heard a few stories.

3. Minimal litter. Maybe I'm not very observant but I only saw a handful of gel wrappers, which among thousands of riders seems more like incompetence than malice.

4. Novelty bikes/kits. The badass riding brakeless, lightless and handsless. The women with the LED tutu and heart shape. The cyclo-jog machines.

5. the widlife. Being paced by a bat and then a bee was useful for keeping the legs moving.

6. The time alone with my thoughts on fresh tarmac with a following wind.

7. Ramaye, MoN and Howrad doing it right.

8. That first proper refuelling meal.

No fella, not me :0)

That'll be the problem. I've never seen the food stop at sible hedingham!

Very happy to give you personalised directions. :)

As I said further up, there are mainly two junctions where people can ride past it.

Minimal litter. Maybe I'm not very observant but I only saw a handful of gel wrappers, which among thousands of riders seems more like incompetence than malice.

Very little litter at the food stop, too. Some tables were left a bit messy, but nothing major.

Novelty bikes/kits. The badass riding brakeless, lightless and handsless. The women with the LED tutu and heart shape. The cyclo-jog machines.

I stood at the junction of Prayor's Hill and Wethersfield Road in Sible Hedingham for a while to give people directions and was surprised by how many rode without lights, too. I suppose that works (for them) as long as they can hang on to a well-lit group, but if they lose touch is probably a problem (for them). Then again, I counted the seconds between groups and the most I ever got up to was eleven seconds. 'Thick and fast' (in relation to how quickly groups were arriving, you understand, not in relation to riders :) ) would be an understatement.

Definitely some great bike decorations, too, in the 45-minute window in which I witnessed the stream of riders.

I love the 5am food stop vibe, pure leisure riders taking it all in after the serious business wankers have done their thing

Also virtual fistbumps to the tweenage girls waving glowsticks and cheering everyone on about halfway, I remember them from last year too

Hey Crispin....give it a break - everyone does their thing eh? This is a ride for EVRYBODY to enjoy - however they choose to do it.

Someone's got a bee in their cunny

I had a rider with me for a good chunk of it who went out and got usb rechargable lights specially for the ride then they died 3hrs in and his mistake dawned on him.

Maybe I will seek it out next year as I always get super hungry and start to bonk around 4am in the pre dawn gloom.

I use badass as both a compliment and pejorative.

Really heartened by all reports and I will probably be back another year. Of course my post upstream included what I hope were some positives I was thinking of the ride on Saturday night, particularly knowing that most riders would have got away with top weather.

Brilliant ride. Agree with the comments up thread, wonderful support from people along the route.

Along with that my fav moments were the dawn mist rising from the meadows near Brandeston Hall with cattle sitting amongst it, the first glimmers of dawn and skinning two guys on bling bling crabon bikes up a hill on my mismatched pompino :) Longest SS ride I've done.

Brilliant fun. Anyone see the lady with the inflatable dolphin attached to her bike and lit up pink?!

Then again, I counted the seconds between groups and the most I ever got up to was eleven seconds

I rode to the half way point and back... poor show I know. Anyway it was fun seeing the tail end of the ride coming the other way.

• People trying to get supplies in Finchingfield but everything ran out an hour ago.

• A late group of Bromptons.

• Man with long hair around 2am on a recumbent passing through Great Bardfield (mile 42).

• The very last rider I saw was well behind anyone else. Riding a shopping / city bike, possibly white like a ghost bike, with supplies wrapped in paper around the frame. On his own, at Leaden Roding, 28 miles in, with just a route card, just after 3am. We spoke. On here? Did he make it?

Warning: moaning and whining.

Finally got round to riding Dunwich after hearing about it for so long. Good route and great weather for it, at least on the outward leg. But found it a bit too crowded for my liking. I guess we could have started a bit earlier to get ahead of the crowds but the initial section from London Fields to Epping was very trying. Along the Epping Forest road which I have ridden many times and is a pet hate of mine I thought about pulling out and going home.

Once we were on proper country roads the field seemed to thin out and the pace picked up.

Riders in groups seemed to stop suddenly without any indication. Also riding in a bunch which made it difficult to pass them (good thing I had a bell) and many with very poor lights. Some with the christmas tree type lights were fun to see but riders blaring music I could have done without. I'm out in the countryside in the middle of the night so I want to hear leaves rustling and birds chirping.

The food stops were way too jam packed. I generally don't like to stop for more than 15 minutes so we just tended to "bounce" these stops. We did stop at the Fox Inn though which was busy but didn't require queuing to get water and snacks.

We took a slightly different route for the return journey back to London which was quite a bit hillier but just about managed on a 69". Got thoroughly soaked after Needham Market and stopped at a MacDonalds in Sudbury. Noticed a couple of other riders sheltering there and soon the group of Elliptigo riders joined us too.

Coming from the audax world I did find it odd to be riding without a brevet card and no designated controls. But then that is the nature of the event. Worth trying out but not one I'll be riding again.

found it a bit too crowded for my liking
Epping Forest road...is a pet hate of mine
riding in a bunch which made it difficult to pass them (good thing I had a bell)
I want to hear leaves rustling and birds chirping
odd to be riding without a brevet card and no designated controls
Worth trying out but not one I'll be riding again.

No, probably not for you. Have you tried solo riding?

I'm going to agree with all of what you've said but give you a suggestion.

Leave a little earlier to avoid the crowds on Epping road (or take a better route out avoiding the road completely), get to the fox in finchinfield and order 6 pints. Drink 4 while you watch the crowds pass and wait for me and MoN to turn up and drink the last two beers, we'll be a while as we need to stop for hydration before we get there. Then ride behind the crowds and enjoy the solace of riding at night. All the nobs in groups will bust their guts trying to beat the other nobs to the next Strava segment while you will be left with the drunks and carefree riders just drifting to the sea.

glad to hear you all had a good DD. weather looked brill. hope to take part again next year

Man with long hair around 2am on a recumbent passing through Great Bardfield (mile 42).

He should have been with at least one other recumbent.

Not at the time, but was looking at a phone or GPS...

Then it wasn't who I was thinking about. :)

Yeah I saw that dolphin, although I have to admit I thought it was an inflated condom for about 5 minutes - which probably wasn't the look she was going for!

Really enjoyed the ride this year, although I'm not entirely sure why. It started ominously with a ludicrous off-road detour (long story) which was really sketchy on a Brompton. This meant I was still heading through Epping after 11pm - by which point I couldn't see any sign of the Dynamo anywhere. Sadly the first reassurance that I hadn't got the wrong night was seeing an ambulance surrounded by riders a few miles later. With hindsight, missing the early crowds, and not having the usual thought of riding back again looming at the back of my mind, probably contributed to the fun I was having.

Good to meet up with Nic en route, and share a few pints with MoN and Ramaye in the ship, before the heavens opened and Howrad and I made the tough decision to swerve another drink with Des and got thoroughly drenched on the way back to Ipswich as a result. The less said about the trains the better, but we made it in the end..

Brilliant first dunrun! Loved whale woman, lighty up heart lady, cross trainer guys and even the jameison whisky warriors on the coach home. Wow. Was wonderful. Lentil soup and haribo.needham lake with the mist was special. Shout out to dulwich paragon for shouting at me for not holding the line through a roundabout nr epping forest lol

The dolphin was towed by a gentleman, not a lady..

Paragon riders can genuinely fuck off, barking at people all the way up.

My only near crash on a Dynamo was a group of 10 or so Paragon riders undertaking me without calling so close that several of them clipped my handlebars. I don't like to generalise but I've had a lot of negative experiences with Paragon riders over the years.

Way too much whinging by some of you lot. The only thing that was genuinely worth complaining about was that breakfast at the café. Otherwise I thought it was very enjoyable, definitely going to try some more countryside night riding in the future.

Beach cafe? What was wrong with the breakfast?
I thought it was a good effort - small and fairly cheerful army taking orders, cooking and serving up decent fried breakfasts.