Rogerzilla's ramblings on past Dun Runs

[rogerzilla]

I'd love to do it - I've done it - er - six and a half times previously - but the logistics of getting back are just too much these days, since I can no longer get a lift.  Maybe I need to book a B&B or something.

From experience, minimising bike weight is my no.1 tip; the second one would be to have a lamp with a beam high enough to pick out road signs.  You don't need a map if you know the village names; they are all signposted.

A summary of DD rides:

2005.  Rode this one more or less solo.  Thorn Nomad, totally self-sufficient with enough tools and spares to fix anything except a broken frame and a bivvy for the beach.  It chucked it down just before I got off the train to London, which made for a misty and chilly night.  Was using a photocopied road atlas with the route drawn on it - very low tech.

Set off at about 2040 with Plomesgate CC Pete & son (who happen to live near Dunwich) but could only keep up with them as far as the North Circular due to the weight I was carrying.  Desperate for a slash, stopped in Epping Forest by which time it was truly dark.  A104 a bit scary; have never done it in darkness since.  Narrow lanes immediately after North Weald terribly slow and congested and the flashing tail-lights were giving me a headache (have done a sneaky deviation ever since to avoid these couple of miles).

The sole navigational error was in Great Dunmow when I overshot the right turn into the town centre, quickly resolved.  Started to get a bit of a second wind through Essex - that short hill in Finchingfield is a shocker if you're not expecting it (sprint as soon as I you get to the hump-backed bridge, then you're up it before you know what's happening).  Felt better still when I passed the Suffolk sign and rolled down into Sudbury, although there is a horrible drag up to the Tesco.  Feed stop was a late one that year, not until Monks Eleigh.  Got there about 1am and there wasn't much of a queue; I'd passed most of the riders on the road somewhere.  Food looked horrible so ate flapjack and got a cup of coffee.

Received wisdom is that you can arrive at the feed stop more or less spent, because the second half is a whole new ride.  This was true that year and I made pretty good progress up onto the plateau round Wattisham airfield.  On a good night this bit is quite magical as it's fast, flat and the riders are really spread out so it's also peaceful - I rode most of the section no-hands to try and relieve my neck.  This was the only time I actually saw the moon.  The first sign for Ipswich, which you pass up there, is a boost because Ipswich is ON THE COAST!  Started to flag a bit after Needham Market, when the terrain starts to roll a bit again, but somehow negotiated all the tricky lanes which follow...in contrast to the next few years, when I/we generally bolloxed it up completely 

Started to get light at Kettleburgh, quite atmospheric in the mist.  Dawn makes you feel a whole lot better in spirit, but my legs didn't have much left in them.  Passed a rider having a dump in a ditch at Framlingham while his mates giggled.  I had a full toilet roll with me (I'm not making this up) but completely forgot it was there!  Picked up a group of other first-timers at the turn for Bruisyard and one of them (on an Airborne Carpe Diem) gave me some chocolate flapjack, which was just what I needed.  We supported each other the rest of the way, barely able to make it up the small hills but not being overtaken by anyone else.

Rolled into Dunwich at about 0620 and there wasn't a queue for breakfast - straight in, sat down and ate a fry-up.  Then froze my nads off on the windy, grey beach for seven hours waiting for the coaches home.  That was the worst bit and I vowed never to take that option again.  I even went in the crappy museum just to try and keep warm and had a horrid pint of Adnams Broadside, normally a most reliable beer, in The Ship.

Trip back was not improved by the bike lorry going to Kings Cross instead of Smithfield, which meant I missed my booked train back to Swindon and was then thrown off at Reading, along with every other passenger, because the police thought there was a pervert on the train (not me) and stopped the service there.  My mother collected me from Reading in the car and drove me home.  It's amazing that I returned for another year...to be continued.

[rogerzilla]

2006: Rode this one with GruB and Rae.  Still on the Nomad, resprayed orange by this point, but carrying less crap.  Earlier in July so more daylight (the ones in the first week of the month are by far the best; you can get away with a blinky front light until Dunmow if you start at 8pm).  We left just after 2000 and went pretty fast; navigation by map again.  Avoided the narrow bit after North Weald; all you have to do is to turn right at the roundabout, follow the A road for a mile or two, then turn left and you pop out at Moreton, back on the route.  Much nicer and it turned out Rae had been doing it for years.

I probably held the other two back a fair bit but we got to Great Waldingfield and the feed stop easily enough and just ahead of the real queues.  Set off again and got the first twinges of cramp, which was going to plague me all the way to Dunwich (I've since found it's salt depletion on long rides and Nuun tablets will stave it off, if I can bear to drink salty bottle water).  It started to rain shortly after Needham Market, then started to rain really hard.  Standing around in the dark lanes with a group of about 20 riders, we realised that a map is bugger all use at night if you don't know exactly where you are.  No-one had a GPS unit. 

We missed the Framsden turn just after Helmingham Hall (would do this in future years too) and passed a windmill...hmmm, don't remember that from last year!  Ended up on the A1120 and decided to just keep going.  It's a boring, but not unpleasant, road and gets you to the right place.  Rain was more showery by this point but we were already wet through. 

Rolled into Dunwich like drowned rats, having just beaten the queue for breakfast again.  I was picked up by my then father-in-law immediately after breakfast and whisked off in the car so I didn't get cold.  GruB and Rae rode back to London - we passed them on the way out of Dunwich, by which time the rain was torrential again.  So, would I ever come back?

[rogerzilla]

2007: The half in my six-and-a-half Dun Runs.  Planned group was an ACF "Team Speed" led by Simon Legg of FNRttC fame along with Sam Walker and other luminaries.  This one, incidentally, was filmed by ITV for a feature on village life...it's worth watching to see why I bailed!

I was on a family holiday in Norfolk but took the track bike with me, deciding that the Dun Run needed to be done on fixed and with minimal kit.  Weather forecast was bad for days then, just before I had to make a go/no-go decision, Metcheck decided we would be riding in a dry window of weather all night.   The former Mrs Z drove me to King's Lynn station with a dismantled bike in the boot.  Got there just in time, and as she drove away I realised I'd left the chain in the car  .  Frantic phoning and she realised something was wrong and came back round the block.  With enough bits to assemble a functional bike, I just made the train and, probably to the amusement of other passengers, rebuilt it during the journey.  It was sunny at this point...

Got to London and the clouds were massing.  Stood in London Fields watching a funnel cloud twisting over the park.  This didn't look so good, especially as I only had Swindon RC summer kit and armwarmers.  Anyway, we set off at a cracking pace led by Mr Legg and the free-running fixie with race tyres made things so much easier than in previous years.  The first spots of rain appeared at Leaden Roding, which we'd reached in about an hour (!) and we stopped to put on leggings at the Black Lion in High Roding.  The rain was really setting in by this point and we popped into the bar for a bottle refill and some scampi fries.

The next thing I know, Simon is on the phone trying to book a B&B in Dunmow because he realises the weather has properly set in and he is going to bail.  Well, if Simon can do it, and he's properly equipped whereas I'm riding a track bike with no mudguards and no rain clothes, I'm going to exercise my own bail-out option, I think.  I phone f-i-l, who is staying with a friend in Lavenham, and we arrange to meet in Finchingfield, a quick mental calculation suggesting we should arrive at about the same time.

Off we go, Simon peels off in Dunmow and I arrive at the pub in Finchingfield just as f-i-l arrives in the car with his friend, who both think the whole thing is a great adventure.  Bike in boot, I'm taken to Lavenham where I shower and sleep in an 18th century listed building as the rain hammers down outside.

Apparently the rain stopped around dawn, but the TV pictures show it absolutely hissing it down as the camera car follows the cyclists.  I've never regretted bailing out, not one bit.

On the bright side, I did give the bike a wipe down back in Burnham Deepdale and rode to Hunstanton and back one evening...which was much nicer than the brief Saturday night in Essex.

[rogerzilla]

2008: Challenged by Chris N to actually complete the ride on fixed, I set off with Alex from work (a great bloke, but completely bonkers) on my old Cannondale MTB with 39 x 14 gearing, slick tyres and one spare tube.

I don't remember a whole lot until we got to the feed stop, which (unusually) was at Lavenham, where I'd stayed the night the previous year.  We were going really well, though, and got to the village hall when it was still mostly empty.  Then we came out, missed the right turn and ended up totally lost.  Deciding to press on rather than retrace our steps, we picked turns based on the moon and the lights of Wattisham airfield.  It got very, very cold and Alex lost all feelng in his hands - they wouldn't be back to normal for a month afterwards.  Eventually we saw a sign for Stowmarket, which sounded promising, and arrived to find it over-run with rabbits.  Then we saw Needham Market was only a few miles away (we'd basically gone the north way around the airfield, rather than the south) and soon we were back on track.  Just as we were beginning to relax, we missed the Framsden turn AGAIN and ended up on the A1120 

It was a chilly but bright morning and I remembered to take a few photos.  We dipped our front wheels in the North Sea that year and were fed by Annie and Nutkin on the beach - no queuing!  Then were collected by f-i-l and slept in the car all the way back down the A12 and A14.  One of the easiest Dun Runs I've done, although it was 132 miles from leaving the in-laws' place in Bedford to arriving in Dunwich (getting lost added less than 10).  My longest ride to date.

Lavenham feed stop


The famous first Dunwich sign


Wobbly John, Jurek and another refugee with Nutkin and Annie


Alex with numb hands

[rogerzilla]

2009: The year of the mechanicals.  Rode with Alex again, who turned up on a bike he claimed to have just had serviced by the LBS but which was in a sorry state. with a dragging front brake and various other issues which we worked on during the train journey.  I was on the 1950s clubman with a Sturmey-Archer AM 3-speed - pretty much ideal for any ride without mountains.

Alex broke a Look cleat at the first set of traffic lights after London Fields and was effectively pedalling one-sided for the next 112 miles, refusing the bail-out option.  We decided to fuel up on Red Bull at the Tesco in Epping, which worked from an energy point of view but was a mistake because the stuff repeats on you for about 24 hours - just what you don't want when you're already feeling queasy due to riding past midnight.

Alex punctured and we stopped to fix it by the RSPCA place at Wethersfield.  The delays meant we were right in the midst of the main bike traffic and we got separated on a hill (he being unable to pull up on one side) when I waited for him and he steamed past me in the darkness.  Reunited at the feed stop (Great Waldingfield again), the queue for a cup of tea was snaking around the car park due to our late arrival.  Faced with a choice between pressing on and freezing to death, we decided to get water from the taps in the toilets and run on empty.

It was cold and hard for the rest of the ride, although we actually managed to stay on the route, and Alex's knee was playing up due to the cleat issue, necessitating frequent stops, so there was already something of a queue by the time we reached Dunwich.  My first experience of en energy gel was at Kettleburgh and I'm never going near one again.  I can't remember anything about breakfast or the trip back because we were so washed out.  Not the bike's fault, but we were riding off-pace for the whole distance and it really takes it out of you.

[rogerzilla]

2010: Rode this on the Hewitt Cheviot with mike, who brought his green Moulton.  I was originally going to use the Brompton but a quick rolldown test convinced me that I didn't want to make this any harder than it needed to be.  I'd been at peak fitness in 2009 (I did an all-time PB for a "10" that year, at the age of 40) and it had still been difficult -I wasn't in such good condition for this ride.  GPS-assisted for the first time.

This was a spectacularly uneventful ride really; we made good progress out of London and I only remember the smell of the dew on the wheatfields, which eventually made me feel rather sick.  The feed stop was at Sible Hedingham, which took some finding, but we'd beaten the rush (just).  After that it all pretty much went according to plan, except for the usual nocturnal digestive problems (I always feel queasy if riding during the hours between midnight and dawn).  Appalling riding from the big blue trains (I'm looking at you, Dulwich Paragon) who charged around at race pace with no idea where they were going.  I think they passed us three times on the road and we still got to Dunwich before them.

Just after Needham Market I'm ashamed to say that we stopped for a stretch in the A14 turning and may have allowed some such groups to go to Bury St. Edmunds (I heard some riders went all the way, and were quite bemused to find themselves there at dawn).  We didn't actually misdirect them but we were fed up of playing Cassandra to these morons.

It made a change to follow the correct route for once.  We stopped at Framlingham for a rest with some other riders and then did the last few miles with no particular highlights except mike chasing down a Brompton across Dunwich Heath because he wasn't going to be beaten by another small-wheeler.  Collected by f-i-l again and we dropped mike at an industrial estate on the outskirts of Cambridge, where I had a quick go on his bike.

[rogerzilla]

2012: After a year's break (holiday clash, I think), I'd arranged to ride with mike again this year.  This turned out to be a really strange one, but in many ways the best ride of the lot.  I'd done absolutely no training for it, other than the regular 5 miles to work and back.  Furthermore, I'd ridden the day before (which I always try not to do), worked all day gardening in the grounds of a hospice, and been completely soaked into the bargain.

I don't know what prompted me to do this - I think it was a reliability thing - but I decided I was just going to pump up the tyres of my commuting fixie, an On-One Inbred MTB, and go for it.  It was filthy (OK, I may have cleaned the chain), had Marathon Plus tyres and only one set of bottle mounts which I augmented with some Elite strap-on bosses.  For the first time, I wasn't using a dynamo on the Dunwich Dynamo and had a Hope Vision One battery light.  This turned out to be a very good thing because its circular beam lights up the road signs with the name of the next village.

With the least reputable bike in the peloton, we set off at about 2000 and endured some shockingly dangerous riding on the A104.  Dulwich Paragon again - one of them nearly took my front wheel as he cut in after overtaking, and they were shouting abuse at slower riders.  mike's gout had been playing up for a week or so and he started to get twinges as we reached the lanes.  On the Roman road to Dunmow he decided he was going to have to peel off and head for home because of this.  He offered me the GPS unit (we'd agreed there was no point in both of us using one) but I decided I could muddle through.

So off I go on my own - whether it was a primal fear of the unknown or the familiarity of the bike, I went better than I'd ever managed through Essex, not even bothering to change out of summer kit, and was at Sible Hedingham before 2300.  The village hall was nearly empty; I had a sausage sandwich and went back out into the night.  The knowledge that there really isn't anything on the bike that can let you down* is a great confidence booster and I didn't really start to flag at all until Needham Market.  Navigation is normally tricky through Suffolk but I didn't put a foot wrong; the Hope light picked out the road signs much better than my old Schmidt E6 or Cyo headlights could, and there was no stopping or pondering required since the village names were pretty familiar after 7 years.  It was even a nice morning when dawn finally broke around Peasenhall.

I rolled into Dunwich at a frankly stupid 0420, couldn't face any food so dug myself a shallow grave on the beach to get out of the wind, and went to sleep until f-i-l turned up and found me.

And that was the last one I did - I will do it again some day, but I'm not doing it without a lift back following the experience of 2005.  I'd definitely do it on the lightest and simplest bike possible, it's definitely easier on a fixed gear (more like going for a long walk than cycling) and it seems that mental state counts for more than training.

*as it happens, the rear Goldtec hub flange crumbled five months later.  Now that would have been a problem on the ride.

[Jurek]

That's an interesting read, Roger - one which is full of fond memories.
I'm sure I've said this before, but it was reading the late Barry Mason's FAQs about the DD, that persuaded me take up cycling.

Other than my first being in 2007 (I only started cycling in May 2006, and despite Barry's persuasion to join them that year, I didn't think I'd be match fit by July) I think I've ridden every one that you have, with the addition of one which four of us rode in the first week of October in 2010 - which, if you are a fan of the Dun Run Proper,  I would heartily recommend as it is a very different ride when you aren't accompanied by 1,500 other cyclists....

If you're interested, my ride report of that is here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/dun-running-try-dun-run-ii-1st-october-2010.60784/page-11#post-1142682

I think that same year, or maybe the following one, I did the double-whammy of a Friday Night Ride to the Coast (to Brighton, I think) followed by the Dun Run on the Saturday night.
I was quite pooped after that.
I ate lots.
For the next three or four days.

I remember being quite agog on reading that Simon Legg had bailed in favour of a B&B on my first, and very wet DD.

I also remember that after my third or so DD, I became much more laid back about the whole thing, no longer requiring a map, I don't have GPS - just memory.

The last couple I did, I rode the additional ~26 miles to Diss to catch a train home - it is a lovely ride, and a lovely contrast to having spent the night on the road with many, many  other cyclists.
On earlier rides I was collected from Dunwich by my chauffeuse, Jane, in exchange for doing some DIY at her's throughout the year.
Unless you are riding back, being collected from Dunwich by someone with a car, would be my recommendation.
I've never done the Southwark Cyclists furniture van thing, and the only time I've caught a train home from Darsham was when the four of us did Adam's (Flying Dodo's) October ride.

[αdαmsκι]

Lavenham feed stop

With guest appearance by Veloboy.

Wobbly John, Jurek and another refugee αdαmsκι with Nutkin and Annie

God that was cold. Once I'd warmed up I cycled to Diss to get the train home.

[Jurek]

Lavenham feed stop

With guest appearance by Veloboy.

Wobbly John, Jurek and another refugee αdαmsκι with Nutkin and Annie

God that was cold. Once I'd warmed up I cycled to Diss to get the train home.

You're right about that.
The temperature on the ride was fine. But sitting around on Dunwich Beach was absolutely Baltic.

[Wowbagger]

I think I ought to do this as a solo ride from Southend, joining the official route at Sudbury. It's about 10 miles shorter than the official route and of course lacks the rather grotty schlep out of London along the Lea Bridge Road.

Nutkin and I attempted this on my tandem one year but were obliged to pitch a tent by the Chelmer at about 1am as fatigue was getting the better of her.

[Jakob W]

On the light bike thing, it doesn't look like there's an inordinate amount of climbing - just over 1000m in 175km or so? - so is there another reason other than lighter bikes generally feeling nippier? I was pondering doing this this year in leisurely style: bivi gear for a kip at the end before heading back to Cambridge to crash with family, and possibly a stove and provisions for a rest stop with en-route tea and bacon sandwiches; not exactly loaded touring, but not roadie superleggera either...

[rogerzilla]

Suffolk rolls a bit, and every extra pound saps a bit more energy when you're barely making it uphill.  It's worth saving the weight if this is a ride to exhaustion, which it is for me.

[Wobbly John]

Nostagic stuff Rogerzilla. 

I Dun similar Runs as you - '05 & 06 on the CLWB M5 recumbent - 2006 was the 'silly lights' year for some forummers.

Senseibly missed 07

08 and two-thousand-and-can't-remember on fixed - the second of which I rode home too - 233 mile total. 08 was bloody cold at the beach - I rode in a t shirt and shorts through the night without feeling cold. I put a jacket on when I reached the beach and was still shivering for half an hour wrapped up in Annie's blanket & towel!

The silly bike year on the wobblebike. 

and once on the normal road bike

Getting off and walking a bit on the Finchinfield & Sudbury climbs is a great way to recover, I find.

I live just North of Cambridge and usually ride back as far as Stowmarket and get the train.

[robgul]

This all brought back fond-ish memories of my first (and only) Dun Run in 2003 - the first "group" ride with C+ Forum members (Chuffy, Ravenbait, Charlotte, Tim, Kathy, Nuttycyclist and others too numerous to recollect)

It was all pretty surreal as the road passed within 30 yards of a house I used to live in at Buckhurst Hill and then followed much of my (car) commute route when I lived just near Great Dunmow.  Riding into the dawn with the birds starting up and fine dew on the fields . .. the weather was ideal.

A great experience and still my longest single ride, but once was enough - the hassle of getting both to the start and home from the finish were just a bit too much to make it worthwhile.

Rob

[rogerzilla]

2003 was before the numbers got silly (maybe only 200 to 300) and it would have been a better experience; I think that was the year C+ magazine rode it.  2005 was the last year when it was still vaguely sensible.  Now you have to queue for breakfast before 0430. 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I think '03 was the year that ex-Mrs LWaB and I rode our Bromptons; my only DD.

[zigzag]

i rode it twice (round trip, naturally ) good few years ago, after second one i decided it's not the ride that i enjoy and haven't done any since. too many people without sense of safety and respect for other participants (braking for no reason without warning, moving across without looking back or indicating, using dazzling blinky lights..). maybe i'm just used to a high standard of fellow audaxers and club riders!

[Jurek]

^
That sums up my lack of interest in doing it again too.
The number of participating riders has more than doubled since I first did it in 2007.
It still is a ride through some cracking countryside though - which makes Flying Dodo's battery powered version attractive - assuming he decides to organise it again.

[rogerzilla]

The crappy riding and queues are why I try and stay ahead of the pack.  I pay for it over the second half, though.

[Kim]

The idea of doing it in reverse still appeals (depending on the obnoxious blinky lights factor), but I'd need to get this Achilles to behave reliably first.

As for the battery powered version, if you're going to do it on any other night, then you might as well ride to somewhere less out of the way than Dunwich...

[trekker12]

- which makes Flying Dodo's battery powered version attractive - assuming he decides to organise it again.

What does this mean in English? I assume it's an Audax?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

It is riding the DD in the reverse direction, just as a ride for fun, not for brownie points.

[Kim]

It is riding the DD in the reverse direction, just as a ride for fun, not for brownie points.

I thought it was just doing the same ride in a low-key style on some other date, avoiding the chaos and queues (and support, and atmosphere).

[rogerzilla]

The advantage of doing it in reverse, on the night, is that you get the feed stops and the atmosphere, albeit a rather different one.  Probably no real congestion as you're going to pass the outbound riders at double speed, I'd estimate between Barking Tye (for the really fast and early ones out of London) and Sible Hedingham for the stragglers.  Otherwise, all will be peaceful.