Dunwich Dynamo 2018

Fair. Looks like you did pretty much the same route as we did, good job on the ride!

Everyone else, what kinda date would work better? The advantage of the official date is that it's the (nearly) full moon...

I've sat in that bandstand and advises accordingly several times!

Thinking about this and mates say we should take the train back? Anyone done this and have any thoughts?

Trains from Ipswich... adds a bit of extra mileage.
Got there a bit early then my booked train and the conductor allowed me on.
Pre booking the train is essential. Great eastern are pretty well prepared and have a separate carriage for bikes.

Depends which train is running that day, service starts in Norwich and runs via Ipswich. Most of the time it's a very large, slightly newer train where the drivers cab doubles as bike storage - in which case there's loads of room. Sometimes on some of the more off-peak trains it's a proper old knackered looking thing that has next to no bike storage at all. Unfortunaterly I don't know if there's a way to find out which trains run and when, could be worth ringing them.

If phone greater anglia customer service directly they can book you a bike space and give you a separate reference number and you get a ticket you can stick on your bike so it's all legit - assuming there's any spaces left.

Sadly Greater Anglia have historically been cataclysmically unhelpful and basically choose to not recognise the existence of the dynamo and I've heard of them simply turning away any and all cyclist who turn up without a proper reservation, even if there was space on the train.

Have a look here as ThePginator says you can't automatically get a train on the Sunday morning.

Their system this year looks identical to last year - they were really good and organised, plenty of time to load/unload.

Blimey! Well that's changed, about time though, seemed totally daft to ignore the problem when they could be making good money all the time if they'd done this years ago! Fair play to them though.

I think it started when Abellio got involved with their Dutch attitude to bikes.

I might have to start a splinter ride

Made a thread here

I've sat in that bandstand and advises accordingly several times!

That was actually a well in former times:

https://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk/shares/Framlingham-Town-Trail.pdf

(Jeaffreson's Well)

Well well well, you learn something every day...

Is there a forum-approved route back from Dunwich? Would like to do the double this year.

Just ride back the same way--it's the best route there is.

You also get to see the stragglers still heading to the beach.

Any vegans done/doing the dynamo? Just wondering if there any stops a long the way that have vegan food options.

Most have bottled water.

We used to do the food stop and had vegan soup and pasta salad. I think the only thing that wasn't vegan was that some of the flapjacks had dairy in them. That's long gone, unfortunately (the village hall became unavailable).

I'm not sure if they do vegan at the fire station in Sudbury, as I've never stopped there yet. There is a vegan café in Sudbury, but I'd guess they wouldn't have it on their radar to open--no harm in asking them, of course:

http://cradlefoods.co.uk/

I doubt it'd be worth their while, but you never know.

The fire station had extremely long queues when I went past, but they'll undoubtedly change and improve their operation every year.

The industrial estate café just outside Sudbury was much less busy but not good for vegan. I seem to remember that they've got the message, though. You can ring them up and ask what they'll have:

https://www.familiesonline.co.uk/local/west-suffolk/listing/brundon-lane-cafe-321473

Oh, and the Flora Café at the end will do you a good vegan breakfast. It's not always the same quality, but one year there I had the best breakfast I've ever had in a caff (and not just because of post-ride hunger).

There's also an all-night garage in Framlingham and a shop that opens very early (at 8) near Darsham Station, slightly off-route, on the A12. The latter always has some prepared food that's vegan.

We used to do the food stop and had vegan soup

I had that a few years ago and it was very tasty. Lots of chilli if I remember rightly and it really perked me and my friends up. It's a shame that it isn't available anymore.

Cheers, that is very helpful.

Seems best to just carry as much food as possible and not plan on being able to buy any along the way.

Glad you liked it! It was made by the excellent Patsy. I miss doing it, but on the plus side, the local economy has taken over the catering, which isn't all bad.

No, I think you should buy along the way--I'll ring up the non-vegan café myself to ask about availability. That's how you change these things.

Does anyone have a spare coach ticket that they do not intend to use? I am considering doing the Dynamo but don't want to commit to the there and back again, and have left it a bit late to sort transport.

@Velocio

Alternatively there’s still loads of bike spaces on the train from Ipswich

https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/form/dunwich-dynamo-reservation