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Dunwich Dynamo: last day for cheap coach tickets!

Preparation wise, not so good. I really should do a Brighton ride on Sunday, but it's football on Saturday afternoon, a mate's birthday meet-up in the evening and I really should do a draft essay at some point on Sunday. Looks like I'll have to do the trip off the back of just cycling to work everyday. I'm confident I can do about 80 miles, it's the last 40 that worry me slightly. Still, let's see how it goes.
 
goldenecitrone said:
Preparation wise, not so good. I really should do a Brighton ride on Sunday, but it's football on Saturday afternoon, a mate's birthday meet-up in the evening and I really should do a draft essay at some point on Sunday. Looks like I'll have to do the trip off the back of just cycling to work everyday. I'm confident I can do about 80 miles, it's the last 40 that worry me slightly. Still, let's see how it goes.
Click to expand...
You'll be fine :cool:
 
OK... am starting to panic a little bit... what do I need to do before the start?

map? big lights? energy drinks? do I need to try to adjust my sleep patterns?(I've got thurs and fri off work so I can do that, maybe.) service my bike?


anything else????
 
tommers said:
OK... am starting to panic a little bit... what do I need to do before the start?

map? big lights? energy drinks? do I need to try to adjust my sleep patterns?(I've got thurs and fri off work so I can do that, maybe.) service my bike?


anything else????
Click to expand...
A good night's sleep (ie no beer the night before), a big breakfast of porridge, big lunch, massive pasta meal before you leave...make sure your tyres are pumped up and you're carrying tyre levers, spare inner tube and pump. Lights, yes, but LEDs are fine, perhaps a set of spare batteries. Lots of cereal bars and munchies to keep you going, water bottle. Bit of money for food at halfway and breakfast. Phone. Give your bike a good check over as well. Maps - you can buy them for £1 at the start, the Ordnance Survey SE England is a handy one to have as well. I've said it before and I'll say it again: slap on the Sudocrem before you leave if you think there is a danger of chafing - dead cheap from Boots.

You'll be fine :cool:
 
lighterthief said:
A good night's sleep (ie no beer the night before), a big breakfast of porridge, big lunch, massive pasta meal before you leave...make sure your tyres are pumped up and you're carrying tyre levers, spare inner tube and pump. Lights, yes, but LEDs are fine, perhaps a set of spare batteries. Lots of cereal bars and munchies to keep you going, water bottle. Bit of money for food at halfway and breakfast. Phone. Give your bike a good check over as well. Maps - you can buy them for £1 at the start, the Ordnance Survey SE England is a handy one to have as well. I've said it before and I'll say it again: slap on the Sudocrem before you leave if you think there is a danger of chafing - dead cheap from Boots.

You'll be fine :cool:
Click to expand...

cool. I'm laying off the beer this week anyway. I think I still have a big pot of sudocrem somewhere and I might get myself one of those helmet lights that miners wear (well, the modern middle class hiking version I imagine ;) .)

Is there usually a bit of a group thing going on? Or do you spend long periods of time on your own?
 
tommers said:
cool. I'm laying off the beer this week anyway. I think I still have a big pot of sudocrem somewhere and I might get myself one of those helmet lights that miners wear (well, the modern middle class hiking version I imagine ;) .)

Is there usually a bit of a group thing going on? Or do you spend long periods of time on your own?
Click to expand...
A friend of mine swears by his Petzl head torch.

Certainly until halfway there are loads of groups to catch up with/fall back to; you'll rarely be on your own. After that, it starts to thin out quite a bit but chances are you'll find a bunch going your speed. It's all quite friendly, we adopted a lone straggler last year for the last 20 miles.
 
lighterthief said:
A friend of mine swears by his Petzl head torch.

Certainly until halfway there are loads of groups to catch up with/fall back to; you'll rarely be on your own. After that, it starts to thin out quite a bit but chances are you'll find a bunch going your speed. It's all quite friendly, we adopted a lone straggler last year for the last 20 miles.
Click to expand...

OK. Not too bad then, hopefully I can tag along with somebody who has big lights and knows where they are going!

we should all probably meet up beforehand anyway, even if some of us then go shooting off into the distance and others take a more leisurely pace!
 
I shall be taking a more leisurely pace. I aim to get to the Pub on the Park for about 8pm. Will be riding a black Specialized bike with a grey rucksack. And possibly sipping a shandy.
 
yeah, I'm in. my shoulders been knacked all week after driving to middlesbrough and back last weekend but it seems to be getting better just in time.

and I've just spent a night in the pub drinking fruit juice, so I'd better bloody do it!
 
goldenecitrone said:
I shall be taking a more leisurely pace. I aim to get to the Pub on the Park for about 8pm. Will be riding a black Specialized bike with a grey rucksack. And possibly sipping a shandy.
Click to expand...

this is me
(and the lady wife.)

I'll PM me mobile number. ;)
 
Stobart Stopper said:
Shit, I have just found this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/5162602.stm

Does anyone have any phone numbers to contact the Urbanites to make sure everyone is ok?
Click to expand...

Spoke to Tommers about an hour ago,they did it and they were waiting for the coach to bring them back to Hackney. Gonna go and meet him for a pint if he can still stand up. I'm sure he'll be on here later to tell you all about it. Him and Goldencitrone are both fine. He told me someone had been hit by a car but didn't know they'd died. Bloody hell :(
 
Onket on the other thread said:
This is terrible, terrible news irrespective of whether he was a poster or not.

:(
Click to expand...

Glad people we know appear to be ok though, obviously.
 
Me and Tommers made it, hope Lighterthief and Major Tom are okay. Sorry to hear about the tragic accident. Could have happened to any of us. A friend of mine said he wouldn't do the ride because he was worried about drunk drivers on a Saturday night. Hope the driver wasn't drunk for his sake.

I was dazzled by one driver coming round a bend and it momentarily blinded me and I clipped the kerb and fell off. But fortunately I was only a bit shaken up. There were some anxious moments, going downhill in the dark and the rain, trying to not go too fast, but not brake too hard and fall off. I heard one cyclist come a cropper behind me, but I couldn't stop to look or help as I would have crashed too.

The hardest part was at the refueling point, 70 miles into the ride. It was warm and dry inside and my body just wanted to go to sleep. But then we forced ourselves on, in the pissing rain, but the sun was rising so that made things more bearable. Got to the beach at 8.30am and felt exhilarated and absolutely knackered. 12 hours to ride 135 miles (we went the wrong way at one point). The worst part was waiting for the coach back and trying not to nod off. I swore it was my first and last time, but after a good night's sleep and a nice hot shower...

I wonder if the unicyclists made it okay.
 
Really gutted to hear about this tragic accident.
My big kids' dad was on this ride. He's bloody knackered now.
Well done to all urbanites who particpated.
 
Well, I made it to Dunwich without incident. Lots of rain, lots of sunshine in the morning, a lovely swim, fry-up and then snooze on the beach to end.

This death is sobering stuff: I feel sorry for the chap who died, and his family, but also for Barry who organises the ride each year. Not his fault, obviously, but you know what I mean.

I'm not in any way suggesting the cyclist who died was guilty of this, nor that it in any way excuses what happened but there were a fair number of people riding 2,3 even 4 abreast going through Epping Forest which, given the speed of traffic there, was very very stupid IMO.

Has Major Tom reported in yet?
 
congratulations to those who managed to complete it (or even try) :D

we were thinking of you on saturday night.

shame about the death but accidents happen all too often.

wiskers
 
Has Major Tom reported in yet?
Click to expand...

I didn't have net access till today. I had a very good ride this year. A brand new bike which worked flawlessly. Last year I struggled, especially in the last 30 miles or so. This year though was a relative doddle. It was only the lack of sleep which knocked me out yesterday afternoon.

I arrived on the beach at 5.55 am a full 3 and half hours quicker than last year. It's so much more enjoyable when you're not in pain.:)

I didn't see as much wildlife as I did last year - no bats, voles or hedgehogs running about - but I did see an owl swooping about above a field at around 5 am.

I've only just learned about the death. It was a bit of a shock. I did come across a couple of completely reckless idiots in sports cars out in Essex, but I still never imagined that someone would get killed. I hope noone is put off by this. I shall be there again next year trying to beat my time yet again.

Aurora Green said:
My big kids' dad was on this ride.
Click to expand...
Yeah I saw him sitting on the grass at Dunwich - just as I was leaving to go home. I don't think he saw me though.
 
Major Tom said:
I arrived on the beach at 5.55 am a full 3 and half hours quicker than last year. It's so much more enjoyable when you're not in pain.:)
Click to expand...

I reckon I could have knocked a couple of hours off my time if I hadn't cycled into Thaxted by mistake. Luckily we met someone with a map and managed to get back on track. I wondered how long it would be before I ended up following people going the wrong way as I had absolutely no idea of the route. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll have it all planned out beforehand. I reckon the rain slowed me down quite a bit as well. Glad you made it okay. Shame we didn't know who you and lighterthief were. Maybe next year.:)
 
goldenecitrone said:
I reckon I could have knocked a couple of hours off my time if I hadn't cycled into Thaxted by mistake. Luckily we met someone with a map and managed to get back on track. I wondered how long it would be before I ended up following people going the wrong way as I had absolutely no idea of the route. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll have it all planned out beforehand. I reckon the rain slowed me down quite a bit as well. Glad you made it okay. Shame we didn't know who you and lighterthief were. Maybe next year.:)
Click to expand...
That's what I said last year - I went worng straight out of the Monks Elegh feeding station last year and did about an extra 10 miles whilst following a bloke who thought he knew where he was going. Still it was a very picturesque detour.
And then I wnet wrong again following a couple of Dutch blokes who never admitted at any point that they didn;t know where they were.:D

So this year I brought a map, and magically became one of those people that others followed. :D

And next year - I will make a point of meeting up with other urbanites.

I was a bit focussed on improving my time this year - and needed to go at my own pace, and what with getting my bike nicked and falling of and buggering my hand the day after I was a bit preoccupied with a fair amount of shit.

In case anyone is interested:

"Robert Elms Show currently on BBC Radio London 94.9
Apparently has Jack Thurston coming up about 1:15 talking about the Dunwich Dynamo."
 
Major Tom said:
"Robert Elms Show currently on BBC Radio London 94.9
Apparently has Jack Thurston coming up about 1:15 talking about the Dunwich Dynamo."
Click to expand...

Arse:mad:

Despite the DD getting an early mention - the discussion was entirely about the Tour De France.
 
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