2009-07-04 Sat - Dunwich Dynamo 2009

When is the next event like this planned?

24th/25th July 2010.

Dunwich Dynamo XVIII.

^ really, this year?

^ really, this year?

D'oh.

Thanks, Graham.

Edited.

In any event, my knees felt like they'd done 108,000 pedal revolutions yesterday afternoon.

You could always do a 600km ride. My next ride will be 262,000 pedal revs of a 67" gear. 3 weeks to go...

Dunwich was fab..started off on my own getting out of the fields took a while. Then bumped into Brun who had some good pace to ride with until my right knee was tweaking and i had to slow up. Those 40-50 miles were a pleasure sir. Was out on my own again after the stop. Was fun trying to work it all out a few wrong turns or trying latch onto a garmen rider or a tail light. Steff who got me through the last few miles as both had one buggered knee. Thanks to Middleofnowhere (matt) who saved the day with a coach ticket for me & dropout.

I'm up for a forum coach for next year either that or B&B get pissed or cycle home. Whatever happened to the my little pony jersey?

I'm seeing a physio tomorrow as walking is painful on lateral side of my right knee. A little rest is needed so no bike for abit :( My fault for not resting it after Brighton the week before when it first started. Balls.

Bring on next year..I'll be there for sunrise next time! More prep & less hungover too.

I'll be there for sunrise next time!

You'll have an extra 22 minutes or so as it's later in the year next year (and therefore sunrise will be later. But more nightriding as it'll get darker earlier.

talking of pace todays tour stage was 116miles and a lot more hills than the DD.
4hrs30min! and a sprint finish. average speed nearly 26mph.

It does put it in perspective, but presumably they had a decent night's kip beforehand.

I loved the DD. My first time and it couln't have been better.
Perfect weather, perfect company.
Big thumbs up for all in our little group. Cinthia, Momo, The 2 Johns and the 2 Julians and the on and off the group Liz. Thanks boys for thaking care of the girls. I loved riding in such a mixed and lively group. Proves that girls can be strong too.
Average speed 16.1, we made in 7.20hrs, I was running 47/19
Only had a pwerbar bar and leaving the gel for the last 15 miles did the trick. I felt all made of plastic this stuff is awful. I think i may have turned into a barbie.

I am really pleased!
bring on more miles

This was a wicked ride, thanks guys and gals. Shall we aim for a sunrise at the seaside next year? I won't forget the flip flops next year or the suncream – I've got rather pink legs now...

You'll have an extra 22 minutes or so as it's later in the year next year (and therefore sunrise will be later. But more night riding as it'll get darker earlier.

I think that should be possible 5:50am with a knee problem and stopping for any excuse towards the end as i was about to cry with each revolution. I'm going to get some Garman action too as Brun's kept us on route to start with. Next year sunrise will be seen. I hope!

It does put it in perspective, but presumably they had a decent night's kip beforehand.

They also ride during the day.
They are fulling supported.
They are riding as a peloton.

and key.. the are professionals 'racing'.

bit of a rubbish performance this year but still glad I did it. Rode together with my mate who hasn't done a long distance ride in 10 years. He was riding a pretty rubbish road bike too. It already fell to pieces before we even started. A screw on back brake broke and we spent an hour and a half fixing it (with some great help of another rider). So left London fields as the last ones.

Then we actually managed to catch up with quite a big group of people at some pub. So we thought we can at least ride within a group and don't have to check the route all the time. Big mistake. Just a few miles before the feeding station we missed a turn (just followed some other riders, who missed it as well) and went about 10 miles in the wrong direction. Cycled all the way back and finally made it to the feeding station when they were just starting to pack up. Forgot to mention we couldn't find the feeding station at first as there were no riders around any more and lost time again. And no food left, just some tea.

Spirits were low and it was raining on top. So we decided to ride to the closest point to Ipswich on the route and then decide if we continue or call it off and get the train from Ipswich. Once there we decided to continue. Lots of checking the route, lots of loosing time. Just not good to ride without being in a group and knowing there are very few peope in front and even less behind you.
(well, we overtook the Penny Farthing, but that was about it).

So finally got closer to Dunwich. Saw Hillybilly and other forumengers already coming back. Got there and no breakfast left.

Took us more than 10 hours I think but at least we made it. And my mates bike actually survived. Can't say that for his back. Good thing is because the ride was so slow I don't really feel any stiffness or muscle ace today. Next year it has to be sunrise at the beach – not at the half way stop.

What a good ride this year, got back into London around 4 o'clock after the coach kerfuffle.
The weather for riding couldn't have been surpassed, not too cold in the night nor too warm in the morning.
I was in a t-shirt for the duration except for briefly after leaving the feed-stop in the middle of the night.

Big thank you to John (Dropout) who was really on the case with directions whereas I could only chip in with helpful info like, "this doesn't look familiar" and "OK, I've seen that before this must be the right way!".

We set out en masse around 8:15 and upon leaving the Lea Bridge Road and it's packed up Saturday night traffic set a cracking pace to the first food stop.
After a meal and a rest of about an hour we set off again at a more gentle pace and just whiled away the miles.
The sun came up energising us and we rolled into Dunwich whilst the line for food was still reasonable and before the rain.

Sat inside talking whilst the rain pored down.
The sun re-appeared and we went down to the beach to talk aimlessly, throw and skip stones, have a plunge in the surprisingly warm ocean.

The drama with the coach sorted itself in the end and at around 1 we all trundled dozily back towards London.

I think the diner staff and bus drivers must love us lot on the Dunwich.
We come to their neighbourhood once a year and spend a lot then all fall asleep as we are conveyed homeward.
What better customers could you hope for?

Had a really tasty panini from a cafe near Smithfields and a few cold beers in the sun whilst waiting for everybody else to turn up and for people's bikes to be off-loaded.

Had a really great time and glad to see so many people out and mostly having a good time.
Top marks for anyone who got out and made it to the end however long a time they took.
The sheer perseverance and grit of some of those that took on the journey ill-equipped on unsuitable bikes with questionable levels of fitness really throws into stark relief the can't-do mentality that sometimes rears it's head on this forum replete with riders of comparatively light-weight race machines that only seem to pick up speed against the reds at Old Street roundabout.

Regarding next year I would be up for chipping in to sort our own transport, bus and van but would be against leaving so early in the morning.
For me the ride to Dunwich is topped off by being able to rest awhile on the stones, let the food go down and talk-shit with the waves lapping up on the shore some few meters away from your feet.

Cheers to everyone I met and rode with, see you around.

I don't mean to sound pissy here, but this post comes across as really rude and a bit elitist.
To label riders as 'talentless people out on a great adventure' is really out of order.
The Dunwich dynamo attracts so many different kinds of people...you see super fit club riders, right down to early teens out with their folks....you can tell that some of these people have never ridden more than 30 miles in their lives, let alone 120.
Not everybody thinks to take something to use to be able to read the route sheets, some of them barely even had working lights...but that's because they don't know what to expect.
Reading a cue sheet isn't always easy either...it doesn't label every single road sign from London to Dunwich, so if someone misses a sign on the sheet, it's very possible that when they come to the next sign it's not even mentioned on it, so then they have to guess the way and before they know it they're going in the wrong direction.
I saw riders of all abilities standing at junctions having gone the wrong way trying to figure out how to get back on track.

Personally i think everybody who completes the DD deserves huge respect, regardless of how many wrong turns they took, how long it took them, or how many mistakes they made regarding what to bring....i certainly don't think they deserve to be labeled as 'Talentless people'.

Well done everybody who completed it.

Just lovin' your attitude, to be elite but non-elitist is what we should all strive towards.

nice post john ma3k, shame i didn't get to ride with you this year. and thanks for the offer in the cafe queue - this irishman was just too british to accept ;)

Nepotism in small doses never hurt anyone.

The Exmouth Exodus is a wonderful ride. I've done it twice now, both in appalling weather, in 2007 and 2009, and loved both editions. I can't wait to do it in nice weather, which, if history is anything to go by, should happen next year as in every even year. :)

Do keep us posted on the Bournemouth one--I haven't heard about that one yet.

Seems its been about for a while.

http://www.dorsetdash.co.uk/

Not the best option for fixed but still looks like a good route.

Let me tell you another tale from the other end of the Dynamo. Due to various problems and mess-ups, I started late. Even later than Pixie. I was too late for London Fields and a route map, so I just dotted down some notes. No problem - I've done the DD several times before. My Spooner day bike seemed about to break, but I had made up my mind to do it, so I broke every rule in the book, built up a back-up frame that I had forgotten the problems of, no shakedown, and even put on a different saddle.

I had a decent ride out, just a bit lonely. I got the magic, but missed the camaraderie. Amazingly, I did eventually pass people. I think Greenbank and Seldom were being harsh, but reality is the harshest on the clueless. I came across people who had got lost (got lost myself, didn't remember the route as well as I thought), people crawling grimly with ridiculous loads or on unsuitable bikes, people who had cried, people whose friends had packed and were off somewhere looking for train stations (at 3am), others whose friends had abandoned them and gone ahead, and people who had completely tanked. Some seemed to have had no-one to advise them, and apparently couldn't use the internet either. Luckily the weather allowed them to crash out under a hedge for a few hours, PBP-style. I had to sympathise. On my first-ever DD, (pre-internet), I didn't even know enough to bring a spare tube. When my tyre was blown off the rim by a jagged star puncture, Patrick Field came along and gave me a spare tube without saying a word.

Some people must have joined the ride on the way home from the pub - they didn't seem to have slept beforehand, eaten, or charged up their lights. As early as Finchingfield I passed a DD rider kipping in the bus-shelter on the green. Even asleep he looked as flat as a pancake. I kept a guy with a nice bike company for a while, encouraging him, but it was a downhiller with off-road tyres, and eventually he packed.

I didn't even try the feeding station, it would have closed or at least run out of food.

I did see some forum peeps, because by the time I was nearing the beach, some of youse were already on the return leg. I think I saw Oliver, I think Hillbilly (recog from Tarckness) Greenbank, together with someone else on a purple Pearson, and a few others. Some returnees were alone, one or two were taking a break by the side of the road. I saw more daylight, and Greenbank is correct, there was noticeable DD litter on the way.

At the beach I kipped a bit and turned round. My very worst idea of the day... the year, maybe.

I have a thing about this transport issue. I did the official London-Brighton as prep for DD, and it was ludicrous that on a 'green' ride, 50,000-odd bikes and riders all had to be driven back to London afterwards. The 'London-Brighton Motorway Run'. You can't get on the train, and even when you can, you get robbed for the fare. They manage to do it in Europe. Sort it out Boris.

^ Interesting post.

Real shame about the litter.
No problem with lobbing a bio-degradable apple core or banana skin (as long as it's not in the middle of the fucking road you moron on the mtb!), but i saw plenty of bottles and wrappers in the hedges.

Somewhere out there among the litter: my rapha cap, and 1 coach ticket. Not a happy moment to discover I'd lost the latter the next morning.

Rather late, I know, but I've enjoyed reading other people's reports so much that I feel inspired to make my own observations - which include the embarrassing admission that this was in some ways my hardest DD ever, even though I've been couriering for the past 9 months, and should by rights be fit as fuck. I had a really bad low patch at and after the feed stop, and the only reason I kept going was that there wasn't really any other option. (That and the caffeinated energy bars.)

But the first half was wonderful - it was so nice to be riding along without my skin sizzling in the sun and the radio barking at me constantly. I started out with a motley crowd of acquaintances, including the other half's father (who'd never done such a long distance, and was riding a £100 mountain bike, but left us behind going through Epping, and wasn't seen again till the beach, which he apparently reached nearly 3 hours before us) and an old friend who'd sworn for years that the DD just wasn't her thing, and that she'd never do it, but now was, and what's more was trying to survive it eating nothing but raw food. She looked barely alive when she finally reached the food stop, and I worried about her for the rest of the ride, but she made it too, and in much higher spirits than I'd have expected. Given how hard I found the ride, I am hugely impressed by everyone who finished it.

Didn't bloody expect it to rain though. And I was extremely irked by the puncture that appeared as I turned off after Peasenhall - exactly where I punctured 2 years ago, in similar conditions. What was worse, we broke a spanner trying to get the wheel off, so ended up patching the tube in situ. Luckily it held. I really felt for the dozen or so people I saw fixing punctures in the last five miles.

The aftermath was the best bit. Two of our party had left a van at the beach on Saturday morning, and weren't keen for a second Flora Cafe breakfast in the same weekend, so we piled into said van and drove off looking for a Little Chef. We actually did quite a bit better than that - found a rather upmarket farm cafe (with a small but obvious sprinkling of knackered-looking people in lycra, bizarrely including the woman I'd inadvertently been stalking round town all week) that served us good coffee and a much better class of fry up.

Then we headed back to London, where the epic mountain-biker insisted we find a jacuzzi to sit in. There followed a fruitless trudge round the leisure centres of Walthamstow, all of which were full to capacity, until we ended up compromising and paying a fiver apiece for the sauna at Cathall Leisure Centre. You are strongly advised not to do the same. The sauna suite consists of a small sweaty changing room, full of muddy puddles and other people's pubic hair, and with nowhere separate for men and women to get changed. The showers were tepid trickles and the toilet room hadn't been cleaned for a very long time. But we made the best of things, and I'm so glad we did - I went back to work today, and was pleasantly surprised by how good all my muscles and joints felt. I had very sore knees on and immediately after the ride, and was worried I'd done myself some damage, but something - probably the sauna - seems to have sorted them out.

Next year I reckon we should make a mass forum spa booking, as well as the coach and the removal lorry...

Even if you know what you're doing, it can easily go very wrong. Check this ride report from this year's Exmouth Exodus:
http://exmouthexodus.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19&sid=1eb6d5c491501916b8331d3dec6488e2

:o

found a rather upmarket farm cafe ... that served us good coffee and a much better class of fry up.

was this nearby? name and location please!

was it down the A12 perhaps near to Wickham Market?

sounds like another awesome DD - gutted to have toi miss it....roll on next year. MA3K - hope the ticket worked out for you...

I did it in 2005 & 2006 on a recumbent bike.

Did it last year on fixed.

It's got to be done - This time it's got to be the trick bike!

Oh, and probably ride back to Stowmarket for train home, like I usually do.

Did you do it in the end, John? I can't remember seeing you.