Dunwich Dynamo 2017

By the time I was within an hour of the beach (about 6:30 onwards) there were plenty of gel wrappers on the road. Counted 20ish. Bah. Just don't get it - surely no one is actually thick enough to think the DD is an official race with kindly litter pickers following after?

Those chips were AMAZING

Brilliant of them i must say!

BattMan Ears?

As the dynamo is growing. I think that the reality is that it needs to get slight organised. There is mass chaos on departure with impatient drivers acting like dickhead, also I'm sure head toward south Essex there are loads of drunk drivers and the mess and needless noise on stopping points is getting silly now.
I hope that a Marshall could be arranged at each point to remind people to turn stereos off in villages and also discourage littering and also picking up litter that is left.
A police escort until the m25 would be ideals too. With staggered start times for riders.
This could all be finance by small surcharge on coach and train tickets.
The unorganized nature is it's charm but I'd hate to see it get a bad reputation and annoy people at large.
So many locals come out and cheer us all on. I was even offered the use of a toilet in someones home. But these people are drowned out by those that feel it hinders there sleep one day a year.

Not going to happen.

The moment it is in any way an official event or has an official organiser, is the moment the whole thing needs insurance.

That takes the cost from "could be a small surcharge" to "It's £30 to take part".

The only way to actually make it cheap, is to keep it totally unorganised and unofficial.

But these people are drowned out by those that feel it hinders there sleep one day a year

Also... fuck those people.

It's never less than 70db in my flat at 3am, 365 nights per year.

They get 1 night of inconvenience on a known date. It's not like that's hard to avoid.

Lol

WildWest wants it less wild...

More lol.
Reading the late Barry Mason's FAQs about the Dun Run way back in 2006 was what made me get my arse back on a bike. On the basis that sooner or later someone is going to screech 'Method Statement! Risk Assessment' - at which point the spirit of the ride will have been irrevocably lost. Thankfully, we're not there. Yet.
The longer it remains unorganised, the better.
If a sportif / ve is what you want, there are plenty to choose from....
As far as its reputation goes - witness the increase in pop-up food stops in the second half of the ride in the past 5 or so years.

They get 1 night of inconvenience on a known date. It's not like that's hard to avoid.

Precisely this.

The un-organised nature of the ride isn't charm, it's the whole point (at least for many riders) and if you fuck with that dynamic I would anticipate a dwindle in regulars and community feel, and a mass of fucking numties filling places in their wake.

Thankfully, I think if anyone tried to "organise" and charge for the DD there would be enough community back lash to put that on it's arse, and possibly a lynching.

Love the chaos and the twats, it's like real life

I completely agree putting organisation would ruin it. But the priority should be it's survival, It's such a legendary ride.
If a bit of light touch voluntary management of a few key issues early on will make it safer and more enjoyable I'm all for it. People are now getting seriously injured by twats ramming cars into them and push mountain bikes into their paths.
The numbers grow every year, let's make it sustainable.

What are they going to do though... get the police to stop people riding because it's a bit loud through some small towns? Can't see that happening.

Marshalls at certain points to remind people to turn stereos off. And clear rubbish.
Staggered start times
Police escort until m25.

The Dynamo is the only big event I do precisely because it has none of these things.

There are plenty of sportives you can do if that's your style. Go and do those.

Get the police involved and they will shut it down in its current form in 2 seconds flat. They will also send you the bill.

The second you get marshalls, whatever group organizes it opens them up to get sued by whoever crashes where there aren't marshalls. If you take even a bit of responsibility for something like this you're going to be in a world of pain..

Marshalls at certain points to remind people to turn stereos off.

Reminds me of a time doing the FNRTC, the group in a quiet villiage in kent at about 2:30 am - lady sticks her head out of her bedroom window and screams

"SHUT UP YOU CUUUUUUNTS"

Probably woke up the next village

If someone is being inconsiderate to locals, how will a polite reminder from a Marshall rectify that behaviour in a way that their peers on the road couldn't/wouldn't/didn't?

I've not got a problem with the dynamo, to contry in fact.
It's just got very big now. I don't want to to implode. I think some sort of light touch is needed.

Peers don't say any thing unfortunately. It's only whingeing locals who rant.

It will never be under threat as long as cycling's legal on public roads

I guess you could flyer people at London Fields, a gentle reminder to keep it respectful around quiet villages, don't drop litter, and shove your retina-searing blinking red light up your bollocks

For the last few years I've been meaning to get a large banner made that can hang from the railway bridge by the PotP, with a few friendly reminders, eg:

• Don't drop litter
  
• Be quiet in villages at night
  
• Don't ride like a dick
  
  

Must get around to it for 2018.

You mean like it says on the route sheets?

Yeah yeah they could keep doing that

Dunwich Dynamo is nothing but traffic for one night, as a lot of people agree to try and visit the same beach for sunrise and have set out from the same place on the same mode of transport.

That's all it is.

By definition, if that's a problem... then let's start making all travel to locations where people wish gather be controlled if they set out from roughly the same spot using the same mode of transport.

For example, there are a lot of caravans that head to Cornwall in the Summer, mostly from Surrey. And I for one can no longer remain silent about the inconvenience that this brings to everyone else.

You'd end up picking up the flyers as they would be discarded shortly after reading them.