Author Topic: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020  (Read 13545 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #25 on: 30 December, 2019, 11:01:15 am »
It would knock off 11 miles - the entire "boy racer" stretch that goes through Epping Forest as well as cutting out that rather daunting roundabout where the route crosses the North Circular.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #26 on: 30 December, 2019, 11:12:06 am »
It would knock off 11 miles - the entire "boy racer" stretch that goes through Epping Forest as well as cutting out that rather daunting roundabout where the route crosses the North Circular.

Thanks - that roundabout at The Waterworks has/did have quite widely spaced cattle grids which were always interesting on a bike!   I'm tempted to do the run again this year having done it in the old C+ days in 2003, but with the Epping train option this time. 

I used to live at Buckhurst Hill in the 1950s and then again in the 1970s - it was the area between there and Epping and into the forst that was my cycling playground, the Dun Run route crosses the end of our road shortly before the Warren Wood PH and the start of the wooded section through Epping Forest.  Lapsing into nostalgia, one of my daughters was born at the hospital in Epping, again on the route.

Rob

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #27 on: 31 December, 2019, 06:48:52 am »
it's not compulsory to use that cycle path. every time i go that way (last time was today) i ride on the road which is my preference. the cycle path has advantages in several places where it bypasses traffic lights.
It's not compulsory but the East Lahndon drivers were doing their best to make it so with abuse and punishment passes.  A fight nearly broke out at one point when one of the cyclists remonstrated with the occupants of a dark blue car.  I tend to assume people round there are tooled up, too.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #28 on: 15 January, 2020, 08:27:17 am »
Southwark Cyclists' coach tickets are now available: https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/product/dunwich-dynamo-xxviii-4-5-july-2020/,
early bird tickets are £26.99.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #29 on: 15 January, 2020, 10:56:26 am »
I used that once and my bike got away with minimal damage.  My mate's bike, which had been immaculate (I built it for him last April using a freshly re-enamelled frame) was pretty trashed; paint scrapes, decals torn, nice aluminium mudguards bent all over the place.  I wouldn't risk it except with a real beater.  They literally use the bottom bikes as ladders to place the top ones.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #30 on: 15 January, 2020, 11:45:43 am »
I used that once and my bike got away with minimal damage.  My mate's bike, which had been immaculate (I built it for him last April using a freshly re-enamelled frame) was pretty trashed; paint scrapes, decals torn, nice aluminium mudguards bent all over the place.  I wouldn't risk it except with a real beater.  They literally use the bottom bikes as ladders to place the top ones.

Echo that.  Far more pleasant to ride to Ipswich and get the train - although in recent years you've, theoretically*, had to book your space.

* I did that that last time but arrived in time for an earlier train and was waved on to that.
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #31 on: 15 January, 2020, 11:54:28 am »
If I do it again this year I'll take light camping gear & kip locally overnight before getting a train back on the Monday. 
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #32 on: 15 January, 2020, 03:55:59 pm »
If I do it again this year I'll take light camping gear & kip locally overnight before getting a train back on the Monday.

That's a very good way of doing it. Also, cycling back down the coast to Southend over 2 days, using 4 ferries, works well.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #33 on: 15 January, 2020, 09:46:54 pm »
A former cow-orker arranges a coach from Swindon to London Fields and then back from Dunwich to Swindon.  It's reassuringly expensive but it's by far the easiest option I've ever had.  Apart from the first year, when I got the train, used the Southwark Cyclists coach and generally had a nightmare getting home, I was always picked up from the beach by my father-in-law.  Although he's now my father-out-law, he'd probably still be willing to do it.  Unfortunately he's approaching 80 and now lives near the Scottish border.  So that's out.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #34 on: 26 February, 2020, 08:35:38 pm »
A former cow-orker arranges a coach from Swindon to London Fields and then back from Dunwich to Swindon.  It's reassuringly expensive but it's by far the easiest option I've ever had.  Apart from the first year, when I got the train, used the Southwark Cyclists coach and generally had a nightmare getting home, I was always picked up from the beach by my father-in-law.  Although he's now my father-out-law, he'd probably still be willing to do it.  Unfortunately he's approaching 80 and now lives near the Scottish border.  So that's out.

I am that "cow-orker" (thanks, RZ  ;D)

If anyone here is interested in a place on said coach, please get in touch. I have some room. Bikes are in the hold, sunggled protectively under packing blankets. Limited hold space for bikes determines the number of seats available, so there's loads of room to stretch out for a sleep on a 61 seater coach. The price covers the cost of the coach, divided amongst us, and subject to a minimium number of places booked.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #35 on: 13 March, 2020, 09:48:17 pm »
"Cow-orker" is one of the forum memes, nothing personal  ;D
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #36 on: 13 March, 2020, 10:01:52 pm »
It would knock off 11 miles - the entire "boy racer" stretch that goes through Epping Forest as well as cutting out that rather daunting roundabout where the route crosses the North Circular.

Thanks - that roundabout at The Waterworks has/did have quite widely spaced cattle grids which were always interesting on a bike!   I'm tempted to do the run again this year having done it in the old C+ days in 2003, but with the Epping train option this time. 

I used to live at Buckhurst Hill in the 1950s and then again in the 1970s - it was the area between there and Epping and into the forst that was my cycling playground, the Dun Run route crosses the end of our road shortly before the Warren Wood PH and the start of the wooded section through Epping Forest.  Lapsing into nostalgia, one of my daughters was born at the hospital in Epping, again on the route.

Rob

The waterworks roundabout cattle grids have gone. Also, by the time the dunrun happens the Waltham forest bike path changes will have been completed which appear to be providing a good bike path all along from and including what used to be the Whipps X roundabout.

FWIW, I can understand how you might have felt that the waterworks roundabout was challenging, but in truth the whipps x roundabout was always the most sphincter affecting area in the region. The Waltham Forest Little Holland changes have improved that beyond measure, but I think the bike measures will stop dead at the waterworks.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #37 on: 16 March, 2020, 06:44:55 am »
I didn't mind the roads out of London at all.  I don't like the long straight bits through Epping Forest.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #38 on: 16 March, 2020, 06:03:46 pm »
This is looking off following the latest advice.  If there are no cafés open it's basically the Blue Moon Ride  ;D
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #39 on: 05 May, 2020, 10:26:29 am »
Update: Southwark Cyclists have taken coach tickets off sale pending a decision.  AIUI they will provide another update this Thursday.

If it's off, let's hope for torrential rain on the night.  Then everyone can feel smug about not having to ride  ;)
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #40 on: 08 May, 2020, 03:16:17 pm »
Coaches back now cancelled.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #41 on: 08 May, 2020, 04:18:00 pm »
Should be a nice quiet ride then!
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #42 on: 10 May, 2020, 06:51:48 pm »
Coaches back now cancelled.

I was ahead of my time. For once.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #43 on: 08 June, 2020, 11:17:26 am »
The DD Faecebook group has been locked because of all the arguments  :facepalm:
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #44 on: 08 June, 2020, 12:22:21 pm »
Thanks for the heads up. I'd turned off notifications on group ages ago but just went and had a good laugh at the bun fight

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #45 on: 10 June, 2020, 06:45:53 pm »
I don't want to look, but I'm disappointingly tempted.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #46 on: 10 June, 2020, 07:06:39 pm »
The DD Faecebook group has been locked because of all the arguments  :facepalm:
How extraordinary. Are people seriously suggesting it should go ahead?

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #47 on: 11 June, 2020, 09:20:54 am »
The discussions on that Group became outstandingly ridiculous.

I didn't follow it all in detail, but there seemed to be a few sane voices (including some people from here) who said don't do it. Some people who lived closer than most also said that, and that it would likely antagonise the locals and potentially disrupt the rides future.

They were also quite a few, albeit probably a vocal minority, who were in the "why shouldn't I do it, it's not breaking any rules" category, and presumably thought that they were the first ones to think of cycling it independently this year.

If it's a nice warm night, as has happened on some previous occasions, there will still be a significant number of people attempting it. The car park will fill, the roads will get busy, and people will try and use the toilets and cafe. Regardless of all the "my boy/girlfriend will pick me" up statements, a fraction will still try and use the train to return.

On most 'normal' years, I suspect this causes a certain amount of annoyance, but this year it will really annoy those who live locally, and cannot avoid it all. This is probably not a good time in the world, to be doing that.

I guess it rapidly degenerated into a "I want to do it", "Don't do it" ... repeated ad nauseum. I saw several new posts appearing, suggesting how it was OK, and legal (possibly) and sensible (less likely to be true). Followed by a series of contrary arguing posts.

It wasn't useful, or helpful, so I can see why the Group was closed (hopefully just temporarily).

The Dunwich Dynamo is typically enjoyed by a lot of people, and has probably encouraged a lot of people to cycle further and get more exercise, over the years. It's a fun social event, and  demonstrates that cycling can sometimes be more than just getting from A to B (which is also useful, but in a different category). Some people no longer seemed to be treating it like that, but as a challenge to the "powers that be", and finger up to authority. That's sad. :(
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #48 on: 11 June, 2020, 09:30:21 am »
I live in Suffolk, within a couple of miles of the route. Normally there’s a good deal of comment about it - positive and negative - in local papers and chat rooms. I’ve seen nothing this year; presumably people assume it will be cancelled. If it goes ahead and significant numbers participate, they will not be popular. DD relies on a good deal of local cooperation and goodwill. Of course, every year some idiots try and do their best to sabotage that, and this year will be no different, but it would be a shame to see the event attract significant opposition for the future.

Re: Dunwich Dynamo, 4th/5th July 2020
« Reply #49 on: 11 June, 2020, 09:54:41 am »
The discussions on that Group became outstandingly ridiculous.

I didn't follow it all in detail, but there seemed to be a few sane voices (including some people from here) who said don't do it. Some people who lived closer than most also said that, and that it would likely antagonise the locals and potentially disrupt the rides future.

They were also quite a few, albeit probably a vocal minority, who were in the "why shouldn't I do it, it's not breaking any rules" category, and presumably thought that they were the first ones to think of cycling it independently, this year.

If it's a nice warm night, as has happened on some previous occasions, there will still be a significant number of people attempting it. The car park will fill, the roads will get busy, and people will try and use the toilets and cafe. Regardless of all the "my boy/girlfriend will pick me" up statements, a fraction will still try and use the train to return.

On most 'normal' years, I suspect this causes a certain amount of annoyance, but this year it will *really* annoy those who live locally, and cannot avoid it all. This is probably not a good time in the world, to be doing that.

I guess it rapidly degenerated into a "I want to do it", "Don't do it" ... repeated ad nauseum. I saw several new posts appearing, suggesting how it was OK, and legal (possibly) and sensible (less likely to be true). Followed by a series of contrary arguing posts.

It wasn't useful, or helpful, so I can see why the Group was closed (hopefully just temporarily).

The Dunwich Dynamo is typically enjoyed by a lot of people, and has probably encouraged a lot of people to cycle further and get more exercise, over the years. It's a fun social event, and  demonstrates that cycling can sometimes be more than just getting from A to B (which is also useful, but in a different category). Some people no longer seemed to be treating it like that, but as a challenge to the "powers that be", and finger up to authority. That's sad. :(

Sounds very much like the climbing forum I frequent (except it's about the issue of going climbing at all rather than a specific event) and the arguments go round and round.