2010-07-24 - Dunwich Dynamo DD18

Double Fail

Fail the first: The volumes of riders out there now have diluted the sense of being out there on your own, the peacefulness of the night uninterupted by nothing more than the occaisional lone soul in a car on their own voyage and a handful of friends to keep you company. It's a different experience and one i think is worth trying.

Fail the second. Security through obscurity is a false notion. For example, in the second year that I did DD, there was an unpleasant moment when a couple of cars full of drunken idiots drove along the line of riders swerving and harrassing them. Safety to suggest that they were probably attracted by the number of riders on the road and put a large volume of them at risk. On the audax rides that I've done through the night, I've attracted more goodwill than bad as a solo rider, even from "chavvy", drunken petrolheads. Even out in a group of about 15 on the Solstice Ride we attracted far less attention than I have on DD. As for my own personal safety, beyond the M11, I've felt more at risk from other riders than I have from drivers and other members of the public.

quadruple fail.

firstly, if you want to go and experience uninterrupted 'peacefulness' with only a handful of friends, then no one is stopping you riding on the same route, on any of the other 364 days that are left in the year with your hand picked nearest and dearest. you fail here because you fail to recognise this as personal preference that does not reflect the interests of most of the riders that join in on the dynamo. and it is the majority of riders that make the dynamo.. the dynamo.

secondly, in your second year of doing the dynamo you encountered some drunkard drivers harassing the cyclists, probably attracted by the quantity? - well that's an isolated incident isn't it?! i'm not saying it doesn't happen.. but let's keep things proportional. the roads aren't lined with mobs trying to kill us all are they?

the positives of riding large outweigh the negatives; lots of people do the dynamo on their own - even if they start out with a group, they can find themselves on their own quite easily and within a relatively short space of milage .. and when they do, it's a relief to have other cyclists around - for support, breakdown help, or just to meet nice new people.
i don't know one woman who would want to do the dynamo ''there on [her] own, the peacefulness of the night uninterupted by nothing more than the occaisional lone soul in a car'' - that's probably one of the worst situations a woman could find herself in cycle-wise. and there were Lots of lady cyclists at the dynamo.
we raise awareness of how great cycling is for All; more people do it each year because they've heard about it and it's accessible. yes that's right.. everyone is entitled to cycle! it is not a secret little group that nobody is allowed to join unless they wear lycra/talk about campy, pinarello, aerospoke, velodromes..blah.

i say; if you don't like the dynamo then don't do the dynamo. do the same route on a different day.

*fails:

1. personal preference used to suggest fail = x2 fail.
   
2. exaggeration of past isolated incident to manipulate current statistics = x2 fail.