2012-06-30 Sat/Sun - Dunwich Dynamo DD20

Meant to ask, how do people normally transport stuff with them?

Carradice should put Dunwich on commission.

Speak for yourselves with all this talk of one banana and a gel. I took a saddle bag full of food last year, must have been about 3kg's and i ate the lot.

This

Meant to ask, how do people normally transport stuff with them? Large saddle bag? Rack and pannier? Anyone take rucksacks/messenger bags?

What the others who recommended travelling light said. You don't need to eat much, but the key is to eat and drink while moving (don't stop all the time, you'll just get cold), to eat constantly but only in small bits and sips, and to restrain your appetite at the feed--if you overeat, it'll make you feel sluggish and will slow you down.

You don't need to eat much

Speak for yourself homeboy!

^this. Better to have enough food with. You don't want to crack with 40 miles to go and no train options at that time and have other people have to nurse you to the beach

But remember there are feed stops along the way, more this year than in previous years. Can't say how well they do for vegans/veggies though.

I didn't stop at the feed stops for exactly the reason Oliver said, I stopped for ten minutes after 40 miles and already I was cold, took quite a while to warm up properly again.

Going to give the feed stops a miss again this year and get a good breakfast at Dunwich.

As other have said, the less you carry on your back, the better, if you can managed stuff without a rucksack, go for it.

Shit, that remind me to make peanut butter cup, those are fantastic for those kind of ride.

Speak for yourself homeboy!

^this. Better to have enough food with. You don't want to crack with 40 miles to go and no train options at that time and have other people have to nurse you to the beach

You can trust me on this. I never said 'don't take enough food', I said that you don't actually need to eat that much. Have a good pasta meal beforehand so that it's well settled by the time you start the ride. It's much worse to overeat on a long-distance ride.

Hello

Southwark Cyclists have now sold 320 coach/truck tickets for DDXX, so nearly half the places we've currently booked for.

If you are looking to purchase tickets, **please note, the early bird price of £20 increases to £30 from midnight on 31 May (that's this coming Thursday). **

In 2011 we sold 528 tickets at the pre-1 June 2011 price of £14 but they had been on sale since 22 April. From 1 June inclusive the price in 2011 increased to £27.

Thanks to everyone who has already bought a ticket, making our operation possible.

Thanks also to those who've volunteered so far, including one or two from this forum.

Alex

Surely not as much as I'm dreading the 4 hours stuck in a coach in some traffic jam skully
3 hrs tops hopefully :)

... adding to the kit-lists above, I would seriously recommend a microfleece towel and spare shorts. After a quick dip in the sea you'll feel fresh and invigorated

Oh yes, and don't forget a plastic bag to put your wet shorts into
Oh yes, and also change your socks (if soggy shoes use sealskinz socks)

... adding to the kit-lists above, I would seriously recommend a microfleece towel

good thinking, almost forget about that, would make a huge difference to feel a bit fresher on the return coach trip.

Has no one read our Survival Tips? :(

I haven't to be honest, thought it was fairly straightforward, y'know, ride sensibly, be quiet approaching villages, rear light to be on constant and tilted down, etc.

if your surivial tips including thing like hand towels, I'll have a gander.

Our Survival tips:

• Do some longish rides beforehand
  
• Don’t overdo the alcohol, etc. for a few days beforehand
  
• Pack spare layers of clothes, it can be very warm or chilly or damp or wet
  
• Money. Always handy
  
• Phone: yes
  
• Most jeans have lumpy under-seams that you don’t notice for a few miles. Then you notice.
  
• Tools: at least a pump, a small multitool and a couple of spare inner tubes. Tyre levers too.
  
• Make sure your bike is in good nick. Give it a good clean, lube and service a few days before. On the day, give it another look, give it an M Check and, for example, flip it over and check the tyres for those infiltrating little sharp bits. If you’ve been thinking about getting new tyres, splash out before the ride
  
• Lights: you’ll need them. LEDs can last all night, but bring spare batteries anyway, tuck in behind someone with a beam for those tree-tunnel lane stretches
  
• Saddle? Apply Vaseline, chamois cream or similar if/before your bits get sore. Recumbent riders, they boast, needn’t bother
  
• Carbo-loading works for most: a large pasta meal the night before. Some swear by cutting out caffeine for a few days beforehand so that the 3am halfway coffee really j o l t s
  
• Drink water before you get thirsty, snack and nibble before you get hungry. That way you’ll avoid hitting the spirit-draining brick wall (or bonk) of no energy
  
• Don’t sprint off with the skinny greyhounds unless you are one. Settle into a group doing a pace you like. If it turns out slow, dance in the pedals and catch a quicker group. Bit too fast? Drop off the group and wait to be caught up
  
• Swim at the end (a change of pants is a good idea)
  
• Keep looking at our website/Twitter feed for updates
  
• Love it
  

tl;dr

don't forget a towel.

Our Survival tips:

[*]Don’t overdo the alcohol, etc. for a few days beforehand

Not going to happen.

Our Survival tips:

overdo the alcohol, etc. for a few days beforehand

Make sure your bike is in good nick. Dismantle it completely (I'm talking headset, bb and chainset) the night before whilst totally wasted. Give it a good clean, lube and service on the day, to the highest fingers crossed hope and pray standard

ftfy

^ Haha! I think a few people did that last year!

tl;dr

don't forget a towel.
...and clean pants, it's all about the pants I tell thee!

Alex, do we get to choose what time of bus we want to get?

^ yes

Since signing up for this I took an epic fall on Friday night that resulted in me sprawled underneath a parked car, having absorbed the entire drunken impact with my knee and elbow

and

on my way home I've just come off my bike for the first time in two years after some little shit ran into Clapham High Street without looking.

I feel like the Dynamo gods are trying to tell me something.

^ Well, you have a month to recover so don't give up now!

Epic fall or epic fail? Sorry but you get no sympathy from me for drink-cycling.

You obviously weren't responsible for the Kamikaze pedestrian so I am sorry to hear about that.