Dunwich Dynamo?
Simple. A turn-up-and-go challenging slightly-scary free-entry overnight on-tarmac just under 120 mile bicycle ride to the lovely lonely Suffolk sea at Dunwich.
So we signed up for The Dunwich Dynamo a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was a good idea. Hels was not convinced, but as always is up for everything and easily convinced!
We took the train down to London and met up with Stav on the same train and another guy who was also doing the ride. Although he looked semi pro. Despite normally only allowing 2 bikes per train, the ticket inspector did not make a fuss, but we made an effort to store them as efficiently as possible.
We rode from St. Pancras along the canal to London Fields. It was a really nice day and lots of people were out and about. I think we were all looking longingly at those sitting outside the pubs enjoying a few drinks! Not for the first time in my life I thought….. why am I doing this? and even more so because Anna and Mat who suggested it, have pulled out. Mat has a bad back…… a likely story! (only joking Matty!).
After a bite to eat and meeting up with a couple of other friends we headed for the park and were greeted by a sea of bikes and a lot of lycra. Quite an impressive site. Last year over 1000 cyclists took part. As it started to get dark people began to head off out of London. We set off about 8.45pm and all you could see in front, were red bike lights. It was actually very cool and the cyclists had pretty much taken over the road, so all the cars were giving way and looking slightly confused. Unfortunately every few miles there were cyclists fixing punctures, something that we fortunately avoided.
Quite quickly our group of 7 split up and it was just Hels and I. We always cycle so well together and at the same pace, so it works perfectly and we decided to stick to our 2 hour/20 mile rule and stop for food. We passed lots of pubs and a lot of cyclists had stopped, but we were keen to keep going and get into our stride.
The Cycle is planned to be as near as possible to the full moon but unfortunately it was very cloudy so the moon was no help, so once it got dark, it was very, very dark and there were very few street lights. We appeared to be in the middle of nowhere and went through miles of empty country lanes and sleepy villages. Apart from hundreds of cyclists obviously!
Just before the half way point we were stopped. There was an ambulance in the way and it appeared someone had come off their bike rather badly. I don’t know how he had come off but in view of how dark it was, I was not completely surprised. The roads were so dark it would be easy to hit something like a pothole and not have time to avoid it. We saw a couple of other people who also looked like they had fallen off.
Hels and I started to flag from sleep deprivation and after our 100 mile snack stop we set off again but needed to stop again about 5 minutes later to have a ten minute lie down and power nap. I swear I could of slept on a jagged rock or more worryingly a moving bike! The last 20 miles or so we had seen lots of people sleeping by the roadside. Once we were back on the road again, Hels and I played silly games to keep ourselves alert. The ‘I went to the Supermarket Alphabet Game’ was a life saver……. but very annoying!
Before we know it, it was light and we only had 7 miles to go. We flew along and arrived at the beach just after 8am. The beach was littered with bikes and people sleeping, which was an odd sight but again pretty cool. Hels and I were on a bit of a high so decided to tuck into a big fry up and finish off the hip flask!! There was always the option of a swim in the sea, but we decided to pass on that.
We headed back to London on a coach and the bikes were loaded onto a removal van.
Overall a pretty good trip. The cycling itself was very good and felt reasonably manageable. Hels and I enjoyed a weather and wind free ride which was a very nice change!! The lack of sleep was a bit of a struggle but only for a short period, so we will probably be back again next year….
