Dunwich Dynamo 2007 - July 28/29

Tip for next year: crank it to the rest stop.
I had two soups and a roll plus a plate of that yucky pasta and coffee before you lot arrived, and I didn't have to wait in a line.

I couldn't stop shivering when I got there, for me the worst part of the ride was just before and just after the feeding station, dark, dark woods, dark, dark moods, soaking wet, frozen solid. I got separated from everyone, lost in pitch blackness chasing down far-off tail-lights that kept disappearing round distant bends.

That ride was a real mission, stoked I finished.

Next time I am going to bring a hat and some mudguards.

Thanks for all I rode with, you know who you are.

I took a few photos and here are some of the best ones: MA3K FLICKY

My times:
Set out 20:30
Feed Station 12:30
Left Feed Station with Gang 03:30
Arrived Dunwich 07:30

I have not slept in 40 hours, in that time I have ridden 270 KMs (Dunwich + city riding + errands + to stations etc) So let me say again:

GOOD RIDE AND GOOD FUCKING NIGHT !!!

Hey everyone. I think I saw a few of you (hippy) but I was to shy to say hello. I was riding a black fixie, pretty non descript looking. I arrived at around 8.45 and then proceeded to cycle back to Ipswich.

I passed a few fixed riders and nodded to someone who was riding a blue one of some sort (anyone?)

I'm really fscking vague on names (real and otherwise) and faces (real and otherwise) so apologies to anyone I snub in the future..
"It's not you, it's me"

Well done all of you, hearing that rain last night I was rather glad I hadn't recovered enough to ride it :)

Did you bump into any of the ACF posse, quite a few of them were on fixed, they would have been hanging around Sam and his mobile boom box Beartrix

Congratulations to everyone who finished the ride!

Ok my report: started at 9, went on a road bike, wearing shorts+leg warmers+arm warmers+a jacket+cap+raincover+full finger gloves.
In the very beginning i was actually feeling a bit hot wearing all those clothes.

I did the ride on 2005 and 2006 withour having any map (i was just following people). This year had a bad luck and do some wrong turn somewhere beetwen Thaxted and Finchfield. Took us like 2 hours to find the route again.
Oh and the rain. Last year was very wet as well, but yesterday was just insane - proper rain, but feeling horribly cold.
The feeling of getting lost in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, in the total dark, is not fun at all, but guess what, i had a puncture on my front wheel.
I brought two spare inner tubes, but gave one to a a guy in the beginning of the ride.
Like 15 miles from the feed station, had another puncture - on my rear wheel. For the first time in my life, had to fix an inner tube in the rain! Guess it only worked cos the hole was quite small.
At 5 o'clock in the morning, about 5 miles away from the feed point, decided to stop at Sudbury and wait for the next train to London. Met about 15 people who did the same.

For the next year i will:

• Probably carry panniers and bring spare (and dry) clothes;
  
• Use a tyre liner to prevent punctures (like Mr. Tuffy) - i forgot to install it before the ride, or maybe use tubs;
  
• leave a bit earlier and try to stick with a group
  
• carry more spare inner tubes
  

Damn Roberto! We were all waiting for you to arrive in the morning. Thought you were with a slow poke or something..
Bugger about the chain of events, but at least you've already Dun it (haw haw).

It's funny: I bought spare clothes, 3 tubes, extra tools, map and book to read and didn't use any of it!

Hippy's Dunwich Dynamo 15 phone pix

Raahtid, respect you guys!

I got out of the station at about 6, and felt great to be on the bike, but I could tell that whenever I tried to push it, my back would complain. Bummed I could not finish with you guys, but I the other crippled folks that rode with me to the station were a solid bunch. Made new friends, so in the end it was all good.

I have a massive swollen bruise on my right hip, and my back is still sore from compensating for the leg muscles that are unhappy. For those who don't know, I had a massive wipe out at the bottom of a hill when my front wheel hydroplaned and I ended up sliding about 10 feet on the tarmac (good thin it was wet). Other than that, I am generally in one piece. We'll see how the ride to work goes.

Hi guys, Matt here. just hobbled in to work. Feel absolutely shagged but glad I did it (just).
Good to meet you lot too. I'll be on the bridges if my bum has recovered (picture to follow)!

Alex: take the bus today, glad that you made it home safe.

I'm a bit tired and dehydrated today (furry eyeballs).. could do another 200 though.. anyone not busy tonight? I'll be gearing down for the next one :)

Hi all. What a ride. I don't think I have ever been so wet...or cold, for that matter. Coming out of the food stop was one of the worst experiences ever. I had to ride like a madman just to warm up. Managed to get lost towards the end and took a detour which added no extra miles but about 45 minutes to the ride.

Rode with a guy called Phil towards the end. Don't think he is on here. It was his first long ride on a £80 SS bike.

Slamm - good to meet you. The photos don't do your bike justice. Its beautiful. Though I don't know how you managed to ride it with no gips on those bars...weren't they freezing.

Finally, apologies for not hanging around. Needed to get back and trains were every two hours.

MA3K Alex: take the bus today, glad that you made it home safe.

I had to. My bike had a flat this morning and I could not be bothered to fix it before work. I'll be back on it tomorrow. Funny thing is that it hurts more to walk than it does to cycle (slowly), so I might as well cycle.

Well done everyone that did it.

Shame every one did not to get to meet every one at some point in the ride missed alot of you it seems. I did see you Hovis in the feed staion que at one point, wanted to say hi but too tired and fr ffr fr freeezing to be bothered, sorry hope you got to there safly in the end.

Pulled my knee about 5 miles from the end going up hill past someone. Rode home from Liverpool street was ok. Rode to boots this morning to get a knee suport, then by the time I go the Greenwhich me knee washurting, had to walk a bit road the rest of the way from Greenwhich one leged with regular waalking stops today, may have to leave my biek at work and take the train back.

Sorry to hear about your crash Alex, heal up fast.

Slamm thanks for the train ticket.

Build, brett, matt, MAK3, Hippy and forgot you name guy with the really short risers thanks fot the company and moral boosting.

Nice to meet you Scott no Scot well done on doing a wet long ride like that breakless.

Stompy thanks for the fags.

Anyone else I saw / meet if I for got you sorry but well done and thanks it was painful but a great sense of achivement.

scott not scot
Thanks to stompy for the ride in...and the halfway painkillers!....

No problem.

Thanks for waiting for me all those times. I know I said you shouldn't have - I was actually really glad of the company and encouragement.

fair play to all of you guy's

Oh yeah then top top off agood day I found two royal mail postmans bags and the washing machine flooded the flat, got to bed at 21:00 after alot of mopping.

Mega ride!
I did it on freewheel - i've only been riding my singlespeed for a week
i saw a few brakeless dudes (brown Bronx maxchine?) and doff my cap - that drop into Sudbury was hairy on two brakes!
Had to dig ddep to get going after the feed stop - crikey me it was pants weather - top 'teatowel for a scarf' tip that my Dad told me saved the day!
Got a puncture with one mile to go and gave the geared crew a run for their money!
When's the next monsoon derby?

My first DunRun ever and obviously my first fixed. Was just amazing and neither the rain nor these shivering 10 min after the feeding station did ruin the experience. And I must admit it helped hanging on to the guys with GPS on their racers as the the stream of riders became kind of sparse towards the end. Does it count as cheating?
Was some great cycling! I like these empty country roads.

Congratulations to all of you guys, from the comments coming back in feels like all of you were on some sort of greek odyssey type sh*t.
plan on doing the dynamo next year, though am slightly scared now, and am really hoping it's not raining
Again big round of applause to all of you...

Big up all of you. Went out drinking after I realised I couldn't make it, and kept thinking "wonder how far they are now"

Tommy that was hael not build.
build was not on that ride.

today feeling a bit stiff, but alright. didn't get a puncture, but did manage to break my chain in the middle of nowhere. if it wasn't for me having a keychain that was made of a 1/8" chain, i'd probably still be walking to dunwich. the strangest piece of luck ever. the two people i rode with both had punctures and on the first one, my mate snapped the presta valve so the piece got stuck in the pump rendering it useless. this was in the dark, in the rain.

feeding station was stinky and the soup looked (and tasted a bit) like sick. it took about 30 mins of hard cycling after leaving the feeding point to warm up enough for there to be any sign of me being a man.

saw a few of you guys on the ride. tommy, ma3k, hippy, scott not scott...hello.

same time next year?