2010-07-24 - Dunwich Dynamo DD18

I assumed you took the chocolate starfish again this year? if so, how was the set up of the CS in comparison to last year DD?

I forgot to say...It was great seeing Rob and mike at the start...haven't seen you guys in ages...and Hassan, i'm so sorry...i realised i didn't even say Hi to you...i think it was because i saw you recently, but it was rather rude of me. My apologies...and Hi Hassan!

Can we have a list of subtle differences, notated with pros and cons? Thnx.

I assumed you took the chocolate starfish again this year? if so, how was the set up of the CS in comparison to last year DD?

It's the only bike i have.

Setup was exactly the same except for different bars, and I've already ridden to Dunwich and also to Dunwich and back a few times on the new bars this year, so no surprises with the bike.

Can we have a list of subtle differences, notated with pros and cons? Thnx.

That would be boring. :]

:d

First Dynamo. Fixed. Don't know what all the fuss is about.

sceams "MY FUCKING KNEES!!" inside head

Had an ace time. Not sure if I'll do it fixed again if I'm honest. I'll see how I feel next year. Cheers to everyone I rode with - y'all made it another enjoyable stint in the saddle.

Damo - sort your guts out.

Oooooft. Just doubled my longest distance ridden.

Cheers to David and Andrew for all the oganisationals.

Thanks to dropout, dicki, soul and skiver... Good company, and made for a great night.

Good banter on the beach - Oliver's sharp-stone dance will live long in the memory.

Great to meet some of you in real life. The ride was amazing, just cruising through the pitch-black night, finding then losing other forumites, trying to stay awake and confusing chavs and drunks simply by riding a bike at night.

A massive thanks to Velocio and The Seldom Killer for all their help and generous planning!

Nice to meet a few people inc. German dude with Garmin who got us through the last few miles in one piece (sorry mate, didn't catch your name).

Sounds like pascalo.

Ha, that was a bit different. :)

My first long ride after five months of not riding. This time, I wanted to do it as slowly as possible, stopping everywhere I could. That meant the filling station before Epping (just because lots of other people stopped there), the White Hart in Moreton, the Axe and Compasses (I'd always wanted to stop there for a pint), the Fox in Finchingfield (only serving soft drinks, as it was getting on for two), and of course the feed.

This was by far the warmest DD that I've done. Baselayer and short-sleeve jersey with arm warmers all the way.

I've never done it this slowly and it was fun. I think we got to the beach at around 9. This included a puncture (conker's) just before Great Dunmow), another stop to help some badly-equipped people fix a puncture, and various other chat stops.

Massive thanks to conker for being such a great riding companion. Also to Trevor, Damian, Rob, Dave, and Aaron (none on the forum).

I'd never hopped in the water in Dunwich before and this was another first. I didn't exactly stay in it for a very long time, but it was very refreshing. As braker mentions, getting to the water barefoot in the first place was a bit of an ask. Next time, I'll definitely get changed closer to the water. Those pebbles were sharp!

I originally meant to hang around the beach and wait for Trevor, but it turns out that after taking a nap in his travel hammock around Coddenham he had headed straight to Ipswich, so a Southwark Cyclists coach it was.

Barry estimated the turnout at 1300-1400. Apparently, the Flora Cafe sold 950 eggs, and there was some additional number-crunching which made him arrive at this approximation.

The feed people worked extremely hard. They said that it was actually a bit easier this year owing to better village hall facilities and the fact that people came in more evenly spread out. Nonetheless, it was a big operation--they start at 3pm on Saturday and riders turn up earlier and earlier. Patsy said that they would probably be there until at least 7am on Sunday--apparently, people who get lost still come in up to that time! I was completely amazed that they still had food when we turned up really late, around 4 or later. They also faced a massive clean-up job. Huge thanks to them!

Loads more to tell but creature comforts call.

Reports of messy scenes at the local railway station (from our ticket inspector on the Ipswich train).

Huge thanks to the chap who collected my rear light from the A12. At that point, there was no way I was going back for anything.

anyone see the bloke(kid) on fixed, potentially no brakes, jeans and a T, front light, someone gave him a rear at some point, no bag, no water that I could see?
if you're on here, you're mental- in the nicest possible way.

Yep; think I spotted two ninja-style riders.

The Dulwich Paragon train was fun, too

Some wag just shouted "do a skid". VB now showing in Halstead, looks like he's gone off route.

That was me. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn't see you until it was too late so was pretty much past when I shouted it.
Driving home was horrific. I was so tired that I had to pull over at a service station and get a good nap in so I could keep my eyes open. Twice. Home and rested now though.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41773074 for the night. Nippy as.

Christ that was fun.

The chap in the Welsh cycling pants was pretty bloody quick. 6pt, Sasmon and me weren't to shabby either.

The return journey is "a good ride to have done"; though the jury's out on whether or not I enjoyed it at the time. It's probably not something that I'd be inclined to repeat. The morning was painful, but a couple of mugs of java at lunchtime made the afternoon pretty tolerable. That said, the pace was at best a crawl, and anything faintly resembling a gradient had water streaming from my eyes.

230mi, or thereabouts, on a shitload of sweets and no sleep for the second half.

Just met with girlfriend for coffee, had trouble with sentence formation.

Little bit fucked.

Nick, you're absolutely insane.

that's me on that ^^ picture :) tucking in

230mi, or thereabouts, on a shitload of sweets and no sleep.

jesus fucking christ

Nick, you're absolutely insane.

+1
mental.

Thanks to VB and TSK, Southwark Cycles, The Cycling School and all who gave their time to make an outstanding event, I loved it.
Bit tired now...

First time. Missed feed station, not too bothered - had a pannier full of goodies. Lovely weather.

Got abused by an old man on the bridge at about 54 miles in - he nearly punched my mate. Bizarre. Was complaining about noise. The noise of me and Dan eating a biscuit. Proceeded to scream at us and get yelled at by his neighbours, who then apologised to us. Weird.

Will be there next year. For sure.

+1 i would only do that on my motorbike!

my kneecaps are so angry right now..

good ride tho.