Paul M
July 23rd 03, 09:32 PM
Below is Barry Masons write up on the Dunwich Dynamo 11.
Good fun and as (groups of) riders get well spread out there's room for
plenty more.
Why not put next years event (Saturday night/Sunday Morning 31 July 2004) in
your diary now?
Dunwich Dynamo 11
Hackney to Dunwich Beach overnight.
Twenty two of us turned up for the 7pm feeder ride from Cutty Sark Gardens
on the baking Saturday 12 July when the local temperature hit 28 degrees.
Some went through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel early to use the lifts before
they closed. The 5.5 miles to the start at the Martello Street Pub on the
Park by Hackney's London Field's went up the Isle of Dogs, along Canary
Wharf riverside past the Saturday evening eaters, round Limehouse Basin and
up the Regents Canal to Broadway Market and London Fields. Sam was amazed at
the quietness and variety of the route, so little was on road. She'd come up
from her Dartmoor home that afternoon. Her 40 mile a day round trip commute
meant she was more than dynamo-ready.
We got to the Pub on the Park around 8pm. Bikes were everywhere already. I
set up office on a bench outside and started allocating the bus back
tickets. The usual variety of bikers were there..mostly hybrids and
road-bikes, but a few folders, six or so recumbents, a couple of
tandems.mostly the usual very self-sufficient crew that included three
dailyride 16 year olds from St Pauls School Hammersmith who'd dragged their
much less fit music teacher along too.
Patrick (http://www.londonschoolofcycling.co.uk) Field's route sheets
started going round and people started drifting off from about 8.30pm but
the main pack left at 9.20pm to fiddle up packed Mare Street in a slightly
nervous string..don't leave me..Then it was up the Lea Bridge Road after a
brief detour round a taped-off crime-scene on Lower Clapton Road. The bikes
accelerated up the A104 through Epping Forest and London started to slip
away. Lots of loud souped up boy-racers in bad cars round here and big
bouncers outside big roadside pubs. At around 14 miles out many stocked up
at a garage. One of few punctures was fixed. Perfect warm evening.
Epping itself was the first village. The ride was very strung out now.
Bunches of rear-light flashing riders visible far ahead. About one in ten
seemed to be navigating or know the way. And suddenly there's more plants
than building. More villages. Dunmow, Leaden Roding, Great Dunmow.we hit
Suffolk 60 miles out. Sudbury. We all started dreaming about the food stop.
There were loads of stars, a few bats, and tomorrow's full moon was shining
bright in a clear sky. Only once did I nearly fall asleep.
The village hall at Great Waldingfield opened at 1am 64 miles out. The last
few miles there took ages. Just over half-way. Friends of Patrick doing the
very laid back catering. As much vegetarian goulash and cous-cous salad as
you can eat for £3.50 with tea, coffee, squash and very fine flapjack thrown
in. I got there about 3.45am not feeling too clever. (My rear derailleur had
somehow packed up spring-wise and I was stuck with only two gears. If I
tried to change more, the chain jumped off. Several much better mechanics
than me tried to fix it...new arm needed). There were probably 50 riders in
there in varying tired states. A few were even napping in sleeping bags.
Most of us thought that sleep now would not help a bit. The food was just
right and so so welcome. That stop is just over half-way.but later feels
more like two-thirds. The birds were waking fast.
Eight of us left together around 4.30am. It was now just chilly enough to
put a light jacket over t-shirts. The fields were under light dew and looked
just perfect. Around 4.50am the sun rose on our right...a magically clear
sunrise that gave all of us a huge lift. A new day. All along the route we
overtook or were overtaken by odd bunches...there were very few other
vehicles about and those there were were visible a long way off. Now and
then approaching headlights were very blinding, the batteries on my little
LEDs lasted all night. The whole route was much less flat than I'd
remembered. More hills or less fit?
At 116 miles, and at 8.05am, the 4 of us got to Dunwich Beach..the last few
miles went on forever and the sudden change to sandy soil and heath lands
didn't distract for long. It was very warm now. Bliss. The Flora Tearooms
had opened specially for us at 6am..and served the 3 5.30am arrivals at
once. By 8.05 there were probably 100 bikes there.
I went straight into the cold sea and was jolted wide awake at once. So good
to just float there, feel the achievement, get clean. I changed into a shirt
and shorts and hit the café for the £4.50 full breakfast and a few coffees.
They were cheerfully doing fine trade.
Then back to the pebbly beach. Sand martins everywhere. Cyclists too, all
linked by the ride. The dozen couriers had left Hackney at midnight and were
baptising their bikes by touching the saddles on the waves. Botticelli. By
10am the shallow water was warmish. It was hot. Day trippers started filling
the carpark and picking their way over the beach past dozing bikers. Who are
all these hippies? I started issuing/selling coach tickets again.
Surprisingly few swimmers.
Someone said pub at 11.50am, so some of us tore ourselves away from the
beach and went the 300 yards to it. I rode. The first of our coaches arrived
just about then. 50 seater. Harrises. Good. We packed out the pub. Good
selection of beers.
At 12.30pm several of us left for the car-park and the coach loading. The
second coach and the bike trailer arrived around 12.40pm. Jacksons. Better.
77 seats and around 50 bikes. Two of us started checking tickets and several
helped load bikes. We filled the coach boots first with trikes and
recumbents. All was going well..more tickets sold. Around 1.05pm I realised
that the furniture lorry for the bulk of the bikes was 5 minutes late. My
earlier phone calls had just got voicemail. My slight panic was wrong. The
lorry arrived. And was great. They'd bought loads of old carboard boxes and
packing blankets with them. Hamiltons of Eye. The suspense of waiting for
the convoy was exquisite.
By 1.30pm we'd got 103 riders and bikes aboard. Stragglers kept racing up. I
checked quickly round..and we left at 1.33pm and gave the day trippers
something to talk about. Most bikers snoozed at once. I sat upstairs on the
big coach and loved that grandstand view of the roads into London over the
Lea, past Canary wharf, down the Limehouse Link and onto Embankment.
Unloading was easy. The 2 coaches arrived together, as they left the lorry
slid in.
Lots of goodbyes followed...and no grumbles at all, except for one lost
bungee cord. About a dozen of us went for beers at Gabriel Wharf.
The end.
Some of the anecdotes...
Patrick Field thinking he's finally lost it as he chuntered along alone on
his recumbent in the middle of nowhere and hear disconnected voices in the
darkness.8 totally unlit couriers gliding up fast behind him.
The bunch of 15 who stopped spellbound at 4am as the mist glowed on the
lake.
The 12 noon Sunday call from someone who is still 2 hours away.will we
wait...sorry, No.
The biker on the beach who had no idea when the coaches left, and wanted the
time bought forward by two hours.
The 2pm call almost half an hour after the coaches left so visibly..I was in
the carpark loo, can you come back for me? Sorry, no.
The 3pm call from someone I was worried about.he'd got very lost somewhere,
guessed that Station Road might lead to one, road down it for ages and ended
up 30 miles off route in Cambridge.
The two sweepers from Bikefix who didn't need to sweep anyone.
The cheery candles in jamjars for the middle 40 miles.
The three who headed off back to London by bike at 9.30am...they made it the
50 miles to Sudbury, but others would have done the whole 240 miles.
That music teacher who tired the Dunwich organ and got stopped by the Church
warden.
The now 12 year old on the back of her dad's tandem for the second year
running.
The Flora's home made dough-nuts.
The 8 who reserved seats, never paid, never turned up.
The 6 who paid, and never turned up.
The only smash I heard about..someone rode smack into an unlit temporary
traffic light sign. He came off, no damage to him or bike.
Me not being tough enough to insist on my own £12 until 1 July, then £20
price hike to push early bookings.
The lorry company who at 1pm on the Friday before phoned to say that all
their drivers had gone sick, and put the phone down when I tried to argue.
The 14th lorry company who I phoned that worried Friday afternoon...who told
me to stop fretting and charged me what the original would have done.
Company number 8 tried to charge double.
I've lost my gloves, longs and two maps.can you phone the pub/village
hall/café/coach company for me?
Sad, so much road kill. Rabbits I can cope with. Hedgehogs, aaahhhh.
Happy, "this is the best bike ride I've ever done" said a smiler on the
beach.
Happy, loads of very pleased bikers.
And the 6 emails the next morning saying thanks.
Numbers: who knows. We guess about 220 started the ride. Almost all
finished. More than usual found their own way home.
Next one: Saturday 31 July 2004. My fifth.
As someone once wrote.
What is the Dunwich Dynamo?
It's a barely organised, turn up and go 120 mile overnight on-road bicycle
ride. It's not a race. It's unsupported, no van following. It's a long way
for most of us, and there may be times when you, for a split second, wish
you were tucked up in bed. But not for long, you'll love it.
BAM
14 July 2003
Good fun and as (groups of) riders get well spread out there's room for
plenty more.
Why not put next years event (Saturday night/Sunday Morning 31 July 2004) in
your diary now?
Dunwich Dynamo 11
Hackney to Dunwich Beach overnight.
Twenty two of us turned up for the 7pm feeder ride from Cutty Sark Gardens
on the baking Saturday 12 July when the local temperature hit 28 degrees.
Some went through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel early to use the lifts before
they closed. The 5.5 miles to the start at the Martello Street Pub on the
Park by Hackney's London Field's went up the Isle of Dogs, along Canary
Wharf riverside past the Saturday evening eaters, round Limehouse Basin and
up the Regents Canal to Broadway Market and London Fields. Sam was amazed at
the quietness and variety of the route, so little was on road. She'd come up
from her Dartmoor home that afternoon. Her 40 mile a day round trip commute
meant she was more than dynamo-ready.
We got to the Pub on the Park around 8pm. Bikes were everywhere already. I
set up office on a bench outside and started allocating the bus back
tickets. The usual variety of bikers were there..mostly hybrids and
road-bikes, but a few folders, six or so recumbents, a couple of
tandems.mostly the usual very self-sufficient crew that included three
dailyride 16 year olds from St Pauls School Hammersmith who'd dragged their
much less fit music teacher along too.
Patrick (http://www.londonschoolofcycling.co.uk) Field's route sheets
started going round and people started drifting off from about 8.30pm but
the main pack left at 9.20pm to fiddle up packed Mare Street in a slightly
nervous string..don't leave me..Then it was up the Lea Bridge Road after a
brief detour round a taped-off crime-scene on Lower Clapton Road. The bikes
accelerated up the A104 through Epping Forest and London started to slip
away. Lots of loud souped up boy-racers in bad cars round here and big
bouncers outside big roadside pubs. At around 14 miles out many stocked up
at a garage. One of few punctures was fixed. Perfect warm evening.
Epping itself was the first village. The ride was very strung out now.
Bunches of rear-light flashing riders visible far ahead. About one in ten
seemed to be navigating or know the way. And suddenly there's more plants
than building. More villages. Dunmow, Leaden Roding, Great Dunmow.we hit
Suffolk 60 miles out. Sudbury. We all started dreaming about the food stop.
There were loads of stars, a few bats, and tomorrow's full moon was shining
bright in a clear sky. Only once did I nearly fall asleep.
The village hall at Great Waldingfield opened at 1am 64 miles out. The last
few miles there took ages. Just over half-way. Friends of Patrick doing the
very laid back catering. As much vegetarian goulash and cous-cous salad as
you can eat for £3.50 with tea, coffee, squash and very fine flapjack thrown
in. I got there about 3.45am not feeling too clever. (My rear derailleur had
somehow packed up spring-wise and I was stuck with only two gears. If I
tried to change more, the chain jumped off. Several much better mechanics
than me tried to fix it...new arm needed). There were probably 50 riders in
there in varying tired states. A few were even napping in sleeping bags.
Most of us thought that sleep now would not help a bit. The food was just
right and so so welcome. That stop is just over half-way.but later feels
more like two-thirds. The birds were waking fast.
Eight of us left together around 4.30am. It was now just chilly enough to
put a light jacket over t-shirts. The fields were under light dew and looked
just perfect. Around 4.50am the sun rose on our right...a magically clear
sunrise that gave all of us a huge lift. A new day. All along the route we
overtook or were overtaken by odd bunches...there were very few other
vehicles about and those there were were visible a long way off. Now and
then approaching headlights were very blinding, the batteries on my little
LEDs lasted all night. The whole route was much less flat than I'd
remembered. More hills or less fit?
At 116 miles, and at 8.05am, the 4 of us got to Dunwich Beach..the last few
miles went on forever and the sudden change to sandy soil and heath lands
didn't distract for long. It was very warm now. Bliss. The Flora Tearooms
had opened specially for us at 6am..and served the 3 5.30am arrivals at
once. By 8.05 there were probably 100 bikes there.
I went straight into the cold sea and was jolted wide awake at once. So good
to just float there, feel the achievement, get clean. I changed into a shirt
and shorts and hit the café for the £4.50 full breakfast and a few coffees.
They were cheerfully doing fine trade.
Then back to the pebbly beach. Sand martins everywhere. Cyclists too, all
linked by the ride. The dozen couriers had left Hackney at midnight and were
baptising their bikes by touching the saddles on the waves. Botticelli. By
10am the shallow water was warmish. It was hot. Day trippers started filling
the carpark and picking their way over the beach past dozing bikers. Who are
all these hippies? I started issuing/selling coach tickets again.
Surprisingly few swimmers.
Someone said pub at 11.50am, so some of us tore ourselves away from the
beach and went the 300 yards to it. I rode. The first of our coaches arrived
just about then. 50 seater. Harrises. Good. We packed out the pub. Good
selection of beers.
At 12.30pm several of us left for the car-park and the coach loading. The
second coach and the bike trailer arrived around 12.40pm. Jacksons. Better.
77 seats and around 50 bikes. Two of us started checking tickets and several
helped load bikes. We filled the coach boots first with trikes and
recumbents. All was going well..more tickets sold. Around 1.05pm I realised
that the furniture lorry for the bulk of the bikes was 5 minutes late. My
earlier phone calls had just got voicemail. My slight panic was wrong. The
lorry arrived. And was great. They'd bought loads of old carboard boxes and
packing blankets with them. Hamiltons of Eye. The suspense of waiting for
the convoy was exquisite.
By 1.30pm we'd got 103 riders and bikes aboard. Stragglers kept racing up. I
checked quickly round..and we left at 1.33pm and gave the day trippers
something to talk about. Most bikers snoozed at once. I sat upstairs on the
big coach and loved that grandstand view of the roads into London over the
Lea, past Canary wharf, down the Limehouse Link and onto Embankment.
Unloading was easy. The 2 coaches arrived together, as they left the lorry
slid in.
Lots of goodbyes followed...and no grumbles at all, except for one lost
bungee cord. About a dozen of us went for beers at Gabriel Wharf.
The end.
Some of the anecdotes...
Patrick Field thinking he's finally lost it as he chuntered along alone on
his recumbent in the middle of nowhere and hear disconnected voices in the
darkness.8 totally unlit couriers gliding up fast behind him.
The bunch of 15 who stopped spellbound at 4am as the mist glowed on the
lake.
The 12 noon Sunday call from someone who is still 2 hours away.will we
wait...sorry, No.
The biker on the beach who had no idea when the coaches left, and wanted the
time bought forward by two hours.
The 2pm call almost half an hour after the coaches left so visibly..I was in
the carpark loo, can you come back for me? Sorry, no.
The 3pm call from someone I was worried about.he'd got very lost somewhere,
guessed that Station Road might lead to one, road down it for ages and ended
up 30 miles off route in Cambridge.
The two sweepers from Bikefix who didn't need to sweep anyone.
The cheery candles in jamjars for the middle 40 miles.
The three who headed off back to London by bike at 9.30am...they made it the
50 miles to Sudbury, but others would have done the whole 240 miles.
That music teacher who tired the Dunwich organ and got stopped by the Church
warden.
The now 12 year old on the back of her dad's tandem for the second year
running.
The Flora's home made dough-nuts.
The 8 who reserved seats, never paid, never turned up.
The 6 who paid, and never turned up.
The only smash I heard about..someone rode smack into an unlit temporary
traffic light sign. He came off, no damage to him or bike.
Me not being tough enough to insist on my own £12 until 1 July, then £20
price hike to push early bookings.
The lorry company who at 1pm on the Friday before phoned to say that all
their drivers had gone sick, and put the phone down when I tried to argue.
The 14th lorry company who I phoned that worried Friday afternoon...who told
me to stop fretting and charged me what the original would have done.
Company number 8 tried to charge double.
I've lost my gloves, longs and two maps.can you phone the pub/village
hall/café/coach company for me?
Sad, so much road kill. Rabbits I can cope with. Hedgehogs, aaahhhh.
Happy, "this is the best bike ride I've ever done" said a smiler on the
beach.
Happy, loads of very pleased bikers.
And the 6 emails the next morning saying thanks.
Numbers: who knows. We guess about 220 started the ride. Almost all
finished. More than usual found their own way home.
Next one: Saturday 31 July 2004. My fifth.
As someone once wrote.
What is the Dunwich Dynamo?
It's a barely organised, turn up and go 120 mile overnight on-road bicycle
ride. It's not a race. It's unsupported, no van following. It's a long way
for most of us, and there may be times when you, for a split second, wish
you were tucked up in bed. But not for long, you'll love it.
BAM
14 July 2003