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@|³|MA3K
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.