Dunwich Dynamo

Feltup

The mortality rate on this thread is frightening. Well done Porgy on standing your ground and not wimping out like some people on here mentioning no names at all but hope the physio gives you the all clear.

_Brun_ run for life!

Feltup

prawny wrote:

Gad zukes I was going to do it too but I rode my road bike in the rain on monday and didn't wipe it down and lube it afterwards, no all I have is a pile of orange dust in my garage :roll:

That is no excuse! A fella last year had his bike nicked the morning of the ride and borrowed one especially.

Rich158

I'm tempted to do it whatever, I'm sure all the legs need is a gentle spin up to the Suffolk coast

Unfortunately the fact that I've been unable to feel my right glut since the weekend tells me that might not be the case

prawny

That is top commitment! I was only joking anyway, I have a whole long list of reasons why I can't do it, including living in cannock and my wife :?

Feltup

You tease!

Porgy

Had a bit of a twinge in my back yesterday :?

Feltup

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!


I am going to be burnt at the stake or drowned in the ducking pool if this carries on.

rupertm1

Can't make it this year... the moon and bats where great last year!

Trains back from Darsham are one option (about five miles back in land from Dunwich follow the route back as it is the second to last village before Dunwich) direct to London.

There's one at 8.45am so enough time for a swim and a large breakfast!

Worth booking a place for your bike with National Express Rail as the one I was on last year was a bit of a bike park.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/trainslanding.aspx

Porgy

Porgy wrote:

Had a bit of a twinge in my back yesterday :?

But I think I'll be OK

Clever Pun

good luck for tomorrow if anyone's left

toontra

I'll be going and probably cycling back to London as well unless anything goes badly wrong (like the weather).

Rich158

toontra wrote:

I'll be going and probably cycling back to London as well unless anything goes badly wrong (like the weather).

Ssssshhhhhhhhhh, don't let feltup know or he'll put a curse on you

_Brun_

Rolling down to the beach at 04:30 with barely anyone else there and waiting for the sun come up was awesome. Great ride.

Need a beer, shower and sleep. In that order.

_Brun_

Cafewanda

Wow! That kind of pic I tend to get when in Jamaica :sigh:

Rich158

I'm sooooooo jealous

I guess you guys had a good ride then

coshgirl66

Just back from doing the Dynamo with three mates. Took us 11 hours but we had loads of breaks and still had legs for the hills towards the end. Unfortunately my bike gave up the ghost cycling to Darsham so it's now residing with a friend in Suffolk. Fab stuff!

_Brun_

Bit of a weird ride for meself. Had been at London Fields with a big bunch of people from FGSS but lost them all almost immediately after leaving cos of traffic and the like. Kicked on cos I reckoned that at least some people were ahead of me, but found no one until one fella I recognised passed us looking like he meant business. Caught up, introduced meself and the two of us put in a decent stint to within ten miles of the half way stop, until I suddenly realised he'd dropped off when there were no more lights behind me.

Took a thirty minute pitstop for soup and caffeine, then headed off again, which was hard going mentally because there was hardly anyone else on the road. Soon started chatting to a couple of blokes who were doing a similar sort of pace, and the three of us rode all the way to Dunwich. Amazingly we weren't passed by a single other rider the whole of the second half. Think that might partly have been down to having the 2007 route on the Garmin, which makes a massive difference when it comes to knowing where you're going (or more importantly, knowing straight away when you go wrong).

It was practically daylight for the last ten miles, but great knowing that we'd easily make it there before sunrise. Setting off in a big group I had expectations of it being leisurely paced, but was pretty happy to have been left to my own devices. Heard estimates of up to 1,000 people having started, so the only way to avoid massive queues for food etc was to make sure you were there before the masses. Probably only about 20 or so others knocking around the cafe/beach when we arrived.

6:56 for the 113 mile route. 130 for the day, which is a PB.

Brilliant night out

Feltup

So some of you avoided the curse I see. Well I am glad my powers are not total yet or it would take all the fun out of it

Well done to all of you who made it especially the folks on the Penny Farthing. Yes you did read that correctly a Penny Farthing! How the hell they got up and down those hills I don't know.

I had a chat with Barry Mason who organises it with Southwark Cyclists and he said they sold 900+ route maps so a 1000+ riders seems on the money. He did a great job once again and was only a little let down by the removals truck people under estimating the space needed which involved getting another truck and repacking the largest truck. In the end we got back with a couple of hours of delay. So hats off to Barry for realising the problem early and getting it sorted, the helpers at the mid stop etc also did a fantastic job again considering how large the event got this year i.e. double last year!

It was a mixed ride for me as our group splintered a bit so wasn't as social as last year. I ended up spending nearly 3 hours at the mid stop waiting for people and then spending time with them to be social so it was almost a two stage ride for me! We set off about 9pm and I got to the beach at 6am with one friend who towed me the on the second leg. The others arrived at 8am soaked to the skin from the big shower that rolled through.

I have learnt that staying out drinking heavily until 3am the night before is not good preparation for an overnight long ride especially when you are a lightweight drinker as it is!!!

Stats wise I was on my singlecross riding fixed GI71 and had a ride time of about 6hrs45. Not really sure of exact figures as I don't have a computer on the fixed because riding fixed is all about feel not figures!

Rich158

Sounds like a couple of good rides guys, I can't wait for next year. I'll join you in the fixed feltup, after all it is in the spirit of the thing

lost_in_thought

Chapeaux!

I'm rather jealous.

Did you get rained on? I only ask because it seemed to have rained in Essex when I got up on Sunday morning...

Feltup

There were a few spots around 5.30 am for us but my mates who were behind us had two hours of rain. In Dunwich it rained from 6.30 to 9.00 ish and then gradually cleared to a glorious day.

How was the family get together? Sorry we missed dinner, hope you Mum didn't mind but we wanted to get some miles under our belts

aztecboy

My first DD and quite a challenge. I thought it would be a very much more leisurely affair but there were plenty on the road evidently in a race, some not exhibiting much cycling etiquette !

We kept a steady pace throughout and our first stop was at the food break 60 miles in. Even then I was shocked by how many were in front of us (the queue was inside when we arrived). I was even more shocked by how many turned up in the 30 minutes while we were there, the queue for food went all the way out through the car park and into the road!

When arrived at Dunwich bang on 0600h, the queue for the cafe was just outside the door. 30 minutes later and it was around the car park.

My enduring memories will be:
- The many pretty fixies at London Fields
- My wonderful Garmin 705 contained the gpx of the 2008 route
- The jungle that is Epping - one inhabitant at a pub with his mates had his trousers down and was flashing his minuscule equipment to all cyclists as they rode past
- Watching a bunch of fly boys go ENTIRELY the wrong way at a junction. They turned up at the feed stop 20 minutes after us
- The sunrise
- The look of sheer delight on the participant's faces as they arrived in Dunwich (followed by a look of abject horror when they espied the queue for the cafe!)

Great fun!

Feltup

Rich158 wrote:

Sounds like a couple of good rides guys, I can't wait for next year. I'll join you in the fixed feltup, after all it is in the spirit of the thing

Yeah it was certainly a different experience than riding it on the roadie. Following my mate down one of the long hills and his legs were spinning at ludicrous speed and he has fractionally heavier gearing than me. It is one of the few times I wished a downhill was over!! No one came past us on that descent but I think that was because they all thought we were going to explode and create mayhem.

steve-m

Also had a great time. We left an hour later than last year at about 9pm because we thought we''d wait for the queue to die down for the tickets. That and the numbers of riders meant it was a different experience to last year. Was much better prepared this year as last year my tank was empty 20 miles before the feed stop, this year prepared better - being a good boy the night before too.

Read Barry's summary here

Feltup

aztecboy wrote:

My first DD and quite a challenge. I thought it would be a very much more leisurely affair but there were plenty on the road evidently in a race, some not exhibiting much cycling etiquette !

There were some very rapid lads and lasses. There were also some people who were a complete liability. I saw a few without lights fss! One bloke on the way out of London decided he wasn't going to wait and just plod along with the masses so tried to undertake behind a barrier only to realise there wasn't a big enough gap the other end to simply carry on. What he then did could have ended very badly if my mates hadn't had their whits about them because he found a little gap and swung out into the main road with out looking; nice one moron. Another prime Darwin Candidate jumped the lights at the North Circular roundabout, how he didn't get collected by the mass of cars I don't know.

p.s. Barry Mason what a top bloke, very nice to talk to and so enthusiastic but not Essex proof. (Essex is exactly as you imagine from the stereotypes)

Porgy

I just got back to London. I completed my 5th DD last week - if I hadn't gone on some ridiculous 15 mile detour following a German with SatNav who though he knew where he was going, I'd have finshed about 8am. Not bad for me - I finished 6 am three years ago - but I'm in my 40s now .

I have spent the last week cycling (and walking) in Suffolk - wondering why so many people go back to London so quickly.

lost_in_thought

Feltup wrote:

aztecboy wrote:

My first DD and quite a challenge. I thought it would be a very much more leisurely affair but there were plenty on the road evidently in a race, some not exhibiting much cycling etiquette !

There were some very rapid lads and lasses. There were also some people who were a complete liability. I saw a few without lights fss! One bloke on the way out of London decided he wasn't going to wait and just plod along with the masses so tried to undertake behind a barrier only to realise there wasn't a big enough gap the other end to simply carry on. What he then did could have ended very badly if my mates hadn't had their whits about them because he found a little gap and swung out into the main road with out looking; nice one moron. Another prime Darwin Candidate jumped the lights at the North Circular roundabout, how he didn't get collected by the mass of cars I don't know.

p.s. Barry Mason what a top bloke, very nice to talk to and so enthusiastic but not Essex proof. (Essex is exactly as you imagine from the stereotypes)

That is true. Sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason...

Feltup

lost_in_thought wrote:

Feltup wrote:

aztecboy wrote:

My first DD and quite a challenge. I thought it would be a very much more leisurely affair but there were plenty on the road evidently in a race, some not exhibiting much cycling etiquette !

There were some very rapid lads and lasses. There were also some people who were a complete liability. I saw a few without lights fss! One bloke on the way out of London decided he wasn't going to wait and just plod along with the masses so tried to undertake behind a barrier only to realise there wasn't a big enough gap the other end to simply carry on. What he then did could have ended very badly if my mates hadn't had their whits about them because he found a little gap and swung out into the main road with out looking; nice one moron. Another prime Darwin Candidate jumped the lights at the North Circular roundabout, how he didn't get collected by the mass of cars I don't know.

p.s. Barry Mason what a top bloke, very nice to talk to and so enthusiastic but not Essex proof. (Essex is exactly as you imagine from the stereotypes)

That is true. Sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason...

Some very special sights that is for sure! So when are you going permatan?

lost_in_thought

Feltup wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

That is true. Sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason...

Some very special sights that is for sure! So when are you going permatan?

Going? That should be past tense... I'm like David Dickinson.