2009-07-04 Sat - Dunwich Dynamo 2009

did you not sleep?

clearly being a man makes you no more unlikely to get lost then :)

of course..... i just won't *admit *to being lost.

+1. It's map folded into a sandwich bag in the back pocket or nothing.

Or use a map/route sheet holder clamped to the stem.

No we didn't sleep.
We had a map too....but as the Garmin seemed to be working well on the way there we carried on using it. Unfortunately it can't tell you when the route you put in has mistakes on it. :)
From now on i'm gonna make sure i plot the route myself.
We used the map when the Garmin wasn't working so well...we also had the proper route sheet...until it flew out of Tricity's pocket somewhere on the way home :)

One more thing i forgot to mention about the return journey...
Swarms of fookin flies....millions of little thunderflies....every 2 seconds we were wiping our face, scratching our necks, rubbing our eyes....this went on for about 10 miles and nearly drove us both insane!

Or use a map/route sheet holder clamped to the stem.

True, by then end of yesterday I was getting tired of reaching into my pocket over and again because I couldn't retain information for very long.

Awesome ride: awesome report

well done...

EPFuckingIC

hahahaha. I love that report, I don't know how you remembered it all. I'm glad you didn't go into too much detail about how lost we got in fucking east London, I might have cried.

There were quite a lot of minor disasters (those fucking flies were the worst, worse than being lost on lots of unsignposted major a roads in the dark and the rain somewhere near Harlow). Overall it was awesome though, I'm so glad we did it. It's cool doing a ride and thinking 'I wish I'd done this or that' (like not taking a fucking huge rucksack, which I did on the official ride, and dropping my gearing a bit), and being able to use what you've learnt to do the ride again 6 days later. Though I'm not sure what you can learn to stop your face feeling like it's crawling off thanks to 65000000000 flies, or to avoid riding into a headwind for about 30000000 miles.

Scott = best riding partner ever. I swear it wouldn't be possible to stay in such a good mood at 4am (or whenever it was) stuck in the last 10 mile vortex to Dunwich with anyone else.

also: I just got ID'd for cigarettes AGAIN! ffs.

also: I just got ID'd for cigarettes AGAIN! ffs.

Commed.

Are you sure those flies haven't suddenly made you look a lot younger? :)

Brilliant stuff. That's 430 kilometres. You've just done a 400 and then some. Off you go to join AUK and start training for an SR series and then PBP and LEL. :)

Scott - next weekend? :D

you two just took the DD to another level. 49lbs. fixed, there and back. Awesome effort.

now don't do it again.

now don't do it again.

Spoilmadnesssport.

I'm going to do it there and back on a unicycle next time.

I think I have something slightly wrong in my brain which makes me refuse to accept I'm physically incapable of doing ANYTHING. I quite like it.

oh, and as Scott said... I can do hills now! Probably my favourite thing about the ride. I did literally walk up every single hill the first time... I know not having a rucksack and dropping from 48/16 to 48/18 helped but overcoming the stupid thing in my head that made me have a tantrum and get off my bike every time I saw a hill is BRILLIANT.

And now I have a geared Roberts (photos in Current Projects) for hillier rides. And I'm getting my 2kg 2 person tent this week. It's Touring Time :D

you two just took the DD to another level. 49lbs. fixed, there and back. Awesome effort.

now don't do it again.

Actually, i'm already planning to ride it again, one way, solo, as fast as i can...i'm just curious to see what time i can do it in at my own pace.
Nothing beats having someone to ride with and keep you company, but it's just another thing i have to do :)

Pick another ride Scott.
You've done DD to death.

not solo though...i'd like to know for peace of mind :)

Upon getting to a village we spot a sign saying 'Air museum'...where i try to lighten the mood and boost morale by informing Ms Bendix of how the museum is famous for its collection of 'Air'..."They have a whole jar of Air that was once breathed by Hitler"...."they also have a jar of Air that was found at the scene of Elvis' death in front of the toilet...it's suspected that it was his last breath ya know"....morale goes up by about point five of a percent :)

Ha ha,

This reminds me of riding across the plains in Canada and pulling up the low moments by making up stuff. An air museum would have been absolute comedy gold. I had to turn grain silos into pumping stations for the national supply of beef bourginone.

One more thing i forgot to mention about the return journey...
Swarms of fookin flies....millions of little thunderflies....every 2 seconds we were wiping our face, scratching our necks, rubbing our eyes....this went on for about 10 miles and nearly drove us both insane!

Hit them in Cambridgeshire. So utterly soul destroying to wipe your face clean ten seconds before hitting another swarm. Ended up giving up on arms and legs until the merciful rain came and could wash them away.

Actually, i'm already planning to ride it again, one way, solo, as fast as i can...i'm just curious to see what time i can do it in at my own pace.

On a stripped down Chocolate Donkey and good night's sleep, I reckon less than 8 hours on a good day.

Congrats to Scott and Tricity, a truly admirable achievement!

Because I got an open return that lasts a month to get the train home from the DD I'm heading back to my parent's house (about 20 miles closer than Dunwich) today and riding the 100 miles back in a couple of days time.. I'm not taking a map or garmin as I know the route fairly well from about 40 miles out either end (leaves an interesting chunk of essex to find my way through) but if I get lost I'll be sure to follow your trail of batteries and LEDs.

not solo though...i'd like to know for peace of mind :)
I'll accept that, but, only if you do it this week.

How did you get to Harlow?

Perhaps some of the veterans on here could organise the " how to get out of East London" rides. These would consist of going out via the Epping Way or the Chigwell way. We could start at the top of the Lea Bridge Rd ( Clapton ) and then start from there . I d imagine that there are at least 2 -3 rides that could be offered .

The trouble with East London is that its geography means that there are really only two ways out . Both are not immediately obvious.

Oliver, perhaps we can organise this ?

Well, that's not very difficult to organise. You just go out via one of the two ways and come back via the other. Coin toss at the start decides direction. :)

Oh, and a medium-length route through the nearer reaches of Essex is also easy to organise.

And you could always join a Cycling Club Hackney club run:

http://www.cyclingclubhackney.co.uk/

But what i noticed on the round Chelmsford Ride is that a lot of people had'nt beem out of the E nunbers. I sensed that there was a lack of confidence

Lea Valley CC - Walthamstow Town Hall almost every sunday@ 9- can also show you how to escape east london