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Well, someone had to start the thread. 8)
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After declaring I am going to take a year off...sod it, I'm in. Onna Brompton. If my mate is riding he had better so some training.
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*Pencils date in on kitchen calendar*
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If I do (doubtful) it'll be on the Wilier with a tiny saddlepack, faster (get to the beach for the sunrise) and no self-inflicted Audax "must complete ride" pressure.
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Might do. It's much later in the month, so earlier sunset, later sunrise, will be well after the end of term so no Monday teaching to consider. I fancy taking a tent and carrying on up the East Anglian coast for a few days. At least that will get rid of the worst bit of the ride, i.e. having to get to a (probably) distant station and battle with a load of other cyclists for space in the guard's van.
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Most likely.
47 miles in. Alex has a busted Look cleat. Anyone got a spare?
It's a bit late now, I know - but I usually carry a used but serviceable spare one of these on long rides.
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Right, a years notice, just dropped an email to everyone in the company taking those few days off. Tis enough time to get fully fit me thinks.
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Pencilled in.
Maybe a train trip only next time- down on Saturday, back on Sunday, no overnight stay.
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It will be my birthday on the Sunday :D
But what can I ride in 2010?
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But what can I ride in 2010?
Penny-tandem ?
No, that would be silly.
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It will be my birthday on the Sunday :D
But what can I ride in 2010?
Unicycle.
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no, take a spincycle, please!!
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+1 on the spincycle
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Superstoker is particularly impressed with your Champion mount - the radiator! :o
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Pencilled in.
Next year I will definitely supply all my own food. I also think mixing up a full bottle of gin for the G&Ts was a bit much - next year I'll only do half.
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btw, several people asked Superstoker whether he'd be riding it next year, he declined...
...but said he'd be there for 2011! :thumbsup:
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Superstoker is bigger than I thought!
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He gets up every morning taller than he was the night before! :o
13 now. And counting... ;D
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I'm normally abroad on my hols but, in case I'm not, someone remind me what this ride is all about again.
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After waving you all off from London Fields with a heavy heart, and then waking up on Sunday morning realising that I would rather be on my bike than in my bed, I clearly either need to get a better bed, or do the Dun Run next year.
Judging by some of the comments about food, I should probably start baking now to make sure I have enough. How long does cake keep for?
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I'm normally abroad on my hols but, in case I'm not, someone remind me what this ride is all about again.
A whole night's cycling related silliness. Think Glastonbury - Stonehenge but twice as far and without the tanks or badgers.
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BTW, I saw a ferret or maybe a polecat run across the road about 10 metres ahead of me, last night. :o
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Pencilled in.
Next year I will definitely supply all my own food. I also think mixing up a full bottle of gin for the G&Ts was a bit much - next year I'll only do half.
I thought the G:T ratio was spot-on. If it's the overall quantity that that produced that's the problem then I'd have happily helped you out with more of it if I'd had the foresight to bring a cup. :)
Next year, I'm doing it on a bike with panniers, and bringing a trangia + food + alcohol. There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
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Of course I'll be there.
For a cyclist living in the south of England (and many who don't), the annual pilgramage to Dunwich is the most magical night of the year.
It's a challenge, a party, an adventure and a clan gathering. Come as you are or wear your best party frock, it's all good.
Whilst I'm unlikely to go light and ride like the wind (camping stove and bringing your own food FTW) I may just ride it on a slightly more conventional machine next year...
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Whilst I'm unlikely to go light and ride like the wind (camping stove and bringing your own food FTW) I may just ride it on a slightly more conventional machine next year...
So you'll be on the Yuba? :)
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I'm going to arrange for a food and hot drink cache to be placed somewhere near halfway (my father-in-law will be staying overnight in Lavenham as always). Obviously I can't tell you exactly where, in case you get there first ;D
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Come as you are or wear your best party frock, it's all good.
Now we've done silly bikes, I believe we have a theme for next year! :thumbsup:
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Where do I sign?
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Where do I sign?
Bottom right corner of a cheque made out to "Cyclists Academy of Sciences and Humanities", but as that's a lot to write, just make it out to C.A.S.H. Send it to me, I'll fill in the amount later (wouldn't want you to waste ink). ;)
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Where do I sign?
Bottom right corner of a cheque made out to "Cyclists Academy of Sciences and Humanities", but as that's a lot to write, just make it out to C.A.S.H. Send it to me, I'll fill in the amount later (wouldn't want you to waste ink). ;)
You're a gent. Can I borrow your pen?
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Where do I sign?
Bottom right corner of a cheque made out to "Cyclists Academy of Sciences and Humanities", but as that's a lot to write, just make it out to C.A.S.H. Send it to me, I'll fill in the amount later (wouldn't want you to waste ink). ;)
You're a gent. Can I borrow your pen?
Sure - have a whole box of them here at the office.
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Where do I sign?
Bottom right corner of a cheque made out to "Cyclists Academy of Sciences and Humanities", but as that's a lot to write, just make it out to C.A.S.H. Send it to me, I'll fill in the amount later (wouldn't want you to waste ink). ;)
You're a gent. Can I borrow your pen?
Just send it completely blank and he can fill it in for you (they only check the signature if you dispute it, by which time it'll be cashed...).
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There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
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Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
We mooted this over dinner, at the Hoop in Stock, during Twinkle Toes 100, for an EFNRttP.
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Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
We mooted this over dinner, at the Hoop in Stock, during Twinkle Toes 100, for an EFNRttP.
Indeed we did. This idea is an evolution of the original WAGs and HABs idea that we discussed.
At a recent pub trip* both The Current Mrs R and Mrs O kind of signed up for some bike riding that myself and Mr Oakden would lovingly organise of their behalf :demon: The idea hasn't been advanced much until Mr O's post in this thread.
* Don't get upset, this was not another EFNRttP that you weren't invited on. It was just a ride to the pub for dinner. It didn't get dark and it wasn't on a Friday so doesn't qualify ;D
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There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
I think they'd still need a 100km training run or two in the intervening time :)
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There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
I think they'd still need a 100km training run or two in the intervening time :)
Great minds thing alike. The 100k version of The Golden Tints was mentioned. And they weren't even that pi55ed!
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Well, the first one didn't kill me........... no serious aches this morning.
So I may well turn up for next years and try not to get lost in the dark this time!
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I have Unfinished Business for next year. Ho yus. :demon:
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I have Unfinished Business for next year. Ho yus. :demon:
So, you'll be joining Charlotte with a penny this time then? ;D
I've got to give this a go, although it does sound like I'll have to do another Solstice WARTY on the food and drink side, rather than buggering about with the midway stop, and café at the end.
Simon with his July Genteel ride will have to survive without me. I suspect this won't be a problem. :)
I've yet to decide how best to avoid the whole getting back with a thousand other cyclists trying to do the same.
The coach and lorries don't appeal (just from the point of view of bike getting damaged). Cycling to one of the nearish railway stations also seems a bit of a pain (and the last thing you want after that much cycling). Either camping, or finding some poor fool to drive out and give me a lift back seems the way to go.
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There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
I think they'd still need a 100km training run or two in the intervening time :)
Great minds thing alike. The 100k version of The Golden Tints was mentioned. And they weren't even that pi55ed!
Mrs Mike'd be in for this, I suspect.
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How long does cake keep for?
Only a matter of minutes in this house.
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The half-life of cake is inversely proportional to the number of cyclists present. ;D
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There's even a reasonable chance tht Mrs. O might do it too (family babysitting options permitting).
Could this be the WAG's challenge we were discussing the other night??? :demon: :demon:
I think they'd still need a 100km training run or two in the intervening time :)
Great minds thing alike. The 100k version of The Golden Tints was mentioned. And they weren't even that pi55ed!
Mrs Mike'd be in for this, I suspect.
With more than a year to go, at this rate we could end up with a substantial WAGs and (HABs Husbands and Boyfriends) peloton.
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I have Unfinished Business for next year. Ho yus. :demon:
So, you'll be joining Charlotte with a penny this time then? ;D
I don't think she'll be amenable after the weekend's arse session ;)
I've yet to decide how best to avoid the whole getting back with a thousand other cyclists trying to do the same.
The coach and lorries don't appeal (just from the point of view of bike getting damaged). Cycling to one of the nearish railway stations also seems a bit of a pain (and the last thing you want after that much cycling). Either camping, or finding some poor fool to drive out and give me a lift back seems the way to go.
Poor fools are best. Next best, IMO, is to chill out for a few hours then get a train back from Darsham (5 mi) - once the hordes have gone, it's no problem. Change at Ipswich for the world.
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We took the poor fool option; second breakfast was at 8.30 in the real Bedfordshire, then I went up the metaphorical wooden hill to Bedfordshire. My only complaint is that, after a dry Dun Run, I still had to clean the bike today. Bike racks, eh?
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Maybe not so poor, maybe not so fool.
I took the train back this year due to insurmountable logistics problems with both of my potential 'poor fools'.
Both individuals have since complained to me about their loss, having missed out on the fun of driving out to collect me.
Make of that what you will. ;D
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I'm in. Brompton, maybe.
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Any takers on the idea of pooling stoves and food and setting up an alternate food stop with no queues and probably better food - a picnic out in the fields somewhere?
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I have an offer of a Bickerton to borrow for next year's :-)
Duncan
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Now that is really silly.
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Fame - A moonlit bike ride to remember: the legendary Dunwich Dynamo | James Randerson | Environment | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/07/bike-blog-dunwich-dynamo)
Hmm:
...The lady floating above the crowd on her penny-farthing (although she would probably prefer to call it an "ordinary"). ...
He's calling Charlotte a lady? (He obviously hasn't been reading the Trapped wind on night rides (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21094.msg377018#msg377018) thread!)
<fx: Mallards and runs> ;D
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I have an offer of a Bickerton to borrow for next year's.
I wish you hadn't said that. My father's got one.
My principal concern would be whether a Bickerton will actually last for 116 miles.
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111 point something miles according to my GPS. When I measured it with a cycle computer in 2005 it was 111.7, I think. The official course partially avoids the A104 through the forest, but no-one has ever been known to go that way. Likewise, I turn right at the roundabout after North Weald and then, after about a mile on the A-road, take Moreton Lane. It's a slightly more logical route and avoids getting stuck behind groups in the narrow lanes.
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So the guy that runs the local sandwich shop said he'd be interested in running a cafe stop from a van somewhere, ie sarnies, jacket potatoes, burgers, chips, soup etc. Should I start being serious and make it a definate? Where would be best?
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Needham Lake would be a good spot as it has parking, seating and 24 hour loos.
'tis between the half way stop and Dunwich.
I suspect Mid Suffolk Council or someone may have jurisdiction over this location though......
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As a finish food outlet, Westleton would be ideal since the lot who go via Yoxford still have to pass through there. Alternatively, Peasenhall which is also an effective pinch point.
The only issue is whether Barry Mason would be offended because he's probably promised the Flora cafe oodles of business - but (a) they can't realistically cope any more and (b) competition is always good, no?
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I don't think Barry would be offended.
The people who run the Flora may be though.
Word has it they served 900 breakfasts on Sunday morning :o :o :o
I think if the weather is like this year's was (ie conducive of keeping the numbers up) Valiant's mate could cash in without too much publicity beforehand.
A cr@p forecast could scupper that.
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I reckon even a crap forecast would see people stopping at a van exuding the smell of bacon.
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If the extra food stop comes some way from the end, I would almost certainly have a bacon sandwich there and breakfast at Dunwich... I'm sure I'm not alone!
Duncan
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I reckon even a crap forecast would see people stopping at a van exuding the smell of bacon.
I'm sure it would RZ - I don't think the forecast would put people off a bacon sarny, I'm just not sure you'd get the four figure number of starters we appear to have had this year.
I don't see why it shouldn't work though - I believe the crew from Cycle Chat had someone on the beach doing just that from a campervan - albeit for relatively small numbers.
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The camper van was on the route at various points. They had a proper cafe open for the finish (who must have been cursing the conditions - I was one of those who bought train tickets and then DNS).
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I don't think Barry would be offended.
The people who run the Flora may be though.
Personally, I'd be inclined not to change anything. Why run the risk of causing a problem with folk from the Flora. The Suffolk countryside doesn't deserve the uninvited smell of saturated fat that early at dawn on a Sunday? Needham Market's a quiet, serene place that time of day. Let's not wreck it with the stench of the city :hand:
Having got fortuitous access to the secret control at Great Dunmow this year ;), where a mug of tea and a slab of cake hit the spot beautifully, if anything, I'd say GD is a perfect place to pick up something greasy to help you on your way.
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Trouble is a lot of people complained about the queues being too big, not enough food or that some of it was cold. My friends not doing it for the money, he'd rather stay in bed. It's just cos I asked really that he's considering it.
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Jeez - I can't believe this thread is already five pages long - and it's still only four days since the 2009 edition. More to the point, it's still over a year before the next one! You guys can't keep this pace up, surely?
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Needham Market's a quiet, serene place that time of day. Let's not wreck it with the stench of the city :hand:
A very good point.
The lakeside is indeed magical at that time of day, and I'm a fule for having made the suggestion. :-[
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We laid the A14-to-Bury trap again by parking our bikes in the junction just after the lake and having a drink and a stretch, but no-one took the bait this year. :demon:
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Word has it they served 900 breakfasts on Sunday morning :o :o :o
Yikes, I didn't think Teethgrinder would get that hungry. ;D
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I thought there was only 800 cyclists?
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800 was Barry's pre-ride estimate based on the number of bus tickets he'd had interest in.
900 route sheets sold.
900 breakfasts sold.
Both of the above suggest there may've been more than 1K participants.
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Trouble is a lot of people complained about the queues being too big, not enough food or that some of it was cold. My friends not doing it for the money, he'd rather stay in bed. It's just cos I asked really that he's considering it.
When we got down the beach it was at around 8ish, it was pretty miserable, raining and indeed the queue for the cafe was long, way too long for us to be bothered to join. So we left for home. Shame. I'm a 'grease head', and always partake in the breakfast, but this year, with an increase in numbers, it was a whole different scenario. So I agree with where you're coming from. It was a problem.
I had a feeling that numbers would be big this year, mainly because of the good weather forecast, and consequently Great W would probably be heaving, so, for the first time, I bought some grub for the half-way point. What a good move that was. If I ride it again, I'll most definitely do the same thing.
Having done it a few times, you know what to expect [or what not to expect as the case may be]. It's those who do it for the first time, expecting a food stop, mainly because they've been told there is one, only to be disappointed to find it's all gone.....and after queuing for ages. Hardly a bundle of laughs at 2am. However, it's worth remembering that the origins of the ride were of an unsupported one[AFAIK], so it's worth approaching it with this in mind, and make plans accordingly. To me, that's one of the things that gives the ride it's character.
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... However, it's worth remembering that the origins of the ride were of an unsupported one[AFAIK], so it's worth approaching it with this in mind, and make plans accordingly. To me, that's one of the things that gives the ride it's character.
I usually try to ride self supported.
As a new rider to this event some years ago I did take sandwiches, but also used the mid way food stop and also the cafe. Over time I learned that the queue wasn't worth it and returned to fully self supported.
I think an alternative stop might be a good idea, adding to my supplies as well as catering for newcomers. If it was a bacon buttie van with a crowd outside I think I might be very tempted in stopping.
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Due to a confluence of daughter's birthday and nearest-weekend-to-the-full-moon, I have to do this on a bike that will fit in the back of a car when everyone else is on it, so no full-size bikes with mudguards.
This means
(http://www.peeble.com/grips1.jpg)
or
(http://www.peeble.com/s34.jpg)
I sincerely hope it doesn't rain, since 16" wheels on those roads are awful.
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Mebbe this is fate's way of telling you to take it slow, set off at a sensible hour and ride with the YACF loon squad?
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Given the lateness in July of this jaunt, I'm intending to take a tent and follow the Dun Run with a few leisurely days in Anglia (E).
Anyone else interested in this kind of silliness? There will be pubs, beaches and pootling, and possibly a train home a few days later - or I may ride. No firm hard & fast plans, just a pleasant few days.
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I've intended to do this and failed miserably two years running now. Not because of of the ride itself, but because of the logistical complications of getting home afterwards.
2010 will by the Year Of The Dynamo for me. Logistics still need a bit of work. I like the idea of turning round and riding home afterwards -- it's certainly the simple option -- but will need a bit of work on the fitness front...
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I'd love to join you but
1000 23 Jul Upton Magna, E of Shrewsbury Mille Cymru
07:00 Fri AA13.75 [13695m] BRM £60.00 John Hamilton
I have other fish to fry. Well more like Wales really
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I'm intending to do the Dun Run by car... or at least two bits of it.
My plan is to endear myself permanently to people from CycleChat/YACF by dispensing sandwiches and maybe even hot soup/drinks somewhere near the halfway point and then at the end.
I will obviously have to work out the logistics of this nearer the time, but Stevevw from CycleChat will have his campervan at Dunwich and I believe I'll be using that. I haven't yet worked out quite what I'm doing for the halfway stop and where to be... but I am sure some enlightenment will come to me.
I may go and stay at a holiday house between Beccles and Bungay (i.e. twenty minutes from Dunwich) for the few days so might join you, Wowbagger, on your camping trip... only not camping. And it depends if the dog is still with us then.
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Auntie Helen's Peripatetic Cake Stop?
You could achieve cycling sainthood like that :D
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Every year I say that I'd liek to do this ride, every year I fail to get my arse in gear. Being late July I get more time to get my arse in gear, and to get used to hot, sweaty, uncomfortably high (for me) temperatures. And of course to get some night miles in over June and early July.
We'll see. I also like Wow's idea of sauntering and camping.
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I'm sad not to be able to do this year's DD, having already missed last year's edition due to family commitments. This year's excuse is that I'll be in the South Island of NZ. Perhaps I should do a simultaneous Dunedin Dynamo, maybe taking in a descent of Baldwin Street...
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Every year I say that I'd liek to do this ride, every year I fail to get my arse in gear. Being late July I get more time to get my arse in gear, and to get used to hot, sweaty, uncomfortably high (for me) temperatures. And of course to get some night miles in over June and early July.
Night time is the right time for cool summer rides. :thumbsup:
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...... maybe taking in a descent of Baldwin Street...
Shirley you mean ascent.
On fixed :demon: ;)
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I have failed to attend this ride for the last 5 years due to more important issues arising.
I shall put it on the wall planner again & hope that a last minute decision allows me to get to the start
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...... maybe taking in a descent of Baldwin Street...
Shirley you mean ascent.
On fixed :demon: ;)
I spoke to my niece (aged 6) on Christmas Day (well C. Day in Dunedin but C. Eve here). She'd been given one of those folding scooters so I asked her if she'd be riding it down Baldwin Street.
"Nooooooo, don't be sully! Aah'd fall off ut."
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Given the lateness in July of this jaunt, I'm intending to take a tent and follow the Dun Run with a few leisurely days in Anglia (E).
Anyone else interested in this kind of silliness?
I've been pondering the tent thing myself, as it seems to me that by far the best way to get back to civilisation (or indeed the West Midlands) from Dunwich when utterly knackered is by curling up in a sleeping bag and not bothering.
My experience of last year suggests that going heavy, with plenty of food and water, clothing, camping stove, spare knees, hazmat suit and so on is a good idea anyway, so adding the tent and sleeping gear isn't that big a step. It's not like it's actually hilly or anything.
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Every year I say that I'd liek to do this ride, every year I fail to get my arse in gear. Being late July I get more time to get my arse in gear, and to get used to hot, sweaty, uncomfortably high (for me) temperatures. And of course to get some night miles in over June and early July.
Night time is the right time for cool summer rides. :thumbsup:
It's always cold after midnight anyway. It got down to about 5 deg C in 2008.
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Every year I say that I'd liek to do this ride, every year I fail to get my arse in gear. Being late July I get more time to get my arse in gear, and to get used to hot, sweaty, uncomfortably high (for me) temperatures. And of course to get some night miles in over June and early July.
Night time is the right time for cool summer rides. :thumbsup:
It's always cold after midnight anyway. It got down to about 5 deg C in 2008.
I don't think I've ever been colder on a bike than I was on the 2008 Dun Run. Completely unprepared for that. I've never experienced a July night so cold.
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I did the whole ride in 2008 in short sleeve cycling top & shorts. ???
It wasn't until I stopped at the beach that I felt a chill, and was still shivering with 2 jackets and a blanket (thanks Annie) added to my attire.
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I don't think I've ever been colder on a bike than I was on the 2008 Dun Run. Completely unprepared for that. I've never experienced a July night so cold.
My riding partner didn't fully get the feeling back in his hands for weeks. Outside the halfway stop I was shivering uncontrollably until we'd gone a mile up the road and warmed up again.
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I don't think I've ever been colder on a bike than I was on the 2008 Dun Run. Completely unprepared for that. I've never experienced a July night so cold.
Cold summer nights can catch you unawares. On the Solstice WARTY, I only took a short sleeved jersey, a long sleeved jersey, and a thin fleece. I intended to swap between the two jerseys if necessary, but ended up wearing both, and it has occasionally been noted that I seem to suffer from the cold less than many on here!
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It wasn't until I stopped at the beach that I felt a chill, and was still shivering with 2 jackets and a blanket (thanks Annie) added to my attire.
Indeed.
Somewhere there's a photograph of Adamski and myself shivering whilst sharing a blanket :o in the back of Annie's car.
The wind which pushed us there, delivering us to the beach at some ridiculously early hour, literally turned against us, robbing tired bodies of any remaining warmth.
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Beach bums.
(http://www.peeble.com/dunrun8.jpg)
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No no no! You've mixed up the photos with the ones from the Salvation Army soup kitchen. ::-)
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It was the best ride finish ever. I sat in the same place as Juerk & Adamski in the above photo, warped* in a blanket, with Nutkin on one side and Emilio on the other. Every so often Annie would trot up and attend to my every need**.
*That genuinely was a typo but seems so appropriate that it must remain.
**Almost. She concentrated on loading me with carbos.
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I will do it this year. Last year was Aberystwyth to Aldeburgh, & lots of 100k Audaxes. Now turned 60 & off to South Africa in a year or two - so now or never. May have to tag along with some of you.
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You've got a nice arse for a 60-year old, even if it's a bit blue ;D
Rumours of the DD being 120 miles or (worse) a 200k audax, are sadly misplaced. I have never clocked it at more than 112.7 miles.
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Roger dear - its Not really me, but I do have a nice arse !
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(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202008/DSC02424.jpg)
That's the one.
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Charlotte - point taken. I have the OK for this one.
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Strange to say, I didn't get particularly cold on that DD. I don't think that I used many warm layers and I wasn't going very fast (do I ever ? :)) because I was acting as domestique for Helen's 1st overnight ride.
DD'07 was much worse, especially after the food halt, but that was because I didn't have a waterproof top- I believed the last weather forecast that I saw before I left Manchester ::-)
DD'10 is in the diary :thumbsup:
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Rumours of the DD being 120 miles or (worse) a 200k audax, are sadly misplaced. I have never clocked it at more than 112.7 miles.
We had to start in Dorking and finish in Hackney to make it 400km last year.
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(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202008/DSC02424.jpg)
Wow, you just look so contented.
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(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202008/DSC02424.jpg)
Wow, you just look so contented.
C'mon.
Really.
You wonder why?
:D
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You can't see all their hands :D
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You can't see all their hands :D
And there was me thinking "Is that the top-box of Nutty's Suzuki to the right of the frame?" ::-) :D
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(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202008/DSC02424.jpg)
Wow, you just look so contented.
C'mon.
Really.
You wonder why?
:D
I'd swop places with him ;)
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upset to miss this for the second year in a row, family holidays. The best ride I have ever done, the Etape is tougher but just not as nice.
At the risk of causing a stampede there is one way of making sure you are on the train, Brampton..........
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I always find the middle to late bit gruesome, notably that sodding hill in Cretingham (with the brick wall at the top on the left) but I keep coming back for more. I had a touch of the never-agains last year, but that was because we were riding off-pace (companion broke a cleat coming out of London and then turned out not to have ridden at all for the previous six weeks) and the schedule went to hell, so we skipped the tea stop and did the last 47 miles on water and curses.
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Ms Weasel is keen to ride this with me, on tandem. In the interests of lunacy, I’m thinking of bringing this on the trailer too:
Google Image Result for http://images.shipstore.com/ss/images/sev/sevkcc335.jpg (http://tinyurl.com/yh25qhl)
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Fantastic idea WW :D.
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I could take my pedal boat :D :
(http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/boattrail.jpg)
(http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/otherway.jpg)
Might be a bad idea through London traffic tho' :facepalm:
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That's wonderful, John. Built by you?
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That's wonderful, John. Built by you?
Clicky: Trailer (http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/trailer.htm)
Clicky: Boat (http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/boatpage.htm)
Clicky: The rest - XnTRICK Cycles (http://xntrick.co.uk/)
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I'm getting more tempted to do this again this year...
...I may use it as the impetus to lose a bit more weight.
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I could take my pedal boat :D :
(http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/boattrail.jpg)
(http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/otherway.jpg)
Might be a bad idea through London traffic tho' :facepalm:
I think you should make a wobbleboat.
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Who else clicked on WW's link, hoping it was a gas-powered barbecue and tea urn?
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Assuming there's no clash with holidays or conferences I would be very tempted to join in. Have advertised on my club website to see if the guys want to join in.
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The pedalboat is a must this year.
Is there any way we can help you tow it - ie say ten miles each for a bunch of YACFers?
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The pedalboat is a must this year.
Is there any way we can help you tow it - ie say ten miles each for a bunch of YACFers?
just sneak it onto the back of Gerald's yuba Mundo -- he'll never notice.
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Less than four months to go now.
For an indication of how times have changed, read Ravenbait's ride report (http://www.ravenfamily.org/sam/bike/dunrun2002.html) from 2002. Only about 100 riders, and 8 hours' riding time was good enough to be the first solo female (the queue for breakfast was 30 deep at 0430 last year).
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I said earlier in the thread that I would be coming along by car to dish out food. However I will now be in Düsseldorf rather than at the Dynamo so I send my apologies. Perhaps next year!
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Bah!
Valiant, any progress on the bacon bap van?
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3 months to go now. Book your train tickets!
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Not so hasty - the cheap tickets aren't on sale yet (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html).
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I shall be taking a tent and not rushing back - it's the end of July, after all.
There's a plan afoot: Mrs. Wow, who at one time seemed to be surprising me by not ruling out the Dynamo, has reverted to type and won't do a night ride. I'm looking for a volunteer to stoke the tandem to Dunwich for me and then I drop them at Darsham, sans bike, and pick Mrs. Wow up, who comes up on the train, bikeless but with some luggage, for a bit of East Anglian camping.
This might work. If I can't get a stoker then I'll probably do some solo camping on the Thorn. Anyone else fancy some gentle summer riding with tent, pubs and the occasional beach?
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I'm looking for a volunteer to stoke the tandem to Dunwich for me and then I drop them at Darsham, sans bike, and pick Mrs. Wow up, who comes up on the train, bikeless but with some luggage, for a bit of East Anglian camping.
I wouldn't attempt the ride on a solo, partly because it just feels too complicated getting me and a bike there and back for a late and long ride, but if you don't get a better offer (and believe me, pretty much anybody would probably a better offer!) and if the stoker seat could fit a 5'1and4/5ofaninch shortarse I could really quite fancy this! I've never ever ridden a tandem (but sort of like the idea of trying one), am slow and unfit. Probably my most useful qualities are that I can make reasonable cake, and I'd add plenty of useful ballast on the descents.
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If Alex doesn't get his finger out and return my e-mails, there will be one or two bike + person spaces going back to Bury St Edmunds/Cambridge/Bedford.
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I'm looking for a volunteer to stoke the tandem to Dunwich for me and then I drop them at Darsham, sans bike, and pick Mrs. Wow up, who comes up on the train, bikeless but with some luggage, for a bit of East Anglian camping.
I wouldn't attempt the ride on a solo, partly because it just feels too complicated getting me and a bike there and back for a late and long ride, but if you don't get a better offer (and believe me, pretty much anybody would probably a better offer!) and if the stoker seat could fit a 5'1and4/5ofaninch shortarse I could really quite fancy this! I've never ever ridden a tandem (but sort of like the idea of trying one), am slow and unfit. Probably my most useful qualities are that I can make reasonable cake, and I'd add plenty of useful ballast on the descents.
I suggest we have a bit of stoker-swapping on the 8th May WARTY then. I reckon we could lower the stoker saddle sufficiently for someone of your petite stature. Annie, formerly of this parish, is about 5'3" IIRC and she stoked for me quite satisfactorily. I would suggest that, if we strike a deal on 8/5/2010 that you seriously consider bringing your own saddle and, possibly, bars. Mrs. Wow's taste in saddle is ... idiosyncratic to say the least, and at least two ladies have had cause to rue the fact that they did not bring their own saddle when riding the tandem on longish rides.
I'm actually looking forward to this immensely. If you bring the cake I'll bring the stove, tea & milk. Last year something like 1000 people took part in this shenanigans and trying to use the official food stops was a total waste of time.
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That sounds like a sensible plan! And I mean it about the better offer - if someone with a bit of tandem-ing experience or less excess lard wants a seat, I really won't be offended if you take them instead. Although if you bumped me because someone else offered better cake I might sulk..... :)
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That sounds like a sensible plan! And I mean it about the better offer - if someone with a bit of tandem-ing experience or less excess lard wants a seat, I really won't be offended if you take them instead. Although if you bumped me because someone else offered better cake I might sulk..... :)
CL, you're my stoker for the Dun Run! :thumbsup:
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You'll both be on Auntie Helen's "Essex Is (Mostly) Flat" WARTY, so CrinklyLion can try out Mrs Wows saddle then, and see if she needs to bring her own.
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After last year's celebration of pootling (we arrived just before noon!), I am very much resolved to do the Dun Run inna gentle stylee again. Although I have a shiny new Optima Baron on which I could make the roadies cry into their Assos caps, I'm more likely to enjoy it if we take the tandem or touring bikes and tag along with "Team slow and stopping regularly to drum up".
Can we tag along, Wow?
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Don't forget the sunscreen if you're pootling!
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I'm for pootling, too. I have Unfinished Business that needs to be resolved, which is best done with an ample supply of CAKE and no knee-knackering heroics. As I said upthread, loitering within tent afterwards seems infinitely preferable to waiting around for hours for bikes to be loaded into vans, or trying to get a train anywhere, which lends itself naturally to the pootling plan.
I may yet persuade a couple of my geeky friends to join me on this Epic Cycling Adventure, so pootling's good in that respect too.
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After last year's celebration of pootling (we arrived just before noon!), I am very much resolved to do the Dun Run inna gentle stylee again. Although I have a shiny new Optima Baron on which I could make the roadies cry into their Assos caps, I'm more likely to enjoy it if we take the tandem or touring bikes and tag along with "Team slow and stopping regularly to drum up".
Can we tag along, Wow?
I thought you'd never ask! :-*
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Damn it! You're beginning to tempt me folks... >:(
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Damn it! You're beginning to tempt me folks... >:(
g'wan, g'wan... you know you want to.
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I'm even having ideas about doing it on Regina... :-\
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I'm even having ideas about doing it on Regina... :-\
which one's that? doesnt really matter, as long as you have a large sac for flapjacks and caffene!
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Damn it! You're beginning to tempt me folks... >:(
You've done it before.
Exactly what is the problem? :)
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Wowbagger - it suddenly occured to me that I ought to check what the pedal situation is on the tandem! I (together with never having ridden a tandem, or done a night ride, or gone over about 45 miles in one day) have never used anything other than flat pedals...
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I REALLY reccomend trying clipless on the back of a tandem. You don't need to get your foot down, so you get a chance to learn without the danger of a clipless moment. When stoking it's easy to lose the pedal if you aren't clipped in and it's hard to catch it again. You really need toe clips or clipless pedals, or it's a right pain.
Go for it. What size are you? We could lend you a pair to try. :)
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As an almost total beginner stoker-wise, I second Butterfly's view re pedals.
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Any takers for a Team Speed (c) Simon Leggbandange?
The idea is to leave at about 8pm, avoid congestion in the lanes, get to the feed stop for midnight, stop for no more than 45 minutes and then push on to breakfast. This worked in 2006, failed in 2007 due to the rain, sort of worked in 2008 except that we went north of Wattisham and via Stowmarket :-[ and would have worked last year except that, 30 miles in, my ride partner confessed he had done no training and slowed to a crawl.
I have GPS so we won't get lost, and I would be aiming for a moving average of about 17mph. I realise this is anathema to most of the Dun Runners, but after last year's queues...
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I did it as a 2-up 'team speed' in 2008 and didnt enjoy it at all. We overtook the bloke putting out candles at about midnight and hardly saw a soul between 2 and 3 - it was more *effective* but nowhere near as much fun. in a bigger group it might be better but I wouldnt do it just as a pair again.
You can avoid queues by taking sandwiches with you.
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Possibly.
If you bring enough food, you don't even have to stop for that long at the feed stop. Last year we stayed outside opposite the entrance, chomping on our sandwiches and marvelling at the ever increasing line of increasingly famished cyclists queueing up.
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I am tempted to ask f-i-l to hide a cache of food and a flask of hot drink just outside Great Waldingfield - he'll be staying overnight in Lavenham.
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I am certain that Barry Mason will frown upon any talk of 'team speed' and 'cache of food' ;)
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I'm considering attempting to make this a sort of 'workplace challenge'. Just need to decide whether it will be "I challenge anyone to complete this ride — if I've left Dunwich before you arrive provide me with some proof" or "I will be your group leader and ensure you make it to Dunwich, as long as you keep pedalling". Option 1 means I don't need to hang around but could be construed as a bit unfair. Option 2 could make it worth organising our own transport back, but could mean a very slow ride for me. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
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I'm considering attempting to make this a sort of 'workplace challenge'. Just need to decide whether it will be "I challenge anyone to complete this ride — if I've left Dunwich before you arrive provide me with some proof" or "I will be your group leader and ensure you make it to Dunwich, as long as you keep pedalling". Option 1 means I don't need to hang around but could be construed as a bit unfair. Option 2 could make it worth organising our own transport back, but could mean a very slow ride for me. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Do option 2. With G&T. ;D
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I'm considering attempting to make this a sort of 'workplace challenge'. Just need to decide whether it will be "I challenge anyone to complete this ride — if I've left Dunwich before you arrive provide me with some proof" or "I will be your group leader and ensure you make it to Dunwich, as long as you keep pedalling". Option 1 means I don't need to hang around but could be construed as a bit unfair. Option 2 could make it worth organising our own transport back, but could mean a very slow ride for me. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Do option 2. With G&T. ;D
Drink G&T while doing the DunRun? Who would ever even consider doing such a thing? (http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs9/i/2006/150/0/0/_whistle__by_ChaosEmeraldHunter.gif)
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As a Suffolk local (although not actually on-route) I have been toying with the provision of provisions.
Watch this space.
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Well boab you would, I am sure, be much appreciated for doing provisioning. I was originally going to do it before I managed to arrange to spend the entire month of July in Düsseldorf. There were at least 30 people I had promised to provide with food. I remember Jurek saying to me, "Auntie Helen, if you do that you would be even more popular!"
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Assuming my parents can come down and babysit/pick us up at Dunwich the next day, I plan to be doing this in pootling fashion with mrs_o. I will be avoiding queues en-route by coming laden with food, stove, fuel etc.
G&T may feature in my provisions.
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As a Suffolk local (although not actually on-route) I have been toying with the provision of provisions.
Ooh... boab's Karnival Cake Kart?
Erm.. a slice of yorkshire tea cake, two slices of chocolate sponge, and a fondant fancy please... :thumbsup:
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I am certain that Barry Mason will frown upon any talk of 'team speed' and 'cache of food' ;)
Doesn't make me feel particularly tempted to do another Dun Run- was forced off the road by what you could describe as some kind of team speed last year on the road through Epping Forest- three of them riding abreast heads down overtaking me had to move sharply to the left to avoid oncoming car overtaking another car. I don't think I even registered on their brain radar. I have done a few Dun Runs now (the first I did there were maybe 200 riders at the most) at speeds ranging from pretty fast but relaxed to pootling and I have always loved the laidback atmosphere. I've nothing against people wanting to ride at their own pace, whatever that may be, but would definitely not ride it if it became dominated by the serious speed rules brigade.
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Jane, you have it right.
I haven't done the Dun Run for a couple of years, however I recall the fretting and restlessness of the masses for the coaches to turn up to get them back to London as soon as possible. The point of the Dun run should be a quirky, out of the ordinary night ride to the coast, followed by maybe a swim and a day exploring the place and maybe a pint or two in the pub.
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Hm, I wonder if Team Slow is slow enough for a trailer full of boat. :demon:
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Anything Gerald can do :thumbsup:
I was wondering about taking some nice comfy armchairs :)
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I was wondering about taking some nice comfy armchairs :)
Your ar*e still not recovered from last year then? :demon:
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Armchair recumbent. It must be done.
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Hm, I wonder if Team Slow is slow enough for a trailer full of boat. :demon:
Anything Gerald can do :thumbsup:
I was wondering about taking some nice comfy armchairs :)
Now this sounds exactly like the kind of Dun Run I know and love.
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Armchair recumbent. It must be done.
Clicky (http://www.instructables.com/id/SERIOUSLY-COMFORTABLE-BIKE-SADDLE/) :D
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Done it yourself? I wouldn't be surprised.
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Doesn't make me feel particularly tempted to do another Dun Run- was forced off the road by what you could describe as some kind of team speed last year on the road through Epping Forest- three of them riding abreast heads down overtaking me had to move sharply to the left to avoid oncoming car overtaking another car.
Not me :)
We did go like the clappers from Epping to Wethersfield, at which point my ride partner's legs crapped out completely. I blame the Red Bull ::-) Then it took forever to get to the feed stop, by which time the world and his wife were there. So we just got some water and pushed on; we made up all the time we'd lost by the simple expedient of following the correct route rather than charging round blindly, like most of the large groups in Suffolk. I did put a few of them right, but after being ignored a couple of times we thought "sod 'em" and got to the sea at 4.30.
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For ease of travel, just wait. Come the afternoon, the trains from Darsham are mostly empty and you can wend snorily back to London without much faff.
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For reasons known best to ??? I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday (after waving you off last year I am NOT missing it this time).
I will most certainly be pootling.
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... I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday ...
You are Teethgrinder, AICMFP. ;D
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... I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday ...
You are Teethgrinder, AICMFP. ;D
Especially if you do a saturday daytime ride back from the coast to the start of the Dun Run.
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... I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday ...
You are Teethgrinder, AICMFP. ;D
Especially if you do a saturday daytime ride back from the coast to the start of the Dun Run.
I assumed that this was a given
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... I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday ...
You are Teethgrinder, AICMFP. ;D
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hm, I wonder if Team Slow is slow enough for a trailer full of boat. :demon:
Ms Weasel and I have ambitions of doing it with Tandem and trailer (with boat). Don’t know if we will be able to keep up with Team Slow with that load but looking forward to a bit of kayaking when we get there (tandem bike, tandem kayak). It’s not actually all that heavy and I don’t remember the DD being so hilly that the trailer would be a problem.
I just love the idea of getting there, unpacking the boat and about 15-20 minutes later paddling out to sea. Perhaps breakfast first would be a good idea though.
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
::-)
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
::-)
I've got an unoccupied guinea pig hutch I could strap to a trailer...
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
::-)
Or in Jurek's case, actually carry *something*
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
::-)
Or in Jurek's case, actually carry *something*
;D ;D ;D
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Don't be daft. I've seen him with two bananas ziptied to the frame. A bit overloaded on that ride, I think ;)
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
::-)
Well I suspect Ms Weasel may veto the boat idea once she actually rides the tandem with boat attached (which we haven't done yet).
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Dammit, this is going to be the "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich" year, isn't it?
When you have a cargo bike, every year is "let's carry a load of stupid shit to Dunwich".
I may have to skip this year due to holiday commitments, but a YACF armada would be truly awesome.
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I'm thinking of borrowing one of those ice cream carts. Or, I believe the coffee shop at Clare has a pedalled coffee cart.
Not so much 'stop me and buy one', more 'push me and I'll sell you one'...
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What about this? (http://cargocycling.org/2007/06/koga-miyata-chela.html/)
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What about this? (http://cargocycling.org/2007/06/koga-miyata-chela.html/)
Oh <sigh>. I've been lusting after one of those for ages.
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It still wouldn't contain all your luggage ;) :-*
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That's why you have panniers too :P
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Jane, why did you show us that Koga Miyata trailer? It is just the the last word for the Dun Run.
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Didn't Pedaldog used to have one?
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I think he still does. Did have six months ago, at least.
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I've got an unoccupied guinea pig hutch I could strap to a trailer...
Quails?
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I'm thinking of borrowing one of those ice cream carts. Or, I believe the coffee shop at Clare has a pedalled coffee cart.
Not so much 'stop me and buy one', more 'push me and I'll sell you one'...
What, a "real" one with a nice lever-driven espresso machine?
Mmmm, coffee :thumbsup:.
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Most Dunrunners seeing a pedalled coffee cart a Plural of miles from the Great Wen will think they're hallucinating ;D
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I don't mind if it's a hallucination so long as the coffee is good.
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I've got an unoccupied guinea pig hutch I could strap to a trailer...
Quails?
To be honest, I think I just did.
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For reasons known best to ??? I am thinking about doing the FNRttC on the, well, Friday (obv) and then my first Dun Run on Saturday (after waving you off last year I am NOT missing it this time).
I will most certainly be pootling.
I was thinking about this, seeing as Dan had said elsewhere about doing the double which is why I'd only put a "possible" for Rogerzilla's Team Speed. ;D
I have sourced some caffeine energy gels.
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I have sourced some caffeine energy gels.
A couple of these (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Torq_Box_Of_20__45g_Gels_Sachets_With_Guarana/5360033127/) will guarantee a boost in your energy levels IME, and they don't taste too bad.
Any more than four and you can be assured of Teh Thousand Yard Stare (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/4581828150_764cc56743_o.jpg)
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I could do the Dun Run with my normal commuting load, and still manage to exceed the weight of many of the suggestions made here. ;D
(Just ask MacB after he lifted my bike and panniers over a gate on last years Solstice WARTY!)
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I have sourced some caffeine energy gels.
A couple of these (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Torq_Box_Of_20__45g_Gels_Sachets_With_Guarana/5360033127/) will guarantee a boost in your energy levels IME, and they don't taste too bad.
Any more than four and you can be assured of Teh Thousand Yard Stare (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/4581828150_764cc56743_o.jpg)
Neck a dozen or so and you'll end up like this (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b187/vicechair/P7260059.jpg) :D
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I have sourced some caffeine energy gels.
A couple of these (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Torq_Box_Of_20__45g_Gels_Sachets_With_Guarana/5360033127/) will guarantee a boost in your energy levels IME, and they don't taste too bad.
Any more than four and you can be assured of Teh Thousand Yard Stare (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/4581828150_764cc56743_o.jpg)
Neck a dozen or so and you'll end up like this (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b187/vicechair/P7260059.jpg) :D
;D ;D ;D
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Which reminds me, I must brew up some more Beans. :demon:
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Which reminds me, I must brew up some more Beans. :demon:
I remember them....
or, at least, how soundly they encouraged slumber on the shingle amongst some... ;)
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I keep clicking on this thread, like it's magnetic or something. I last did the Dun Run three or four years ago and swore "never again."
Why am I spending time trying to figure out a way home for 2010?
Save me?
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I keep clicking on this thread, like it's magnetic or something. I last did the Dun Run three or four years ago and swore "never again." Why am I spending time trying to figure out a way home for 2010.
Save me?
You loved it.
You wanna do it again.
Don't try to fight it..... :D
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We're really the wrong people to ask, don't you think? ;D
*gets out OS Road Map 8 with the route in highlighter and notes from 2002*
(apart from 2003)
(and 2005 was a DNF mechanical)
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I have unfinished business with this ride.I have intended to return for the past 4 or 5 years but work has always interferred at the last moment so this year I shall decide on July 23rd if I am doing it.
I may drive down to Dunwich,stay Friday night in the tent,train to ludun Saturday,ride to Dunwich,breakfast & a couple of hours kip & drive home Sunday evening.
You'd be welcome to join me Gordon but be aware that it will be a last minute decision for me to do it or not subject to work commitments.
EDIT: is that your idea of being "saved" Gordon? ;)
I could even fit your trike onto the roof rack :demon:
there you go,"saved" you some more :thumbsup:
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Thanks Jogler! But my last "plan" was to get the BMI evening flight from Norwich to Aberdeen on the Sunday because:
a) Norwich airport is closer to Dunwich than Ipswich station
b) Aberdeen is easier to get to than London
c) I have a cousin up there who needs visiting
d) I could ride to the Hebridees afterwards
e) and Dunwich to Staffordshire on a Sunday afternoon when you've had no sleep isn't an attractive, or simple, journey.
Anyway. I'm grounded. ::-) I spent too much time and money swanning about at Easter. Mrs G thinks I should "get a job" for my summer holidays. The Dun Run is unlikely to meet with approval. :-[
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You do realize the Dun Run covers four delicious tasty graticules? O:-)
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BMI evening flight
Is this the plane with wider seats for fatties?
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I have sourced some caffeine energy gels.
A couple of these (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Torq_Box_Of_20__45g_Gels_Sachets_With_Guarana/5360033127/) will guarantee a boost in your energy levels IME, and they don't taste too bad.
Any more than four and you can be assured of Teh Thousand Yard Stare (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/4581828150_764cc56743_o.jpg)
Neck a dozen or so and you'll end up like this (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b187/vicechair/P7260059.jpg) :D
He survived though!
(I've only just noticed the headline in the paper that M. Le Maire was reading - rather an old newspaper)!
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Not so hasty - the cheap tickets aren't on sale yet (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html).
They are now.
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Not so hasty - the cheap tickets aren't on sale yet (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html).
They are now.
An investment has been made.
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Me too obviously. In my case a double but 50% redundant one. I have one ticket for Saturday late afternoon for a leaving the car there option and one for Sunday afternoon for a more conventional option
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£10 cheapie ticket now booked from Stowmarket, with bike space.
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Had it all planed. £8 ticket leaving Lowestoft at 14.58. It seems all the bike places have already been booked so am now going an hour earlier. Lady in the booking office was confused as to why the bike places were booked already!
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Brompton for me, I think, so no worries about bikes on trains.
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I have a lift back but haven't ruled out the Brompton. It did really well on Oxford-London (on M+ tyres too!), although the handlebar grips feel a bit narrow after a while.
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I've been planning to get to one of these for a few years now but something always pops up.
This year I'll be watching Pendulum and The Prodigy at the MK bowl, will be thinking about you if I can hear myself think ;D ;D
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Sadly I won't even be there to see you guys off this year, I would have (hopefully) cycled upto Huntingdon a few hours beforehand with a trailer full of camping gear.
I've cancelled the cafe van as it seemed to be a bad idea at the time. But if you guys do want it, I'll ask if he'll do it.
As for all this talk of sofas etc. I have a 12v inflatable massage chair somewhere. If I can dig it out of the townhall someone's welcome to borrow it. You will need to source a suitable 12v battery though.
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Ticket booked from Bedford to St Pancras. I appear to be a free agent this year, so will be aiming for the tea stop at midnight and Dunwich by 0430. It's only 16mph ;)
It appears that I will have to ride a bike from Swindon to Bedford the weekend before (85 miles and reasonably representative of the actual terrain, so good training*) or do it on the Brompton. Hmmm.
*I did this in 2006 when it was 30 deg C. Left at 0700 with three water bottles. Drank the lot by Stony Stratford. Got very thirsty and eventually managed to find a tap round the back of the church at Carlton. Just made it for lunch.
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if I cant bribe Mrs Mike to appear at Dunwich at about 7am (unlikely!) I'll probably drive to stowmarket or ipswich on saturday afternoon, train to london, then ride back to the car on sunday morning and drive home :)
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If anyone wants an early - as in about 6.30am - lift back to Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, St Neots or Bedford, let me know.
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I'm contemplating booking the following week off work and using the Dun Run as the start of a gentle camping pootle around Norfolk & Suffolk..... :)
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doing it with a couple of n00bs from work; looks like we have a lift back otherwise it's the looong ride back to Manningtree
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I have decided to give this a miss again.
I am more likely to be assisting at Upton Magna on that Mille Cymru ride.
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doing it with a couple of n00bs from work; looks like we have a lift back otherwise it's the looong ride back to Manningtree
Excellent news :thumbsup:
Look forward to crossing paths with you at some point :)
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I will be there with food, beer, blankies, hugs, snugs and hopefully a little Nutkin. I'll let you know what I intend to bake, somewhat limited as we will be in the car overnight.
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YEAH!
Annie, you are a star. Now, how do we prevent 8000 people turning up at Hackney?
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YEAH!
Annie, you are a star. Now, how do we prevent 8000 people turning up at Hackney?
I'm owed a few hugs and quite a lot of kisses so I'll be there. 8000?
If anyone has any specific requirements I will do my best to cater for them. So please do let me know in advance if there is anything in particular that you fancy.
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YEAH!
Annie, you are a star. Now, how do we prevent 8000 people turning up at Hackney?
I'm owed a few hugs and quite a lot of kisses so I'll be there. 8000?
If anyone has any specific requirements I will do my best to cater for them. So please do let me know in advance if there is anything in particular that you fancy.
8) 8) ;D
Sadly I won't be able to be there though :(
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If anyone has any specific requirements I will do my best to cater for them. So please do let me know in advance if there is anything in particular that you fancy.
I really hope Hummers doesn't see this thread.
More seriously, bacon always goes down well, but you need a grill or a frying pan.
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I talked to a fella yesterday and he told me that last year someone commented on how much he was carrying with him.
Somewhat in the lines of ... you got the kitchen sink in there too ?
10 points to the one who guesses what he will have on this trailer this year :)
Nutter and I love it :)
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If anyone has any specific requirements I will do my best to cater for them.
:o :o :o Let me have a think and I'll get back to you :demon:
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Hmmm. Perhaps I should have been more specific. Not to worry...... :o I will be bringing two stoves, one with a grill. I am likely to make bread and cakes. I'll carry lots of fruit, water, beer/lager, juice, crisps, hummus, croissants and so on.
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There's now a definite incentive to pedal faster.
:-*
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I've just booked my train ticket to London so I can do this ride again. :thumbsup:
But I don't know the best way to get back, ATM.
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Hmmm. Perhaps I should have been more specific. Not to worry...... :o I will be bringing two stoves, one with a grill. I am likely to make bread and cakes. I'll carry lots of fruit, water, beer/lager, juice, crisps, hummus, croissants and so on.
Hmm. I notice you havent mentioned Bacon. Will there be Bacon?
:-*
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Hmmm. Perhaps I should have been more specific. Not to worry...... :o I will be bringing two stoves, one with a grill. I am likely to make bread and cakes. I'll carry lots of fruit, water, beer/lager, juice, crisps, hummus, croissants and so on.
Wet celery......? ;)
Mmmmmm...hummus.... :P
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Yes there will be bacon. I might make a sausage, egg and pickle pie as well, just got to get the recipe from Miss Nicola.
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Yay! Salty slices of pork with nitrites!
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Train booked for 2 from Norwich
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I can't decide whether to ride out to Dunwich as a one-off, or use it as the start of a mini tour. Perhaps I should take three or four days to ride home? Or up the coast, or to Harwich and beyond.
Loading up with panniers and a tent for a long overnight ride doesn't seem too sensible, though.
Decisions, decisions ...
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Loading up with panniers and a tent for a long overnight ride doesn't seem too sensible, though.
Of course it's not. But trying to use the words, "Dunwich", "Dynamo" and "sensible" in the same breath would seem to be a largely pointless excercise :D
You know you want to ;)
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Loading up with panniers and a tent for a long overnight ride doesn't seem too sensible, though.
It does when the alternative is trying to get back to civilisation after the dun run, though.
Also, I have 50 tonnes of darksidey goodness that simply Must Be Used, but only partially-developed darkside legs. Fast (or indeed sensible) isn't going to be an option.
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And I can reach the pedals on the tandem. So I guess, even though it's remarkably un-sensible to attempt this, I'm in!
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Fellow members of Team Slow who intend to do a spot of camping at the end: I have made a curious discovery about the campsites (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=30669.msg647898#msg647898), which appear to have been undergoing mitosis. Given the need for booking in advance, may I propose that we take care not to inadvertantly end up in almost, but not quite entirely, the same place?
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I really ought to go book some tickets for this, or I'll miss all the cheapy ones and end up on the coach to save money again... and I have an officially sanctioned POETS day tomorrow, as my current boss thought that I'd done more than enough extra hours to be allowed a half day unofficial TOIL in order to go home and kip before the FNRttC. Possibly helped that she couldn't stop laughing at why I was asking for a (not normally allowed under any circs) early finish. So I could nip into the station on my way home from work.
What time do I need to be in Londinium, do you reckon?
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On the safe side, six. We tend to leave at about 8pm or so and you'll want to get up to London fields and have a pint or two first.
Campsite news: Wowbagger and I will be checking out the campsite the weekend after next as I have a few days off to go touring in East Angular. I think maybe I'll start a "hands up for camping" thread and block book a YACF corner or the field - what do you all think?
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On the safe side, six. We tend to leave at about 8pm or so and you'll want to get up to London fields and have a pint or two first.
Campsite news: Wowbagger and I will be checking out the campsite the weekend after next as I have a few days off to go touring in East Angular. I think maybe I'll start a "hands up for camping" thread and block book a YACF corner or the field - what do you all think?
I'm all in favour of a block booking. We'll be there in a tent.
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On the safe side, six. We tend to leave at about 8pm or so and you'll want to get up to London fields and have a pint or two first.
Or, if you're travelling from Birmingham, skip the pints and have a two-hour margin for any sandwich-related terrorist incidents that may occur... :-\
Sprinting across London due to BloodyTrains is *not* a sensible prelude to the DunRun.
Campsite news: Wowbagger and I will be checking out the campsite the weekend after next as I have a few days off to go touring in East Angular. I think maybe I'll start a "hands up for camping" thread and block book a YACF corner or the field - what do you all think?
Sounds like a plan. :thumbsup:
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The campsite we stayed at (http://www.woollypigs.com/2009/07/campsite-review-of-cliff-house-holiday-park-dunwich-suffollk-ip17-3dq/) in Dunwich is wonderful. Go for the pitches down towards the sea. I highly recommend the vegetable pie-in-a-pot if still on the menu of the onsite pub. :D
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Looks like there's cheap fares on the trains to King's X that arrive at 18:06, 18:20 or 19:09. So I guess either of the first two should be OK?
Going back from Darsham on the Sunday there's a silly cheap one that takes a zillion years, or OK (only 4annabit hours of journey) ones at 14:45 or 16:45. Later than that gets into the 'spend the night in a station waiting for a connection' territory. How slow is team slow planning to be - shall I play safe and book the late one?
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Looks like there's cheap fares on the trains to King's X that arrive at 18:06, 18:20 or 19:09. So I guess either of the first two should be OK?
Going back from Darsham on the Sunday there's a silly cheap one that takes a zillion years, or OK (only 4annabit hours of journey) ones at 14:45 or 16:45. Later than that gets into the 'spend the night in a station waiting for a connection' territory. How slow is team slow planning to be - shall I play safe and book the late one?
Go for the 14.45. I'd anticipate that we should in Dunwich before 10 a.m. Mrs. Wow arrives in Darsham at 14.45. If it looks as though we are going to be stupidly late, then we could always do a drop-off at Needham Market on the way through. That would enable you to get to Ipswich (1 stop, 8 miles) and catch your reservation.
Edit: I can meet you at Kings Cross if you like. I'll get there for 6 p.m.
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Excellent - I shall go to the station and purchase some tickets tomorrow :)
Liverpool St is fine, if that's easier for you. Tube is a bit daft that day so nothing direct, according to tfl, but that's no problem, should be there around half past if the train from York is on-time-ish. Or King's X if you prefer. I fully intend to pedal with my eyes shut anyway, as London traffic is scary. And I may squeal like a girl :)
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I'll be riding from St Pancras to London Fields if you want to tag along, but I don't think my train gets in until after 7pm.
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I've booked my train ticket down to London, so I guess I'm doing this again. :thumbsup:
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On the safe side, six. We tend to leave at about 8pm or so and you'll want to get up to London fields and have a pint or two first.
Campsite news: Wowbagger and I will be checking out the campsite the weekend after next as I have a few days off to go touring in East Angular. I think maybe I'll start a "hands up for camping" thread and block book a YACF corner or the field - what do you all think?
I would be interested.
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On the safe side, six. We tend to leave at about 8pm or so and you'll want to get up to London fields and have a pint or two first.
Campsite news: Wowbagger and I will be checking out the campsite the weekend after next as I have a few days off to go touring in East Angular. I think maybe I'll start a "hands up for camping" thread and block book a YACF corner or the field - what do you all think?
Likewise, tickets booked and a new tent to try out.
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I can't decide whether to ride out to Dunwich as a one-off, or use it as the start of a mini tour. Perhaps I should take three or four days to ride home? Or up the coast, or to Harwich and beyond.
Loading up with panniers and a tent for a long overnight ride doesn't seem too sensible, though.
Decisions, decisions ...
Panniers and a tent for an overnight ride is definitely not sensible. (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=34310.msg645030#msg645030) It's fun though :) Warning: you may end up looking like Oscar's dad in the morning:-
(http://www.oakden.eclipse.co.uk/mark/bike/yacf/california/kindest_thing_would_be_to_put_it_to_sleep.jpg)
As Charlotte points out - the DD isn't the most sensible thing anyway.
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I have room in the car for a few bits, so if anyone wants me to take stuff along with me to the beach then you will have to let me know and get it to me before the DD.
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(http://www.oakden.eclipse.co.uk/mark/bike/yacf/california/kindest_thing_would_be_to_put_it_to_sleep.jpg)
FFS! Is there nobody in the world that Steve doesn't look like?!!
I'm getting a Ken Livingstone vibe from that pic :P
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'Fraid I can't make it this year.
We're having the families over on the 24th.
I should also remind Our Flame Haired Leaderene that it's CTC Council that day as well...
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(http://www.oakden.eclipse.co.uk/mark/bike/yacf/california/kindest_thing_would_be_to_put_it_to_sleep.jpg)
FFS! Is there nobody in the world that Steve doesn't look like?!!
I'm getting a Ken Livingstone vibe from that pic :P
I sense a newt connection coming on...
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I'm thinking that it may be a daft idea to do this with suitable camping kit, so I'm also planning on doing it, so I can collapse at the end!
Go Team Slow. :thumbsup:
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I'm thinking that it may be a daft idea to do this with suitable camping kit, so I'm also planning on doing it, so I can collapse at the end!
Go Team Slow. :thumbsup:
So you'll just be bringing your normal FNRttC panniers with you then..? ;) :P
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I'm thinking that it may be a daft idea to do this with suitable camping kit, so I'm also planning on doing it, so I can collapse at the end!
Go Team Slow. :thumbsup:
So you'll just be bringing your normal FNRttC panniers with you then..? ;) :P
No, I won't need quite that much kit. ;D
My camping kit is actually very light compared to things like the tools I'll carry on a FNRttC. My tent is less than 1kg, and the Thermarest and Sleeping Bag are also pretty lightweight (or at least the summer weight bag is, the winter one's about twice the weight and volume).
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'Fraid I can't make it this year.
We're having the families over on the 24th.
I should also remind Our Flame Haired Leaderene that it's CTC Council that day as well...
It's a sneaky ploy to vote through the charidee stuff while all the rebels are on the Epping High Road.
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I have just ordered 45 quids worth of train ticket.
On dearly_beloved's credit card!
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After a pre-Warty post-curry barrage of canvassing, I'm harbouring dangerous Dunwich-related delusions of competency.
I can't make it this year (I'll be in Cornwall), but can someone put me down as a "possible" for 2011 please?
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You don't have to be competent or fit to ride the Dunwich Dynamo...but it helps. I salute the have-a-go-heroes who roll in after 9am on their Sterling House BSOs. They have suffered way more than I have.
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Absolutely. We did the last twenty miles last year at the same sort of pace as this sikh guy on a full-susser. He was clearly absolutely shot away, but he finished.
It can't have improved his mood though, to keep on getting overtaken by an idiot onna penny farthing...
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I am planning to do this! It is all (gentle) downhill all the way, yes?
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Apart from the whoopy steep downhill bits, yes.
Of course :)
*hides crossed fingers behind back*
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I remember three proper climbs:
1. Finchingfield, short and steep
2. Castle Hedingham, long and grindy
3. After Sibton, gravelly and not too bad normally, but not what you want after over 100 miles
The B-road from Fyfield to Leaden Roding is a bit lumpy, and there's a horrible false flat out of Sudbury.
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"La la la la la, fingers in ears, I can't hear you, there's no hills I tell you...."
My tickets just arrived!
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"La la la la la, fingers in ears, I can't hear you, there's no hills I tell you...."
My tickets just arrived!
After your sterling performance on the FNRttC, you'll do this with no problems. Just get other people to carry all the cake again (and hopefully not take it home with them) ;D
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"La la la la la, fingers in ears, I can't hear you, there's no hills I tell you...."
My tickets just arrived!
Have no fear, CL! The tandem is renowned for its hill-climbing ability!
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Even if I have to carry my own cake?
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Even if I have to carry my own cake?
dont worry about that.. I'll make sure you dont have much left by the col de finchingfield...
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I'd best get baking then....
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Absolutely. We did the last twenty miles last year at the same sort of pace as this sikh guy on a full-susser.
With no routesheet, no less. I remember trying to fill his head with directions the last time we saw him. He arrived at the finish so I guess it worked.
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One month to go. Half a stone lighter than last year (may be a stone lighter by then). I might even be able to remember the whole route by now.
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Dear Gods Roger - it's not a sportive...
::-)
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One month to go. Half a stone lighter than last year (may be a stone lighter by then). I might even be able to remember the whole route by now.
Probably a stone heavier & planning to carry camping gear..... I was one of the _last_ last year.... :(
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I'm pretty sure I'm heavier than this time last year, but not by a lot, and I'm certain I'm lighter by about a stone than I was in January. I'm cycling more, and I thought I was cycling a lot a year ago.
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This time last year I probably weighed about a stone and a half more than I do now (dunno exactly - don't own any scales, and haven't been to my mum's for a few weeks as I've been too busy cycling). And the furthest I cycled in a day was maybe 15 miles... I probably averaged around 30 a week, so long as my bike wasn't broken and at the shop waiting to be sorted or the weather wasn't too bad. And I'd never done a group ride, a night ride, ridden clipless or tried a tandem.
It's probably a good job some of those things have changed, isn't it?
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This time last year I probably weighed about a stone and a half more than I do now (dunno exactly - don't own any scales, and haven't been to my mum's for a few weeks as I've been too busy cycling). And the furthest I cycled in a day was maybe 15 miles... I probably averaged around 30 a week, so long as my bike wasn't broken and at the shop waiting to be sorted or the weather wasn't too bad. And I'd never done a group ride, a night ride, ridden clipless or tried a tandem.
It's probably a good job some of those things have changed, isn't it?
Very good, yes
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I've given in and decided to do the Exmouth Exodus (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29836.0) on Saturday. It should be good training[1] for the Dun Run. Or something.
[1] Except actually it won't, because I'm not yet confident enough to tackle *those* hills (or *those* trains) on the 'bent, and I'll be doing it without insane amounts of luggage.
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This time last year I probably weighed about a stone and a half more than I do now (dunno exactly - don't own any scales, and haven't been to my mum's for a few weeks as I've been too busy cycling). And the furthest I cycled in a day was maybe 15 miles... I probably averaged around 30 a week, so long as my bike wasn't broken and at the shop waiting to be sorted or the weather wasn't too bad. And I'd never done a group ride, a night ride, ridden clipless or tried a tandem.
It's probably a good job some of those things have changed, isn't it?
CrinklyLion, I remember your supportive words on my 'commuting all the way thread' and have to say I am really impressed with all this stuff. I still haven't dared go for clipless (think I might need another bike first....) or done a night ride (though I have ridden a bike AT NIGHT....). You are making me think I should go for all these things!
In fact I'm watching this thread enviously as the Dun Run is on my list, but this year I am doing the London-Cambridge with the 'family team' as my mum has been persuaded to join us as well....next year I'm there :) though probably not on a tandem.
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In fairness, the tandem and the clipless have only been tried once - round the block at Woolly and Peli's place, then off to the station! But it proved the point that I can actually make the pedals go round, and Wow isn't too likely to drop the tandem due to my heffalumpiness on the back as I totally fail to disengage a cleat, so it's one more silly bike adventure ahoy.
I've decided that there is far too much work and not nearly enough play in my life. I can't do much about the work (although I have cut down my unpaid overtime fairly dramatically) and am very consciously increasing the amount of play. And am much the better for it :)
If you're thinking about a night ride, do a FNRttC. It was fabulous - great company, really well organised, very inclusive, well thought out route and even I could keep up. I was a bit colly-wobbleish and very very nearly bottled it at the last minute, but then got 'spotted' by Hulver and so couldn't run away. And I'm very very glad that I didn't.
(and I haven't got a bus to work for weeks and weeks and weeks - that's your fault, that is!)
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Co-workers have all bailed out so I am free to ride at a pace of my choosing, rather than shepherding them to the coast. Team Slow, here I come!
Must spend some time this weekend sorting out my return journey.
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Co-workers have all bailed out so I am free to ride at a pace of my choosing, rather than shepherding them to the coast. Team Slow, here I come!
Must spend some time this weekend sorting out my return journey.
Get tickets for the right day! I shall look forward to meeting you :)
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Co-workers have all bailed out so I am free to ride at a pace of my choosing, rather than shepherding them to the coast. Team Slow, here I come!
Must spend some time this weekend sorting out my return journey.
Get tickets for the right day! I shall look forward to meeting you :)
As I won't be buying them at Fenchurch Street Station, the odds of a correct ticket are pretty good!
Yes, I will triple-check the ticket before I leave the counter.
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In fact I'm watching this thread enviously as the Dun Run is on my list, but this year I am doing the London-Cambridge with the 'family team' as my mum has been persuaded to join us as well....next year I'm there :) though probably not on a tandem.
If you want a bit of tandem stoking some time, gissashout! Order early for the 2011 Dun Run Tandem Experience! :thumbsup:
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In fact I'm watching this thread enviously as the Dun Run is on my list, but this year I am doing the London-Cambridge with the 'family team' as my mum has been persuaded to join us as well....next year I'm there :) though probably not on a tandem.
If you want a bit of tandem stoking some time, gissashout! Order early for the 2011 Dun Run Tandem Experience! :thumbsup:
You serial stokeriser, you!
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You serial stokeriser, you!
I feel dirty now! Stokerised by Wow! :-[
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I must have posted somewhere on this thread as it appears in my 'unread replies' list. I wonder if I was pondering doing it this year... In any case, ahm oot (as duncan bannatyne would say). Following weekend is Camp Bestival so can't spend a recovery day in bed after the dun run as I will need to be doing some packing and faffing. And probably buying a tent. Bit disappointed, though the challenge of getting home is always offputting.
Good luck one and all - may the weather be balmy and the bacon sarnie queue short.
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You serial stokeriser, you!
I feel dirty now! Stokerised by Wow! :-[
I wonder how many he's had now.
I've only had about six, and some of those experiences were over far too quickly...
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I wonder how many he's had now.
He said I was the first. :-[ :facepalm:
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Yeah, I bet he said he'd respect you after, too. Another notch on the seatpost...
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Yeah, I bet he said he'd respect you after, too. Another notch on the seatpost...
Seatpost? Zefal HP4 if you please!
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Is it too early to repost the old urban legend about the craze for "Pumping"?
OK, it is.
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(and I haven't got a bus to work for weeks and weeks and weeks - that's your fault, that is!)
Sorry! no, really...... ;D
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No chance, but if I do it again I'll probably do it in reverse.
Leisurely train (or cycle) to Dunwich on Saturday afternoon, and leave 7pm-ish and head back to Hackney watching hundreds of people coming the other way.
Getting home from Hackney is considerably easier than getting home from Dunwich.
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Hmmm ... the longest ride I have done so far is 38 miles (and that didnt feel too bad). Do u think I would make it all the way? And dus anyone know how bad the potholes are on these roads, riding into a pothole in the dark kinda scares me :-\
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Not many potholes, although the Suffolk lanes can be gravelly and also a bit "rippled". Yes, you'll make it easily enough, but at around 11pm-midnight you may become severely depressed for an hour or so, because you're still in Essex and there's a long way to go. You learn to expect that.
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Hmmm ... the longest ride I have done so far is 38 miles (and that didnt feel too bad). Do u think I would make it all the way? And dus anyone know how bad the potholes are on these roads, riding into a pothole in the dark kinda scares me :-\
My first DD was after four years of the bicycle. The longest ride I had done in the half year "training" leading up to it was 20 miles, were my daily commute was 14 miles.
I managed to get the beach in under 12 hours, though utterly creamed knackered and I was glad that I was on the bus home and the following Monday off.
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Hmmm ... the longest ride I have done so far is 38 miles (and that didnt feel too bad). Do u think I would make it all the way? And dus anyone know how bad the potholes are on these roads, riding into a pothole in the dark kinda scares me :-\
I've done several dozen night rides, although admittedly a lot of those are Simon's very organised FNRttCs. I've yet to badly hit a pothole. It does help if you've got good lights, and I wouldn't choose to use lightly spoked fast racing wheels. Something designed to be a bit more bomb proof is a good idea.
If you've done a 38 mile ride and not felt utterly dead at the end, you should be able to do a ride like the Dun Run, although you need to make sure that you take it easy, and drink and eat along the way.
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Hmmm ... the longest ride I have done so far is 38 miles (and that didnt feel too bad). Do u think I would make it all the way? And dus anyone know how bad the potholes are on these roads, riding into a pothole in the dark kinda scares me :-\
If you can do 38 miles, I reckon you can finish it without too much trouble. You may well be sore and tired by the end, though. Just take it easy at the beginning, and don't forget to eat/drink. Stopping occasionally helps, too, and is one of the reasons this sort of thing is easier in a group.
Last year the roads were pretty decent, but that's not to say there weren't some spectacular potholes. I ended up riding with a small group who'd decided to bring plenty of weed instead of trivialities like lights and water, on account of their lack of lights or knowing which way to go. As I (and my lights) went round a corner outside Moreton, one of them hit a particularly deep and otherwise easily-spotted pothole, and went right over the bars.
So yeah. Lights are a pretty good idea, really. If yours are of the low-end be-seen variety (rather than the 'frikkin lasers' popular with committed night-riders), with a narrow or otherwise suboptimal beam, I recommend a head torch (alpkit.com do a very good value one) as a nice cheap way to fill in the gaps so you don't miss potholes etc, as well as being generally useful for roadside fettling, rummaging in bags, and so on.
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Frikkin' lasers (or at least a 3W LED dynamo light or a Hope Vision 1 of similar power*) do take the strain off a lot though, since you don't have to concentrate really hard to see any potholes. I used to think a Schmidt E6 halogen lamp was the mutt's nuts (and I still miss the economically narrow beam pattern) but it did require a certain amount of squinting down the yellow tunnel** to see what was coming.
*although the Hope on full power consumes about 4W but is less bright than a B&M Cyo pulling 2.4W when you get them side by side
**this is not a perversion popular among middle-aged Germans
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No chance, but if I do it again I'll probably do it in reverse.
Leisurely train (or cycle) to Dunwich on Saturday afternoon, and leave 7pm-ish and head back to Hackney watching hundreds of people coming the other way.
Getting home from Hackney is considerably easier than getting home from Dunwich.
Genius. Because trains to the sticks are more plentiful on a Saturday. So next year, expect to see FRICKIN' LAZERS heading south and west. Onna 'bent.
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No chance, but if I do it again I'll probably do it in reverse.
Leisurely train (or cycle) to Dunwich on Saturday afternoon, and leave 7pm-ish and head back to Hackney watching hundreds of people coming the other way.
Getting home from Hackney is considerably easier than getting home from Dunwich.
Genius. Because trains to the sticks are more plentiful on a Saturday. So next year, expect to see FRICKIN' LAZERS heading south and west. Onna 'bent.
I had that idea about 4 years ago (it's probably in Chris N's Old Place archive), but shelved it when my mad father-in-law offered to pick me up from the beach at 6am every year.
Remember - if anyone wants a lift back to Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, St Neots or Bedford then there will be a couple of spare seats and a bike rack.
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... Stopping occasionally helps, too, and is one of the reasons this sort of thing is easier in a group. ...
So, join Team yacf slow. ;D
So yeah. Lights are a pretty good idea, really. ...
If you can afford one, something like the Hope Vision 1 (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Hope_Vision_1_LED_Front_Light_2009/5360035056/) is a good choice (I'd hunt around for the best price, I just used the Wiggle link for convenience).
The Crops NRX35 (http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LICRNRX35/crops-nrx35-3w-led-alloy-headlight) (at Planet-X) looks interesting, but I've no idea how good it is.
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For those staying over locally and returning by train on Monday 26th in the afternoon/evening, there are still some £8 and £10 one-way tickets but cycle reservations are getting slim. Book now!
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Here's a little bit of Street View goodness (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sibton&sll=51.672635,-1.897888&sspn=0.006188,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sibton,+Saxmundham,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.288204,1.493915&spn=0.003216,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.288273,1.493802&panoid=vkzip53Mrz62FaCFg0Uxcg&cbp=12,127.69,,0,5) for you.
When you get this far, you know you've made it.
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Here's a little bit of Street View goodness (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sibton&sll=51.672635,-1.897888&sspn=0.006188,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sibton,+Saxmundham,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.288204,1.493915&spn=0.003216,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.288273,1.493802&panoid=vkzip53Mrz62FaCFg0Uxcg&cbp=12,127.69,,0,5) for you.
When you get this far, you know you've made it.
Is that the First Sign?
Gods, it is, isn't it? My legs just pumped up and there's a disturbing thrumming sound deep in my innards. How the hell can one road-sign make a person so pumped and happy when they're not even near it? ;D ;D ;D ;D
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And doesn't the next sign say "Dunwich 8". ;D
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Here's a little bit of Street View goodness (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sibton&sll=51.672635,-1.897888&sspn=0.006188,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sibton,+Saxmundham,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.288204,1.493915&spn=0.003216,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.288273,1.493802&panoid=vkzip53Mrz62FaCFg0Uxcg&cbp=12,127.69,,0,5) for you.
When you get this far, you know you've made it.
I remember that place, flying like a maniac with auntie C on me rear wheel, trying to catch a group of YACF riders. :D
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Here's a little bit of Street View goodness (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sibton&sll=51.672635,-1.897888&sspn=0.006188,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sibton,+Saxmundham,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.288204,1.493915&spn=0.003216,0.013733&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.288273,1.493802&panoid=vkzip53Mrz62FaCFg0Uxcg&cbp=12,127.69,,0,5) for you.
When you get this far, you know you've made it.
Is that the First Sign?
Gods, it is, isn't it? My legs just pumped up and there's a disturbing thrumming sound deep in my innards. How the hell can one road-sign make a person so pumped and happy when they're not even near it? ;D ;D ;D ;D
It is indeed the Most Photographed Road Sign in the Suffolk Coastal district.
(http://www.peeble.com/dunrun6.jpg)
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No chance, but if I do it again I'll probably do it in reverse.
Leisurely train (or cycle) to Dunwich on Saturday afternoon, and leave 7pm-ish and head back to Hackney watching hundreds of people coming the other way.
Getting home from Hackney is considerably easier than getting home from Dunwich.
Genius. Because trains to the sticks are more plentiful on a Saturday. So next year, expect to see FRICKIN' LAZERS heading south and west. Onna 'bent.
I had that idea about 4 years ago (it's probably in Chris N's Old Place archive), but shelved it when my mad father-in-law offered to pick me up from the beach at 6am every year.
It's much easier to cycle back. :)
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And doesn't the next sign say "Dunwich 8". ;D
Something like that, I can remember the first time I saw that sign and I was well knackered and right peed off when I saw the next sign.
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Thx for the advice guys ;D
My front light is a cateye solar charging job, but since I havent ridden in the dark since I got the bike i dunno how bright it is yet....
I joined a 50 mile CTC ride yesterday that had some nasty hilly bits in, and I am a bit stiff today with a slightly sore ass, not sure this bodes too well for going twice that far :o
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I'll fairly happily cycle 60 or 70 miles, and I expect to be knackered after the Dun Run.
If you make sure that you're riding fairly easily, you should be fine. If you had never cycled over 10 miles then it would be inadvisable, but you're clearly capable of doing reasonable mileage, so an occasional stupid distance should be well within your capabilities.
Find a group who aren't intending to go all that fast (like us lot!) and stick with them. By this I mean, don't go faster, if they're going faster than you want to anyway, find a slower group. You want to be going slower than you are capable of at that start, since things are not going to get any easier.
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I went out and did a 100-ish ride last weekend, with most of it on pretty flat roads (although there were some lumpy bits up the wolds) round places that I know reasonably well, fairly straightforward route and roads, really easy pace and no time pressure, and with an aged parent with a car hanging around most of the day near the phone in case I rang to say 'come rescue me!' - just because it felt valuable to me to have the reassurance that I could sit in the saddle and keep turning the pedals for long enough. I found it really useful - I wasn't fast, but I got round it and mostly enjoyed it, and that's been a big confidence boost.
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Hardcore, CL!
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Brilliant, Crinkly!
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It gets stranger - today I rode to Garsdale. That's like proper lumpy!
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LOL @ lumpy
I'm seriously considering doing this, althought it would necessitate leaving my 16 year old son looking after my 13 year old daughter and 2 dogs while I was gone :-\
I'm thinking it would be easiest to drive to Dunwich, abandon car then get train to London cuz if I arrive that knackered I can always sleep in the car some before I drive home to Somerset ... is this a mad idea? ;D
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Of course it's a mad idea. That's why we are all doing it.
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What is the name of the nearest station to Dunwich? 8)
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Darsham. It's aout 6 miles from Dunwich beach.
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Ipswich is the nearest one with space for more than a couple of bikes; although I believe the train staff at Darsham have been very generous in the past
or Manningtree if you want to use the Network Card / Groupsave discounts.
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Sorry if I'm being dense (more so than usual!) here, but I've never taken a bike on a train before ... can I stay with my bike while it's on the train or would I have to take heavy locks and cables and stuff for it while its on there?
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That depends on the train.
Darsham is on the Lowestoft - Ipswich branch line and at weekends I think it's a 1 or 2 coach service, all trains terminating at Ipswich. There's a cubby-hole for bikes which is not totally inaccessible and you can sit nearby.
I caught a train from Darsham to Shenfield (it was Lowestoft to Lpoo St) last Wednesday and that had a good area for bikes - a rack sticking out of the wall. I've never locked my bike in a train.
If you go to Ipswich or Stowmarket, that's the main London - Norwich line and there's a good chance that you will catch the Norwich Express - a really lovely old-fashioned all-electric Inter-City 125, with a massive guard's van. Your bike will go in the guard's van with 30 or 40 others and you will go to sleep in coach B.
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Some train operators specifically instruct you not to lock your bike to the train. If you've got to sit a long way from it it may be worth immobilising a wheel, but it's generally not worth the bother. I usually make do with removing obviously nickable objects (lights, GPS, etc.) from the bike. Specifics of cycle provision vary massively with the rolling stock and operating company.
http://www.atob.org.uk/Bike_Rail.html (http://www.atob.org.uk/Bike_Rail.html) Is a useful resource.
The eastcoast.co.uk website allows you to make cycle reservations online when you book tickets.
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Thx for that, I have booked my ticket from Ipswich to London with bike on the saturday for £8 ;D
Zomg I have to actually do it now, I'm gunna arrive in London at 16:45 and I actually don't know a living soul in London ... yikes! Anyone got room for some chick who can only average about 12 mph in their peleton? ;D
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Sorry if I'm being dense (more so than usual!) here, but I've never taken a bike on a train before ... can I stay with my bike while it's on the train or would I have to take heavy locks and cables and stuff for it while its on there?
In four years of bike-on-training I've never locked my bike on a train, even when it's been in a different (guard's van) coach to where I am seated.
I might consider it if I was travelling London to Scotland or similar (where I'm likely to fall asleep / be less attentive) and deploy a Mickey Mouse lock to deal with that.
But generally - no - no lock.
You should be fine on any of the trains returning from Darsham / Ipswich / etc
As an aside, with apologies if it has already been mentioned upthread, my top tip to those embarking on the DD for the first time is get some (advance) sleep.
(Its a bit like making yourself go to the loo when you don't really need to. But different.)
I'll be doing my fourth DD in as many years, as well as more FNRttC's than I'd care to count.
No way would I find any as enjoyable had I not managed to grab / force myself to kip for a few hours prior to the ride(s).
I've done night rides sans kip and, yes, they're do-able. But I'd try to steer you away from that 03:37AM feeling of "I've really, really, really got to get some sleep. Right now. Here."
It's not a good place to be.
Getting some shut-eye beforehand works for me.
EDIT - A self-evident bit of cross-posting going on here....
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a really lovely old-fashioned all-electric Inter-City 125, with a massive guard's van.
not quite true; Inter City 125s are diesel trains with a pretty pokey bike compartment (although now a vast improvement on when they first came out and banned all bikes)
the Norwich line trains have a rake of Mk III coaches same as the IC125s but has an electric loco at one end and an empty and bike friendly driving trailer at the other end (and were previously used with a diesel engine on the Edinburgh-Glasgow service)
just be careful to exit the bike space via the right door and avoid being threatened with arrest if you use the guard's door (don't ask how I know this)
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Inter City 125s are the worlds fastest Diesel trains.
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Seating:Coach: B
Seats: 02A
space for 1 bicycle
it dusnt tell me wot my train will be like
mebe I should get round to fitting those security wheel and seat clamp pins I got that can only be opened when the bike is upside down ;D
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a really lovely old-fashioned all-electric Inter-City 125, with a massive guard's van.
not quite true; Inter City 125s are diesel trains with a pretty pokey bike compartment (although now a vast improvement on when they first came out and banned all bikes)
the Norwich line trains have a rake of Mk III coaches same as the IC125s but has an electric loco at one end and an empty and bike friendly driving trailer at the other end (and were previously used with a diesel engine on the Edinburgh-Glasgow service)
The Edinburgh - Glasgow push - pulls ?
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As an aside, with apologies if it has already been mentioned upthread, my top tip to those embarking on the DD for the first time is get some (advance) sleep.
I'll be doing my fourth DD in as many years, as well as more FNRttC's than I'd care to count.
No way would I find any as enjoyable had I not managed to grab / force myself to kip for a few hours prior to the ride(s).
I've done night rides sans kip and, yes, they're do-able. But I'd try to steer you away from that 03:37AM feeling of "I've really, really, really got to get some sleep. Right now. Here."
It's not a good place to be.
Getting some shut-eye beforehand works for me.
EDIT - A self-evident bit of cross-posting going on here....
hehe mebe a 3-4 hour drive and a train ride before I set off isn't the bestest plan then? :o
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a really lovely old-fashioned all-electric Inter-City 125, with a massive guard's van.
not quite true; Inter City 125s are diesel trains with a pretty pokey bike compartment (although now a vast improvement on when they first came out and banned all bikes)
the Norwich line trains have a rake of Mk III coaches same as the IC125s but has an electric loco at one end and an empty and bike friendly driving trailer at the other end (and were previously used with a diesel engine on the Edinburgh-Glasgow service)
The Edinburgh - Glasgow push - pulls ?
yep; before that it was a 27 at each end of a mkII rake; DMU's took over after the 47s
Princes Street Gardens|A Glasgow Queen Street bound class 47 <I>Push-Pull</I> service accelerates through Edinburgh Princes Street gardens on 11th May 1985.
(http://www.railbrit.co.uk/imageenlarge/imagecomplete2.php?id=23165)
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The driving car used to be an old converted brake coach I believe
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The driving car used to be an old converted brake coach I believe
yes a MkII one; with half the seats;
but they replaced them with full MkIII non passenger carrying trailers (from the old West Coast sets) when they introduced Pendolinos
(interestingly numbered as class 82 as the electric locos which used to ply the same line and carry the same numbers were all scrapped by then)
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Thx for that, I have booked my ticket from Ipswich to London with bike on the saturday for £8 ;D
Zomg I have to actually do it now, I'm gunna arrive in London at 16:45 and I actually don't know a living soul in London ... yikes! Anyone got room for some chick who can only average about 12 mph in their peleton? ;D
12 mph is way too fast for us but you are welcome to join our little troupe. :thumbsup:
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Thx for that, I have booked my ticket from Ipswich to London with bike on the saturday for £8 ;D
Zomg I have to actually do it now, I'm gunna arrive in London at 16:45 and I actually don't know a living soul in London ... yikes! Anyone got room for some chick who can only average about 12 mph in their peleton? ;D
12 mph is way too fast for us but you are welcome to join our little troupe. :thumbsup:
awesome :thumbsup:, I expect my speed is likely to drop further when I go past the furthest_distance_I_ever_cycled mark! Is sleeping in ditches allowed during this event?
All I need to do now is buy a decent front light and sommat warm to wear, I only have short legged shorts so far and none of them foot cover thingies for if it rains
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Two years ago I was seriously under-dressed: I didn't take longs and I needed them and it was about the coldest I have ever been on a bike. Last year was a beautiful warm dry night but at about 5.30 a.m. the heavens opened and didn't close again until about 8. I had listened to the weather forecast and decided to do without a waterproof...
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hehe mebe a 3-4 hour drive and a train ride before I set off isn't the bestest plan then? :o
Depending on the weather, and what time you arrive, you can probably grab some dozing time in the park before the start. Of course if the weather is good, it'll be knee deep in people shortly before most cyclists leave.
... Is sleeping in ditches allowed during this event? ...
I think bus shelters and the doorways of churches is more traditional. You will need a beard and sandals to cycle in however. ;D
Clothes-wise, watch the forecast on a site which gives detailed forecasts (like XCWeather (http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/dunwich)), and see what the overnight temperature is likely to be. Something long to cover legs could be a good idea, but sometimes at this time of the year it can be very mild.
The Solstice WARTY had temperatures around 4°C overnight, that was very brisk, but a week later the FNRttC had temperatures which only got as low as around 15°C, which was pretty comfortable in shorts and short sleeved jerseys.
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Surely the correct approach to anything involving British weather is to pack for all possible conditions including 'Arctic' and 'monsoon', but to accidentally forget to bring any sunblock? This doesn't actually guarantee that you'll end up slogging along into a headwind with tonnes of un-needed kit in astoundingly hot weather, eventually culminating in dehydration/hyponatraemia/sunburn, but it's close.
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hehe thx, well I don't rlly have the budget for those assos bib tights I had been eyeing up for the winter so maybe some wiggle own brand legwarmers will do the trick. I think I would much rather be overdressed and take stuff off than freezing and wet :thumbsup:
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i'm still sitting on a fence for this ride, if the weather is good i'll ride to dunwich and back, but if it rains i'll probably skip it
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Surely the correct approach to anything involving British weather is to pack for all possible conditions including 'Arctic' and 'monsoon', but to accidentally forget to bring any sunblock?
You jest, but last year's Dun Run I got sunburn. :-[
Team Slow was exceptionally, magnificently slow. I blame Aunty C!
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Best bring the sunblock, it'll be my fault this year...
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I got sunburnt on the last Friday Night Ride to the Coast, although that may have had something to do with sitting outside of the Cafe drinking beer until 2pm. ;D
i'm still sitting on a fence for this ride, if the weather is good i'll ride to dunwich and back, but if it rains i'll probably skip it
If it rains I'm buggered if I'm going to cart a tent and whatnot to pitch them in the drizzle. Attendance is definitely dependent on a good forecast.
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I think imma kit my car out with an airbed and sleeping bag in it so I can crash out in there when I arrive if its raining :D
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Now I may be being a bit panicky here but, in order to smooth my passage onto a train home, I looked at an unpadded bike bag in Evans in The Cut today. Although it would work it would still be rather bulky to carry.
After discussing this with one of the guys there, he reckoned that he could put a zip into one of their tough plastic bags for keeping a bike in the garden and it would work out a lot smaller and lighter.
If anyone else is interested in such an item, let me know and I'll pass it on to him.
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I got sunburnt on the last Friday Night Ride to the Coast, although that may have had something to do with sitting outside of the Cafe drinking beer until 2pm. ;D
i'm still sitting on a fence for this ride, if the weather is good i'll ride to dunwich and back, but if it rains i'll probably skip it
If it rains I'm buggered if I'm going to cart a tent and whatnot to pitch them in the drizzle. Attendance is definitely dependent on a good forecast.
As long as it isn't constant rain I'll still ride and take the Inbred - the ultimate foul-weather bike. I have the benefit of a chauffeur-driven car to get into after breakfast, and having to wait for the coaches and/or get on a train dripping all over other people would put me off.
It chucked it down in 2006 - my computer crapped out at Darsham when it couldn't take any more - but no-one really minded. Starting off in the rain is somewhat harder to do.
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These last posts have brought the Blue Moon Ride back to me. That was 3 years ago last Wednesday and curiously Charlotte, Annie and I were at Dunwich for the anniversary. The weather was rather better though.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/9223-2/DSC05608.JPG)
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Sheesh - we needed boats for the BMR, not bikes!
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Pulling out of Dunwich. Gammy knee doesn't like more than a couple of hours at a go. If the magic knee faeries fix it in the meantime, expect a surprise attendance.
I has a sad like unto missing Christmas. :(
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That is most woeful news. Gateless in Dunwich... :(
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:( at the lack of Mr Gates. My knee is holding up to short rides, I'm going to try some longer ones in the week and hopefully a mini-tourette at the weekend. Avoiding fixed for the moment on advie from the physio.
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For shame! Was looking forward to seeing your kayak on the beach too.
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Pulling out of Dunwich. Gammy knee doesn't like more than a couple of hours at a go. If the magic knee faeries fix it in the meantime, expect a surprise attendance.
I has a sad like unto missing Christmas. :(
Bugger. Yea, verily and with the full gamut of emotional expression: bugger.
I can't imagine a DD without you, Andy. It won't be the same :(
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:( Was looking forward to seeing you again :(
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Pray for the knee faeries. But I don't have the miles in my legs, and I can't put the miles in -- had to pull out of a 100k this weekend -- so it's looking very very unlikely. :'(
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We shouldn't pressure you - that's unfair. Look after yourself, mate, and we'll see you in good time when you're unborked. :)
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Be not downcast! We can get The Gates to Dunwich!
All we need is a Yuba Mondo or a Brox, or a Pedicab at a push, and someone damn fool enough to pedal them. I know for a fact Auntie C has the bikes; we just need a volunteer to be the fool. 8)
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All we need is a Yuba Mondo or a Brox, or a Pedicab at a push, and someone damn fool enough to pedal them. ... we just need a volunteer to be the fool.
Well you suggested it Kathy, it would be impolite of the rest of us to jump in before you. ;D
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I suspect that you would want a team or, if you will, a ship, of fools...
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I've pedaled Mr Gates + luggage from Ealing Broadway station to Chateau Bicycleslut onna Yuba Mundo before. It's about a mile and was well enough for both of us...
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Charlotte, I believe you mentioned, upthread, that it was 'carry ridiculous loads to the beach' year for this Dun Run. :demon:
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I can haz diet? O:-)
But C was probably fed up of me screaming like a gurl. I don't do pillion!
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So plan B it is: "acquire" a pedicab. :smug:
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Andy, inna chariot, pulled by relays of pony-girls/boys....:-)
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<Wonders what weight the trailer is rated to>
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Andy, inna chariot, pulled by relays of pony-girls/boys....:-)
That’s by far the most interesting Cluedo solution I have ever read.
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:( at the lack of Mr Gates. My knee is holding up to short rides, I'm going to try some longer ones in the week and hopefully a mini-tourette at the weekend. Avoiding fixed for the moment on advie from the physio.
I'd avoid tourettes if I were you. Didn't do Mozart any good.
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Pulling out of Dunwich. Gammy knee doesn't like more than a couple of hours at a go.
:(
Though I can't help wondering if there's perhaps a creative solution to this problem involving some sort of aquatic paddle-based transport that doesn't require the use of knees to propel. Bending the rules a bit to allow for a Thames-based start point and alternate route doesn't seem unreasonable, given the circumstances... ;D
I am, however, feeling much more confident about my own chances of completing the Dun Run, after this weekend's successful outing of the loaded SMGT. :thumbsup:
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I am, however, feeling much more confident about my own chances of completing the Dun Run, after this weekend's successful outing of the loaded SMGT. :thumbsup:
I can verify that Streetmachine knows it's way to Dunwich.
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Aye, it was my first Dun Run...
[/wistfulflashbackmode]
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What sort of time will people be gathering on London Fields?
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Reckon I'll be there for six.
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My train gets to Euston at 18:34, so I should arrive at some point before seven. Unless there's another bioterrorist attack on New Street (read: batch of dodgy police sandwiches) and I have to make alternate travel arrangements, in which case I'll probably catch up with Team Slow somewhere in murky Essex.
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between six and seven here too. What're people going to do for food before the off?
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For nutrition, the pub serves cider, and there's a Chinese takeaway around the corner. :thumbsup:
Next question: how are the campers planning on returning? I'm contemplating getting an early-afternoon train from Ipswich, 30 miles from the beach.
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I think that's our plan, for the Monday afternoon that is.
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I think that's our plan, for the Monday afternoon that is.
I'd book tickets in advance if I were you. The 14:42 on Monday from Ipswich to Liverpool St is currently £8 per person, as opposed to £30ish. It takes bikes, but you have to reserve a space (free of charge, but an 0845 number), and a tandem counts as two spaces.
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I think that's our plan, for the Monday afternoon that is.
I'd book tickets in advance if I were you. The 14:42 on Monday from Ipswich to Liverpool St is currently £8 per person, as opposed to £30ish. It takes bikes, but you have to reserve a space (free of charge, but an 0845 number), and a tandem counts as two spaces.
Go to
Cheapest Train Tickets for the East Coast > East Coast
(http://www.eastcoast.co.uk) and put in the bike reservations for yourself and ask them to deliver it by 1st class post all paid for within the £8.
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I just searched The Train Line 'til I found the cheapest ticket, then phoned The National Express number, told them what I wanted to buy and that I wanted to reserve a bike space. They're posting me the tickets for free too. :smug:
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I just searched The Train Line 'til I found the cheapest ticket, then phoned The National Express number, told them what I wanted to buy and that I wanted to reserve a bike space. They're posting me the tickets for free too. :smug:
Fair enough, but being able to do it all on one website, with no phone calls, is much easier. It also removes the possibility of buying the train tickets and finding the bicycle spaces have just been taken.
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Pulling out of Dunwich. Gammy knee doesn't like more than a couple of hours at a go. If the magic knee faeries fix it in the meantime, expect a surprise attendance.
OK we shall continue to expect the surprise.
I am due at Victoria at 19:12, and ludicrously excited about the prospect of my first Dun Run.
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I am due at Victoria at 19:12, and ludicrously excited about the prospect of my first Dun Run.
Excellent, and probably well overdue.
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my first Dun Run
I'm finding that hard to believe. In fact I am quite sure I've seen you on the Dun Run :P
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I am due at Victoria at 19:12, and ludicrously excited about the prospect of my first Dun Run.
Should I save you a cake this time?
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Aye, it was my first Dun Run...
[/wistfulflashbackmode]
Ah, those halcyon days ... I recollect riding behind you on those last few miles into Dunwich, with Nutty diving behind a haystack for, as the TdeF commentators say, a call of nature.
IIRC that was the Dun Run where young Chuffy met the lovely BaggY was it not?
Rob
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I thought Baggy was a bloke. Maybe he is...?
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Pretty sure that Baggy is of the lady persuasion. Definitely some identifying characteristics. O:-)
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I am due at Victoria at 19:12, and ludicrously excited about the prospect of my first Dun Run.
Should I save you a cake this time?
Yes please
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lookin forward to my 1st dun run too :D
Got my train tickets but the light I ordered hasn't yet arrived. My assos chamois cream arrived though ;D
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much underprepared, but in for a penny - leaving north suffolk about 8am - sudbury, braintree, keep headin south; stop eat turnaround and go back. dry and warm please :)
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Did 4 laps of the park and some stretching. Mr Knee no likee... :(
Will keep trying.
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Did 4 laps of the park and some stretching. Mr Knee no likee... :(
Will keep trying.
Then you must rest. Don't do too much, if a little is hurting then a lot could be really bad news. I could knit you a new knee if you like?
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... I could knit you a new knee if you like?
You are Nelly [1], and I claim my five pounds. ;D
Footnote [1]: From Noah and Nelly (http://www.thechestnut.com/noah-nelly.htm).
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Did 4 laps of the park and some stretching. Mr Knee no likee... :(
Will keep trying.
Then you must rest. Don't do too much, if a little is hurting then a lot could be really bad news. I could knit you a new knee if you like?
I seem to remember telling someone else to take things easy recently.......hmmmmm ?
Could you make the new one slightly less knobbly ?
:-*
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I think that's our plan, for the Monday afternoon that is.
I'd book tickets in advance if I were you. The 14:42 on Monday from Ipswich to Liverpool St is currently £8 per person, as opposed to £30ish. It takes bikes, but you have to reserve a space (free of charge, but an 0845 number), and a tandem counts as two spaces.
Go to
Cheapest Train Tickets for the East Coast > East Coast
(http://www.eastcoast.co.uk) and put in the bike reservations for yourself and ask them to deliver it by 1st class post all paid for within the £8.
Great. We're booked in on that train with bike reservations too.
But it's gone up to £10 each...
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I have booked my train for the TUESDAY, in order to ensure a peaceful train journey. Actually, I have family in Lowestoft (they have a PUB! bonus!), and I figure that I can continue up the coast to there, where there are showers, beers and beds awaiting me. Although I am slightly dreading that last 30k up the coast.
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I really need to make some sort of plan for what to do afterwards. I'm thinking of heading west in search of trains that don't go via London, for novelty value, or something. Possibly involving more camping.
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Mrs. Wow and I will be camping for a few days, basically a meandering route home.
I seem to remember that there's a very cheap ticket from Peterborough to Brum, and some trains from Stowmarket end up at Peterborough.
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Ugh, this is all looking as suboptimal as everything else.
I'm wary of the recumbent on the CrossCountry trains out of Peterborough, on account of the silly dangly bike spaces. According to my measurements it *should* fit, assuming I can get enough leverage to lift it to hang by the back wheel, but I'd prefer to test that on a less critical journey without a load of luggage to worry about first.
If I follow the Londoners back via Ipswich, and then hang around in London for a few hours, I can get a known-good train back to Brum fairly cheaply.
Cycle-camping all the way back to Brum appeals theoretically, but I'm nervous about stamina after the dun run...
Sodit, I'm booking the London tickets. Epic tours of the Midlands can wait until I haven't just finished a silly-long ride and camped on a beach.
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I will aim to arrive at the beach by 5am, any earlier seems silly as not expecting most of you to arrive until after that time.
I will head home later that afternoon.
See you all then.
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I have to pick up relatives from the airport, so I miss my first dun run :'(
(well first since I joined ACF/yACF)
Still it would only have gotten silly anyway...
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I have to pick up relatives from the airport, so I miss my first dun run :'(
(well first since I joined ACF/yACF)
Still it would only have gotten silly anyway...
Eh ?
isn't this you ?
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_I2koBEIwO7s/SlJqD1UJ-eI/AAAAAAAAF0Q/KBfGVJbJLZk/s400/the_launch.jpg)
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Oh.... I was hoping Godzilla might make it to the beach too.
Now, this weekend I have to bake cake for CrinkyCub the younger's birthday (OMG he's 3, when did that happen?!?!?!). So the scales and the cake tins are coming out. How many cakes do you all need? I've currently got 4 banananananana and chocolate and (I think) one chocolate with cherry jam in the freezer - what else do you all want?
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Now I wish I was doing the DunRun, your cakes are namamamamamamamamam, which reminds me we still have your cake box. Either payment since we have started to use it our self or the box needs to find its way to you.
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or the box needs to find its way to you.
Hide it on the route in a geocache style?
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Nae bother - it was only a cheapy from the supermarket that I bought because I realised I didn't have anything appropriate to transport a stoopidly big cake to londinium in :) and I don't think I've got a space in my teeny tiny kitchen big enough to keep it in anyway!
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Oh.... I was hoping Godzilla might make it to the beach too.
Now, this weekend I have to bake cake for CrinkyCub the younger's birthday (OMG he's 3, when did that happen?!?!?!). So the scales and the cake tins are coming out. How many cakes do you all need? I've currently got 4 banananananana and chocolate and (I think) one chocolate with cherry jam in the freezer - what else do you all want?
I'm planning to make two, damp apple and almond cakes. Of course there will be the usual bread containing olives and rosemary and sea-salt. I've got to get the recipe for the egg, sausage and pickle pie.
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or the box needs to find its way to you.
Hide it on the route in a geocache style?
Great idea, though I do not have time to do that before the DunRun.
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I have to pick up relatives from the airport, so I miss my first dun run :'(
(well first since I joined ACF/yACF)
Still it would only have gotten silly anyway...
Eh ?
isn't this you ?
The first time he will have missed it since joining ACF/yACF.
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Finally bought my return train ticket. It cost a whopping £16.00 — not bad for 1st class. :smug:
Anyone else on the 13:29 from Stowmarket on Sunday?
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If anyone gets stuck transportless in Dunwich on the sunday I will have my car there (I am leaving it at the end and getting a train to london on the saturday) and will be heading west ... all the way to the SW so could always drop you somewhere en-route :)
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Weather forecast keeps changing (a bit of wind and the forecasters don't have a clue about what's happening later today, let alone ten days' time) but is currently "meh" with a few mm of rain. Tailwind though.
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if the wind is anything like today we wont need to pedal...
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One week to go. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Mostly of the queues, if it's fine weather.
The halfway stop is the worst because many, many people get lost in Suffolk and take forever to reach Dunwich ;D So you start at 8pm (increasingly popular), get to the feed stop before the main crush and then end up arriving at Dunwich at silly o'clock. The alternatives are self-sufficiency with a thermos flask, standing for an hour in the cold waiting for a cup of tea or just getting water and pushing on, which is what we did last year.
I remember five years ago when you could leave at 8.30pm, ride fairly slowly and only have a couple of minutes' queue halfway and no queue at the finish. The good news is that the beach cafe opens amazingly early - at about 4am - so few people have ever been so early that they had to wait.
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Is anyone planning a fast-ish ride? I've got to be in Limehouse for a friend's christening (well, friend's baby's christening, really) at 1:30 pm, so need to get back to Ipswich by about 10 am. Would therefore hope to be at Dunwich by 6 in order to get some breakfast and have a leisurely pace back to Ipswich.
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Would therefore hope to be at Dunwich by 6 in order to get some breakfast and have a leisurely pace back to Ipswich.
I was there just before 07:00 last year and at that point there was a breakfast queue somewhere in the order of 2hrs.
I didn't wait, just rode straight on to Diss.
According to Barry, yesterday
...previous convoy back record well broken.
Your breakfast may not be as swiftly forthcoming as you would like.
You might consider catching a train from Stowmarket rather than Ipswich, I believe Stowmarket has a very good cafe near the station which a few from here used last year.
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I've never bothered to get food at the halfway point even when the queues were short (pre 2005, I guess) 3 banana sandwiches became a bit of private joke between me and the people I used to ride it with as that is what I took with me for three years running. That and a flask of really strong black proper coffee. That used to be enough to get me there. I don't plan on using the cafe this year-(although previous breakfasts were good) It will be mad, I'm sure. If I go (some of you know why there's an if) I will be taking camping kit and breakfast with me and will be happy to share my fried egg sandwiches and a cup of tea with a few people ( 5 at the most, though, only taking one box of eggs).
Will head back one or two days later, when the rush has died down.
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thanks Jurek - good tip, though Stowmarket looks quite a lot farther than Ipswich.
I'm only going if the weather is decent, so a few sandwiches and loads of energy bars should do me fine for breakfast.
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I'm going to Stowmarket. It's about 31 miles compared with 22 miles to Ipswich, although the actual route is easier from a hilly point of view, and more pleasant from a looking at countryside point of view.
If the weather remains OK, then I wouldn't be surprised if the cafe is even busier than last year.
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The cafe queue was tolerable at 0435 last year - about 15 minutes long. Of course, we have Annie this year.
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Yep. You will indeed have me. ;)
Just returned from Dunwich, via Walberswick. Wowbagger had a dip in the sea. I remained on the beach, plagued by hundreds of little black flying objects.
It is my longest day ride in over a year. I'm shattered and absolutely ravenous.
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Yep. You will indeed have me. ;)
Just returned from Dunwich, via Walberswick. Wowbagger had a dip in the sea. I remained on the beach, plagued by hundreds of little black flying objects.
It is my longest day ride in over a year. I'm shattered and absolutely ravenous.
There's a lot of meat on a Wowbagger.
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Yep. You will indeed have me. ;)
Just returned from Dunwich, via Walberswick. Wowbagger had a dip in the sea. I remained on the beach, plagued by hundreds of little black flying objects.
It is my longest day ride in over a year. I'm shattered and absolutely ravenous.
There's a lot of meat on a Wowbagger.
I discussed the topc of eating men, some time this afternoon when I wasn't quite on this planet. I think we parted company shortly afterwards.
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:o
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I think it's Annie's ambition to be a spider. From my limited knowledge of arachnology I understand that there is a condition to be fulfilled before the male becomes a meal.
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So that's why she didn't eat you.
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So that's why she didn't eat you.
Exactly.
I'll not be eating any male, anytime this decade. ;)
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So that's why she didn't eat you.
No, but you should see her tuck into my gooseberries.
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So that's why she didn't eat you.
No, but you should see her tuck into my gooseberries.
They are now safely in a jar, in my pantry. I'll be spreading them on to my toast in the morning, nom, nom.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137) that the half way stop has been moved from the village hall in Great Waldingfield to the village hall in Sible Hedingham.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137) that the half way stop has been moved from the village hall in Great Waldingfield to the village hall in Sible Hedingham.
Blimey! If that's still half-way then there's been an awful lot of erosion. Dunwich looked exactly the same as usual when Annie & I were sunning ourselves there on Saturday.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137) that the half way stop has been moved from the village hall in Great Waldingfield to the village hall in Sible Hedingham.
Blimey! If that's still half-way then there's been an awful lot of erosion. Dunwich looked exactly the same as usual when Annie & I were sunning ourselves there on Saturday.
No, no.
It's inching closer to London Fields all the time.
The land loss actually takes place on the edge of a tectonic plate just outside of Whipps Cross not, as many believe, at the coast.
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A little word of warning.... there may be hundreds of flying black bugs on the beach, try not to wear white if at all possible or you will suffer.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137) that the half way stop has been moved from the village hall in Great Waldingfield to the village hall in Sible Hedingham.
That's the one from 2 years ago. A much better hall than the usual one anyway.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137) that the half way stop has been moved from the village hall in Great Waldingfield to the village hall in Sible Hedingham.
That's the one from 2 years ago. A much better hall than the usual one anyway.
I thought 2 years ago was Lavenham?
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I thought 2 years ago was Lavenham?
2 years ago was Lavenham.
And it was better than Gt Waldingfield.
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I thought 2 years ago was Lavenham?
2 years ago was Lavenham.
And it was better than Gt Waldingfield.
Ah, apologies - my mistake. It's all getting a bit of a blur.
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I thought 2 years ago was Lavenham?
2 years ago was Lavenham.
And it was better than Gt Waldingfield.
Ah, apologies - my mistake. It's all getting a bit of a blur.
'S funny what sleep-dep can do ;)
As usual, I'll be carrying my own grub.
This (http://www.hedinghamvillagehall.co.uk/views.htm) suggests to me that it might be a good idea.
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137)
That is such a good description of Mr. Mason's style :D. Fantastic :thumbsup:
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I'm looking for a volunteer to stoke the tandem to Dunwich for me and then I drop them at Darsham, sans bike, and pick Mrs. Wow up, who comes up on the train, bikeless but with some luggage, for a bit of East Anglian camping.
I wouldn't attempt the ride on a solo, partly because it just feels too complicated getting me and a bike there and back for a late and long ride, but if you don't get a better offer (and believe me, pretty much anybody would probably a better offer!) and if the stoker seat could fit a 5'1and4/5ofaninch shortarse I could really quite fancy this! I've never ever ridden a tandem (but sort of like the idea of trying one), am slow and unfit. Probably my most useful qualities are that I can make reasonable cake, and I'd add plenty of useful ballast on the descents.
In the three-ish months since I rashly signed up to this, and Wow rashly agreed to 'stokerise' me in return for nothing more than a vague promise of cake, I have:
1 ) ridden a tandem for the first time (OK, only for 10 minutes, but it still counts!)
2 ) taken part in a number of group rides
3 ) clipped in and out - eventually
4 ) ticked off the half century, and the century-ish rides
5 ) ridden from York to the seaside - twice
6 ) done a night ride
7 ) bought my first lycra - and worn said item of clothing in public :o
8 ) lost something in the region of 2 1/2 stone
9 ) 'invested' a fair bit in our railways
10 ) gone cycle-camping for the first time
11 ) baked, distributed, and eaten rather a lot of cake
oh, and made a fair few friends along the way. I don't know, the internet - what has it ever done for me? ;D
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Who will be there to say goodbye to the
nutters riders ?
I'm trying to talk Peli into joining me for a wee ride over to say hi and bye. And then we could go for something to eat after.
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I thought 2 years ago was Lavenham?
2 years ago was Lavenham.
And it was better than Gt Waldingfield.
Ah, apologies - my mistake. It's all getting a bit of a blur.
'S funny what sleep-dep can do ;)
As usual, I'll be carrying my own grub.
This (http://www.hedinghamvillagehall.co.uk/views.htm) suggests to me that it might be a good idea.
Cosy!
+1 re carrying own food.
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That is great news :)
11 ) baked, distributed, and eaten rather a lot of cake
And rather nice cake I would add too :)
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I note from the latest Barrygram (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9137)
That is such a good description of Mr. Mason's style :D. Fantastic :thumbsup:
Don't you start.
You've been barred ;D
Or was it shot? ;)
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Struck off and defrocked, I think ;D
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Struck off and defrocked, I think ;D
Thank goodness you were wearing cycling shorts underneath.
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I'm looking for a volunteer to stoke the tandem to Dunwich for me and then I drop them at Darsham, sans bike, and pick Mrs. Wow up, who comes up on the train, bikeless but with some luggage, for a bit of East Anglian camping.
I wouldn't attempt the ride on a solo, partly because it just feels too complicated getting me and a bike there and back for a late and long ride, but if you don't get a better offer (and believe me, pretty much anybody would probably a better offer!) and if the stoker seat could fit a 5'1and4/5ofaninch shortarse I could really quite fancy this! I've never ever ridden a tandem (but sort of like the idea of trying one), am slow and unfit. Probably my most useful qualities are that I can make reasonable cake, and I'd add plenty of useful ballast on the descents.
In the three-ish months since I rashly signed up to this, and Wow rashly agreed to 'stokerise' me in return for nothing more than a vague promise of cake, I have:
1 ) ridden a tandem for the first time (OK, only for 10 minutes, but it still counts!)
2 ) taken part in a number of group rides
3 ) clipped in and out - eventually
4 ) ticked off the half century, and the century-ish rides
5 ) ridden from York to the seaside - twice
6 ) done a night ride
7 ) bought my first lycra - and worn said item of clothing in public :o
8 ) lost something in the region of 2 1/2 stone
9 ) 'invested' a fair bit in our railways
10 ) gone cycle-camping for the first time
11 ) baked, distributed, and eaten rather a lot of cake
oh, and made a fair few friends along the way. I don't know, the internet - what has it ever done for me? ;D
All in all a fair result
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considering bringing a Book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dunwich-Horror-Stories-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141038764/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279626024&sr=8-2) to read on the beach.
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considering taking a pillow to sleep on the beach ;D
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Considering Am taking a mat, sleeping bag and tent for sleeping at Dunwich.
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Bah! The gravel will shift sufficiently to cradle me as I drift off for a snooze (there being a distinct lack of bus shelters on Dunwich beach).
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Sible Hedingham is rather better because it's actually halfway, rather than 60% of the way. However, there is no incentive to drag yourself up that false flat out of Sudbury now.
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Just found this on the LCC mailing list ...
The floor of the village hall at Great Waldingfield is taking longer to renovate than the Rye Lane contraflow so we've moved the Dunwch Dynamo half way stop away from there.....the website FAQs will soon be changed to read.....
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Around 55 miles out the village hall at Sible Hedingham
Streetmap - Maps and directions for the whole of Great Britain (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110)
will be specially opened by lovely people and you can buy hot drinks and good basic food there......
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Just found this on the LCC mailing list ...
The floor of the village hall at Great Waldingfield is taking longer to renovate than the Rye Lane contraflow so we've moved the Dunwch Dynamo half way stop away from there.....the website FAQs will soon be changed to read.....
*********************
Around 55 miles out the village hall at Sible Hedingham
Streetmap - Maps and directions for the whole of Great Britain (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110)
will be specially opened by lovely people and you can buy hot drinks and good basic food there......
Err...... like so (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21093.msg673117#msg673117) ? ;)
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Wowbagger, I just realised I never said what time I'm due to get in to Liverpool Street. TFL journey planner reckons I schould be there for about 6:30 (although I apparently have to take a couple of tube lines to get there because of engineering works, so there is the potential for Crinkly ineptitude to make me a further 10 minutes late!). Where shall we meet? Should I carry a carnation and wear a newspaper?
I have an assortment of cake recipes, and am trying to decide what to bake. Chocolate and banananananana are done and in the freezer.
What shall I do next....
Granny Annie's St Clements cake?
Great Aunty Ruth's coffee mocha cake (with chocolate coated coffee beans on)?
Aunty Kirsty's chocolate cake?
Decisions, decisions....
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I'll get the 17.28 from Prittlewell which allegedly will reach Lpoo St at 18.23, on Platform 13. If I get there before you then I'll hang around until you turn up. Then we can start our jaunt to acne.
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I'm riding; but with a friend from work so we'll do our own thing but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
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I'm riding; but with a friend from work so we'll do our own thing but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
It'll be good to see you, Martin. :)
EDIT - KOTM?
In yellow? ;)
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I'm riding; but with a friend from work so we'll do our own thing but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
It'll be good to see you, Martin. :)
EDIT - KOTM?
In yellow? ;)
err no the yellow one went to another (thinner) home
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metoffice.co.uk now have Saturday's forecast up.
Clear skies, light variable but mostly southerly winds and a minimum temperature of 13°C, 16° in Southwold. High tide 9.58 in Southwold. Some cause for cautious optimism there, methinks.
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yay now thats a relief! hope its a nice sunrise
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... but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
And when you've done that, I'll point you towards Martin. ;D
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... but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
And when you've done that, I'll point you towards Martin. ;D
have you got one too? I liked your red one most among the pre KOTM colours
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... but if you see a rider in an ill fitting YACF KOTM jersey come and say hello :)
And when you've done that, I'll point you towards Martin. ;D
have you got one too? I liked your red one most among the pre KOTM colours
Yep! It's the same size as the red one, which was the best fitting/most comfortable of my jerseys, (apart from, possibly, the (freebie) Rapha one which is now quite faded). unfortunately, I have grown slightly since and look a tad overstuffed in it (and hence the KOTM) now... Diet starts tomorrow!!!
As is apparently also the case with bikes (although I don't have one so don't speak from first hand experience) red jerseys are faster. The KOTM has some red on it so can't be too slow. I just hope I don't get left for dead by an Ordinary or a Yuba Mundo on the hill in Finchingfield!
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Notwithstanding my exciting medical adventure last weekend, I'll be there, likely on a black Brommie.
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On the Guardian website:
Endurance riders: do you have tips for a newbie? | Environment | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/21/endurance-riding-dunwich-dynamo)
(credit due to Southwark cyclist email for flagging this up)
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Notwithstanding my exciting medical adventure last weekend, I'll be there, likely on a black Brommie.
I'm thinking about it too, also on a black Brommie (no surprise there!). Will probably have to go a bit faster than last time though - I'd like to get back to Cambridge for PuntCon.
Duncan
PS All this assumes I'm allowed out - I now have a 7 week old daughter :-)
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On the Guardian website:
Endurance riders: do you have tips for a newbie? | Environment | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/21/endurance-riding-dunwich-dynamo)
(credit due to Southwark cyclist email for flagging this up)
Ye gods, there are going to be 1,500 riders this year :o
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Ye gods, there are going to be 1,500 riders this year :o
Wasn't there a similar Grauniad article last year? Rider numbers didn't go up any more than normal (for a dry event).
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Yebbut it seems to increase by 50% every year, weather effects discounted.
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I'm actually slightly nervous about this one.
The last couple of years, the Dun Run has been a frivolous little jolly to the seaside in amongst audaxing and TRATting. This year, my longest ride has been about 40 miles, my commute is beginning to leave me peckish again, and I'm probably less fit than I was the year I decided against doing it on, er, lack of fitness grounds. Oh, but I'm going to be carrying full camping equipment. Hmmm.
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Well, just regard it as 3 consecutive 40 miles rides!
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It's just a couple of FNRttCs, only done a mite slower.
Are there some Motorway services we can stop at. ;D
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Knee's feeling good enough to be stupid.
I've done even less than you, Jules. Team Slow for the eventual win?
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It's just a couple of FNRttCs, only done a mite slower.
Are there some Motorway services we can stop at. ;D
We are bringing them ourselves.
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Although I can't ride, I may just be forced to sneak out late on Saturday and chalk a giant YACF phallus/Nawhal somewhere on the route to show my support :'(
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Why not do both? It would cheer us up in Epping Forest. Even better, a narwhal halfway up Church Hill in Finchingfield; a CDC would make me giggle too much when I need the breath.
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I'm not brave enough to draw cocks in built up areas with street lighting, but we'll see! Epping forest is dangerous enough, no way I'd dodge the eejit local boyracers there to write on the road.
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I'm actually slightly nervous about this one.
So am I! I think the furthest I've been this year is Brighton, and even that saw me getting stroppy with certain hills and walking up them. I am telling myself that my new longer commute (5 whole miles!) will make all the difference to my pedalling skills. I am not sure I've convinced myself.
And! I'm hosting a cheese and whisky tasting on the Friday night, so may well end up slightly the worse for wear despite my best intentions. Bonus leftover cheese will get transformed into cheese straws for the ride. Snacky and salty and NOM!
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Knee's feeling good enough to be stupid.
I've done even less than you, Jules. Team Slow for the eventual win?
Team Knee Injury might be even slower than Team Slow. ;D
Although my knee's been quite good since France. Oh yeah, that's because I haven't ridden my bike since then...
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Good luck all. I won't be going, even to wave you off, as we'll be on a train heading Oop North that evening, but I'll be thinking of y'all!
Also, the thought of doing two FNRttCs back-to-back, fully loaded, fills me with dread (although I am quite jealous about the camping part afterwards). No way on earth am I fit enough and would end up having a meltdown. Recent touring experience has taught me that after about 65 loaded miles I start looking for pointy stabby things to kill people with, and/or start looking at the grass verge in an 'that would make an excellent place for a little lie down' type of way...
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So you do lie down and wait for dawn!
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Well I've never given into it yet, so who knows what I'd be waiting for...
One of these days...one of these days I'll do Dunwich. When I'm having a good cycling year with no nasty viruses and whatnot to waylay me.
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Team Knee Injury might be even slower than Team Slow. ;D
Ohgod. I've been getting twinges today. I'm going to avoid walking anywhere and not go near a bike (other than in a fettling sense) for the rest of the week, just to be on the safe side. And pack extra horse pills, just in case.
My knee has for the most part been suspiciously well behaved recently. I think it finds the whole recumbent thing agreeable. As of today I'm just short of having done 800 miles on it in total (the recumbent, that is, not the knee), and consistently faster than on an upright over rolling hills, so I'm really not in a position to wibble about darkside legs or lack of fitness any more. :thumbsup:
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I've just got in from an easy 25 miles with no knee twinges, I'll see if I can do that again tomorrow but I'm feeling good so far. :thumbsup:
A pity Roger didn't think to get some knee bandages in YACF colours, he'd have made a fortune !
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About 6 people asked me today when I was doing 'that ride on the tandem', and was I looking forward to it. And two people asked 'is it that thing that was in the paper about endurance riding?'.
I think that, given that my response to the former was to go 'squeee' and do a little happy dance and to the latter I answered that yes it's that ride, but it's not about endurance it's about CAKE and fun, it's probably fair to say that I'm rather looking forward to this weekend.
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I should be on the 15:48 from Liverpool, getting into Euston at 17:55. Got to pack the camping gear, do a final bike fettle and fill the hip flask with malt :thumbsup:
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If I come
T'will be with rum
Tho' not the boat
The knee's too bum.
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Pulling out of Dunwich. Gammy knee doesn't like more than a couple of hours at a go. If the magic knee faeries fix it in the meantime, expect a surprise attendance.
OK we shall continue to expect the surprise.
At this point I could deploy a smiley
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If I come
T'will be with rum
Tho' not the boat
The knee's too bum.
I've always had you down as a rum sort of chap....... ;)
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Like two FNRttC back to back you say? With luggage?
That'll be like last weekend then. Sorted.
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I've just got in from an easy 25 miles with no knee twinges, I'll see if I can do that again tomorrow but I'm feeling good so far. :thumbsup:
A pity Roger didn't think to get some knee bandages in YACF colours, he'd have made a fortune !
A few blood splashes will soon sort that.
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Thank gods, my new Hope Vision 1 light arrived today, am currently testing how long it will last on high setting with my Uniross 2700mAh batteries.
I'm going to wash my bike today since its a bit horse-crap splattered after club ride last night. I am a mixture of excited to be doing the Dun Run and thinking OMG what am I letting myself in for! ;D
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Are you joining Team Slow, Feline?
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Thank gods, my new Hope Vision 1 light arrived today, am currently testing how long it will last on high setting with my Uniross 2700mAh batteries.
I'm going to wash my bike today since its a bit horse-crap splattered after club ride last night. I am a mixture of excited to be doing the Dun Run and thinking OMG what am I letting myself in for! ;D
Should be aroudn 3 hours on full (although if the batteries are new they may need a few cycles to come up to full capacity).
I took several sets of spare batteries for my Hope last year, but in the end got round on one set only. This was a result of mainly riding on power level 2, only really cranking it up when descending.
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Are you joining Team Slow, Feline?
yep yep, if they will have me ;D
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Thanks for the info oaky, it is the new battery issue that made me think I should test it, I have 3 brand new sets of batteries and can't decide if I should take 8 of them or all 12 with me. I do have one of those little bendy frog lights as backup incase I plunge into sudden darkness when Hope turns itself off :)
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Just ride alongside Kim on her bent. That's what I did on the night ride to Cleethorpes... rather good lights, and as an added bonus, Kim also does a very good sideline in interesting nattering and being remarkably pleasant :)
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Are you joining Team Slow, Feline?
yep yep, if they will have me ;D
The more the merrier! Come and say hello if you see me :)
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It will be great to meet you all in the flesh :)
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NEVER
say that to Hummers.
Team Speed, currently mike and me, departs at 8pm if anyone's interested.
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It will be great to meet you all in the flesh :)
I've got plenty of flesh to meet. :-\
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Just out of curiosity, how fast is team speed likely to be. Or more realistically, how leisurely will team slow be?
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Just out of curiosity, how fast is team speed likely to be. Or more realistically, how leisurely will team slow be?
Team Slow's moving average is unlikely to exceed 10 mph. There will also be stops for brewing, cake etc.
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Team slow - well I intend to join them as we're planning on hauling a trailer and camping gear all the way to Dunwich.
How many of us are lugging tents there?
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How many of us are lugging tents there?
I will be, although I'll be trying to get everything into a pair of panniers (and possibly bag strapped on top of the rack if necessary). I'd like to fit the bar bag, but I've yet to find a reliable way to fit it and the lights (and I'm out of fettling time anyway).
10mph average sounds good to me. That'll get us there around 8am-ish (assuming an 8pm-ish departure).
I'm trying to work out where the yacf posse met up last year. Was it in the park near Martello Terrace?
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How many of us are lugging tents there?
I will be, although I'll be trying to get everything into a pair of panniers (and possibly bag strapped on top of the rack if necessary). I'd like to fit the bar bag, but I've yet to find a reliable way to fit it and the lights (and I'm out of fettling time anyway).
10mph average sounds good to me. That'll get us there around 8am-ish (assuming an 8pm-ish departure).
I'm trying to work out where the yacf posse met up last year. Was it in the park near Martello Terrace?
Think so -- If you stood in the park looking at the pub we congregated just to the right of it.
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Think so -- If you stood in the park looking at the pub we congregated just to the right of it.
That's what I recalled, but I can't find the pub in Google Streetview (but their coverage is a bit patchy around there).
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NEVER
say that to Hummers.
Team Speed, currently mike and me, departs at 8pm if anyone's interested.
I might see if I can hang on.
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I'm aiming for 16-17mph average. I shall not be on the Brompton now - probably the 50s 3-speed racer again, if I can stop the rear mudguard squeaking. Or the Hewitt, but it weighs a ton and Marathon Racers don't roll as well as they're meant to.
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I'm getting very excited and I am not riding.
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I just noticed they have now completely changed the weather forecast to potential rain but with a tail wind at the start of the ride :o
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I'll be there at the finish, doing a ride via some flat areas on the way up ;D
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I now have to be at work early on Monday so won't be camping. >:(
I had considered riding a ridiculous bike (http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/2x4.htm) again this year as it has a rack on it, but as I don't have to carry camping gear, I'll be on the fixie with decent lights instead.
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Ah...the days when a fixie was considered a ridiculous bike. Since the penny, a unicycle and the wobblebike, only a Brox or a Sinclair A-bike will cut it.
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I just noticed they have now completely changed the weather forecast to potential rain but with a tail wind at the start of the ride :o
It looks to be pretty light rain however (finger crossed).
...or a Sinclair A-bike will cut it.
I'd be impressed by anyone who finished the ride on an A-bike. Actually, I'd be impressed by anyone who could cycle one across London to the start. ;D
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10mph average sounds good to me. That'll get us there around 8am-ish (assuming an 8pm-ish departure).
Wowbagger was talking about a moving average. It's 112.7 miles (call it 113.5 this year with the Sible Hedingham stop) so add an hour and a half of stops and you're looking at 9am or later. I intend to be in Bedfordshire, both literally and metaphorically, by then :)
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Having noticed Rogers post (in the "What are you doing know" thread) about hunting down a GPS route, I had a quick search, and found a likely looking one.
The one I've found was a little on the large size, so I've GPSBabeled it down to 500 points which will keep the Active 10's uploading software from winging. It's on GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mlianutbqxcgkdvi), and hopefully a reasonable rendition of the actual route.
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I plunge into sudden darkness when Hope turns itself off :)
It's not really likely to happen.
Run the Hope on 'blinky' while you are in streetlights - ie: not much at all, because if you leave at a sensible time the streetlights will run out before the daylight does.
And, unless your eyesight is poor, you're unlikely to need to crank it up to more than Vol II or Vol III for the darkest parts.
Vol IV on the Hope is waaayyy brighter than you're likely to need for any conditions on the Dun Run.
Trust me when I tell you that you'll be fine with one set of fully stuffed AA's.
As a worst case scenario if you run your Hope on Vol II or Vol III, when it shuts down, you can revert to Vol I or blinky.
It becomes a problem if it shuts down when you are running it on blinky - nowhere to go but the darkness after that.
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Having noticed Rogers post (in the "What are you doing know" thread) about hunting down a GPS route, I had a quick search, and found a likely looking one.
The one I've found was a little on the large size, so I've GPSBabeled it down to 500 points which will keep the Active 10's uploading software from winging. It's on GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mlianutbqxcgkdvi), and hopefully a reasonable rendition of the actual route.
My Garmin Legend only copes with 250 points, so I split the ride into two with the feed stop in the middle. 250 points for the whole ride would be a bit imprecise at junctions.
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We have had torrential rain here, roads flooded earlier. Be warned that lots of flints n crap are likely to have been washed onto roads around Dunwich.
If it is pouring down, I will still do what I can from the back of the car.
I may well head down there the night before and sit it out in the car as we've just had notification that men in orange outfits will be working on the line, all night long on Saturday....bright lights and lots of noise. I'll expect to see Rogerzilla at around 4.30 for nibbles and something hot :demon:
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You may see me about that time also, just depends how quick I can cycle 300km leaving home at midday ;D
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http://ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps/DUNRUN_ag.gpx is a route with just the turns. If you use on-road routing, it'll get you there. :thumbsup:
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You may see me about that time also, just depends how quick I can cycle 300km leaving home at midday ;D
Cider?
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Never turn down a offer from a woman bearing cider.
Perhaps I'll pedal quicker ;D
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I was pleased to find my hope vision lasted a full 4h 30m on high (3rd setting) with my new batteries after their first charge ;D
This is better than I had anticipated. When it gets dark I will fit it to my bike and go for a test ride in the dark .. yippee!
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Vol IV on the Hope is waaayyy brighter than you're likely to need for any conditions on the Dun Run.
Out riding after midnight last night, and even with clear skys, it was very dark. Although there was quite a bit of the moon showing, it was right down at the horizon and deep orange.
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Having noticed Rogers post (in the "What are you doing know" thread) about hunting down a GPS route, I had a quick search, and found a likely looking one.
The one I've found was a little on the large size, so I've GPSBabeled it down to 500 points which will keep the Active 10's uploading software from winging. It's on GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mlianutbqxcgkdvi), and hopefully a reasonable rendition of the actual route.
My Garmin Legend only copes with 250 points, so I split the ride into two with the feed stop in the middle. 250 points for the whole ride would be a bit imprecise at junctions.
That's what I do with the Garmin Geko - two tracks, not routes, of 250 points each.
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I was pleased to find my hope vision lasted a full 4h 30m on high (3rd setting) with my new batteries after their first charge ;D
This is better than I had anticipated. When it gets dark I will fit it to my bike and go for a test ride in the dark .. yippee!
you'll be fine.. my first year the battery suddenly went in my light and I was without any front lighting from about 11pm onwards. I sat on the back of every group that came past, hanging on for grim death till I got dropped then I waited for the next group - it was absolutely magical.
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If the weather is horrible and I end up on the Inbred, I'll have a Hope Vision 1 as well. The problem is if you're doing the 40mph descent into Sudbury when it decides to cut out. I'd take two sets of rechargeable batteries (I bought a couple of extra battery holders, since they're £4 or only 99p if you know where to look).
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Having noticed Rogers post (in the "What are you doing know" thread) about hunting down a GPS route, I had a quick search, and found a likely looking one.
The one I've found was a little on the large size, so I've GPSBabeled it down to 500 points which will keep the Active 10's uploading software from winging. It's on GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mlianutbqxcgkdvi), and hopefully a reasonable rendition of the actual route.
My Garmin Legend only copes with 250 points, so I split the ride into two with the feed stop in the middle. 250 points for the whole ride would be a bit imprecise at junctions.
That's what I do with the Garmin Geko - two tracks, not routes, of 250 points each.
Garmin Geko allows about 10,000 track points. It's Route Points that have the low limit.
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Team Speed, currently mike and me, departs at 8pm if anyone's interested.
Waitamoment, nobody mentioned travelling at speed... Do I need to bring a more sensible bike?
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Team Speed, currently mike and me, departs at 8pm if anyone's interested.
Waitamoment, nobody mentioned travelling at speed... Do I need to bring a more sensible bike?
...or join Team Slow. :)
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Team slow - well I intend to join them as we're planning on hauling a trailer and camping gear all the way to Dunwich.
How many of us are lugging tents there?
We’re still lugging tent (and trailer) on our tandem. Our train is booked for Monday (about 15-20 minutes after yours) so we haven’t got any choice now!
I remembered today to get a bunch of cable ties to attach the loops of my tent fly sheet to bags of rocks if tent pegs prove unsuitable for securing duties in sandy dunes – can’t remember who suggested the bags of rocks but it was a good idea.
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The "dunes" aren't sandy and they're not really dunes. It's a flat area between the freshwater marsh and the beach which sometimes has shallow soil and at others is exposed pebbles. When we were there three weeks ago the weather was very benign and it was possible to find enough "soil" for the pegs to bite into given the almost total lack of wind. If there are lots more of us then there may not be enough soil to go round if we all want to camp in a group, especially if there's likely to be a breeze.
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The "dunes" aren't sandy and they're not really dunes. It's a flat area between the freshwater marsh and the beach which sometimes has shallow soil and at others is exposed pebbles. When we were there three weeks ago the weather was very benign and it was possible to find enough "soil" for the pegs to bite into given the almost total lack of wind. If there are lots more of us then there may not be enough soil to go round if we all want to camp in a group, especially if there's likely to be a breeze.
Ah, thanks - will definitely bring the bags then.
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If the weather is horrible and I end up on the Inbred, I'll have a Hope Vision 1 as well. The problem is if you're doing the 40mph descent into Sudbury when it decides to cut out. I'd take two sets of rechargeable batteries (I bought a couple of extra battery holders, since they're £4 or only 99p if you know where to look).
I still don't think that you'll be able to swap the batteries at 40mph before you get to the bottom of the hill.
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Weak. Real Men can manage it. ;D
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I don’t remember the beach that well, is there anything of interest (rock pools and the like) that Ms Weasel would benefit from by bringing her snorkel and flippers?
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There are pebbles and dunes.
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I don’t remember the beach that well, is there anything of interest (rock pools and the like) that Ms Weasel would benefit from by bringing her snorkel and flippers?
isnt there a whole town down there to explore?
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No rocks ot rock pools. The beach in places is so steep it's like a scree slope and the pebbles tend shift unnervingly as you slide down towards the water.
I've never seen the water clear enough for masks to be any use at all.
It's nothing like beautiful west-coast beaches with sand, rock pools and climbable cliffs.
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Of more use would be a pair of flip flops to walk down to the sea (and possibly to wear whilst swimming in it) Those stones are hard work!
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The following images show the terrain behind the beach and the fauna you are likely to meet. These two are in winter plumage. There are some pictures of them in summer plumage but I haven't seen those yet. ;)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/9220-2/DSC05607.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/9217-2/DSC05606.JPG)
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My train home isn't until Monday, so if no one minds, I'll be joining those camping in the dunes. :thumbsup:
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More the merrier!
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I can’t believe that I haven’t asked the most important question. Is there an off-licence in Dunwich?
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Having noticed Rogers post (in the "What are you doing know" thread) about hunting down a GPS route, I had a quick search, and found a likely looking one.
The one I've found was a little on the large size, so I've GPSBabeled it down to 500 points which will keep the Active 10's uploading software from winging. It's on GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mlianutbqxcgkdvi), and hopefully a reasonable rendition of the actual route.
My Garmin Legend only copes with 250 points, so I split the ride into two with the feed stop in the middle. 250 points for the whole ride would be a bit imprecise at junctions.
That's what I do with the Garmin Geko - two tracks, not routes, of 250 points each.
Garmin Geko allows about 10,000 track points. It's Route Points that have the low limit.
That's somewhat misleading, and Garmin's documentation does not do much to lessen the confusion. The 10,000 saved trackpoints is the limit in the active log.
Tracks uploaded as saved tracks have a maximum of 250 trackpoints each and there is a maximum of 10 such tracks plus the active log. If you know a way of uploading tracks with more than 250 points I'd love to hear it.
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Sudden (and slightly surprising) envegulation has left me with a dilemma: what to replace Dun Run jelly babies and jerky with? :o
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If I get time in the morning I could go and buy you some veggie jelly babies if that would help?
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Sudden (and slightly surprising) envegulation has left me with a dilemma: what to replace Dun Run jelly babies and jerky with? :o
Not sure, but if you've already bought the Jelly Babies then I'm sure we could help you dispose of them.
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Sudden (and slightly surprising) envegulation has left me with a dilemma: what to replace Dun Run jelly babies and jerky with? :o
Heh. I was passing around Jelly Babies at the top of a steep climb during a Sheffield Friday night ride, when somebody said
"Are these vegetarian?"
I didn't know and started looking for the ingredients list to find out
"Actually, don't look. If I don't know it doesn't count." and snaffled a few. ;D
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Soreen was two for a pound at Lidl last night :smug:
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
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Sudden (and slightly surprising) envegulation has left me with a dilemma: what to replace Dun Run jelly babies and jerky with? :o
Fruit leathers?
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I've been shopping and have also procured one of those disposable BBQ's. Is it worth me getting some more? Does anyone want baked beans?
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Wascally - no offie, but a pub just behind 200yds from the beach.
May be a shop with booze in the wooded caravan park towards Dunwich Cliffs, half a mile away.
It's DEEPEST Suffolk ;-0
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I've been shopping and have also procured one of those disposable BBQ's. Is it worth me getting some more? Does anyone want baked beans?
If baked beans are available then I'm sure I'll have some.
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I've been shopping and have also procured one of those disposable BBQ's. Is it worth me getting some more? Does anyone want baked beans?
If baked beans are available then I'm sure I'll have some.
Excellent.
Mr Weasel... would you like some alcohol? Tell me what you would like and I'll bring it along. It won't be Talisker tho.
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
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Does anyone want baked beans?
I say you've had enough ;D (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6dm9rN6oTs)
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That feedstop could be errr..... interesting.
Village hall with a max capacity of 240, at the end of what looks like a residential cul-de-sac.... :-X
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...It won't be Talisker tho.
No, he's going into the cattery for the weekend!
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2008 garmin track (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/dunwich2010.gpx).
This was the occasional that Regulator, Andrij and I were unceremoniously dumped out of Annie's car by an EHBIB, which accounts for the straight line back to the outskirts of Ipswich followed by a very erratic ride back to the station, whereupon Reg's rear tyre exploded in protest.
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Dust off the cameras:
YouTube
- Kanal von lifeinaday
(http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday)
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I can’t believe that I haven’t asked the most important question. Is there an off-licence in Dunwich?
Yoxford (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yoxford&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=15.059141,46.362305&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Yoxford,+Saxmundham,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.269733,1.510191&spn=0,0.090551&z=14&layer=c&cbll=52.26699,1.508351&panoid=kEpTO4tNzqwYtdghD000iQ&cbp=12,2.63,,0,5) has an offy / village shop, Horners, which was open when we came through there not long after 06:00 last year.
I think you'll need to detour slightly, as we did, from the 'official ' route as that goes along Willow Marsh Lane. The routes meet up again in Westleton.
I don't recall seeing anything else open (other than The Flora Cafe) around there at that time of day.
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Depending upon the time you come through, Peasenhall has shops and a café. Oh, and I spoke to My Mate Terry this morning and he said that lovely as Annie and Charlotte are, he doesn't want about 100 YACFers appearing in his garden on Sunday morning.
He lives at xx, wwwwwww wwww, xxxxxx.
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
that's the official feed stop? yes there are lanterns in jars leading up to it
(thought it was Monks Eleigh for soem reason)
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that's the official feed stop? yes there are lanterns in jars leading up to it
(thought it was Monks Eleigh for soem reason)
Monks Eleigh feed was 2005.
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...It won't be Talisker tho.
No, he's going into the cattery for the weekend!
Sorry, Tim. :-*
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I've been shopping and have also procured one of those disposable BBQ's. Is it worth me getting some more? Does anyone want baked beans?
If baked beans are available then I'm sure I'll have some.
Excellent.
Mr Weasel... would you like some alcohol? Tell me what you would like and I'll bring it along. It won't be Talisker tho.
No, but thank you for the kind offer. I was thinking about for later as I find the alcohol aids in the talking-rubbish-around-the-campfire phase (strictly I don't *need* alcohol for this).
I recently discovered that Talisker is artificially caramelised and that distillery is therefore off my Christmas card list. Tastes good though.
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...It won't be Talisker tho.
No, he's going into the cattery for the weekend!
Sorry, Tim. :-*
It's the small black furry, and soon to be very pissed off one, who'll need the kiss!
(Not that he'll do much different in the cattery from his normal practice of sleeping all day).
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/smilies/cat2.png)
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I've just been to the LBS for a new set of Ergo grips for the tandem. I also bought a puncturе repair kit whose container is in the shape of a CO2 canister, which confused me a good deal.
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
It's also wrong at Sibton (you should take "New Road" after the church).
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I also bought a puncturе repair kit whose container is in the shape of a CO2 canister, which confused me a good deal.
That's either genius or insanity. I'm leaning towards the latter.
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You haven't lived until you've got the CO2 sequence wrong (either screwing the canister in with the valve on the nozzle open, or unscrewing an already-pierced but full canister). Makes you jump a bit.
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
It's also wrong at Sibton (you should take "New Road" after the church).
I think missing the turn for New Road was the reason we ended up going through Yoxford last year.
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Tub of couscous, chorizo, salted cashews, banananas, mueller rice pots, M&M's fig rolls, Soreen, eccles cakes, 1/2 bottle of Ardbeg (to share)....I'm not going to lose weight on this ride.... :P
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I wasn't particularly planning a lot of grub - I don't seem to get that hungry. Maybe a sarnie. And possibly the odd cake or two.... ;D
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Sainsbury's strawberry bootlaces are veggie! :smug:
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
It's also wrong at Sibton (you should take "New Road" after the church).
I think missing the turn for New Road was the reason we ended up going through Yoxford last year.
I've only once gone the "official" way, turning left after Sibton. I really can't see the point, as carrying on the A1120 to Yoxford is fine, whilst if you go the back road, it's covered in grit and in places is little more than a track.
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is there going to be a mass YACF jersey photo at the start?
ps I got a gpx off bikely;
Bicycle Path - Dunwich Dynamo route UK at Bikely.com (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dunwich-Dynamo-route-UK)
Careful, that route doesn't take you past the feed stop in Sible Headingham (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=577936&Y=234184&A=Y&Z=110) but it should be obvious from other riders where to go.
It's also wrong at Sibton (you should take "New Road" after the church).
I think missing the turn for New Road was the reason we ended up going through Yoxford last year.
I've only once gone the "official" way, turning left after Sibton. I really can't see the point, as carrying on the A1120 to Yoxford is fine, whilst if you go the back road, it's covered in grit and in places is little more than a track.
True.
And as I recall there was a smell of freshly baked rolls / bread coming from Horners shop in Yoxford.
But that may be just me romanticising ;D
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I've only once gone the "official" way, turning left after Sibton. I really can't see the point, as carrying on the A1120 to Yoxford is fine, whilst if you go the back road, it's covered in grit and in places is little more than a track.
Agreed. Those lanes are unpleasant and potentially dangerous in the dark. I'll be staying on the A1120 also.
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You haven't lived until you've got the CO2 sequence wrong (either screwing the canister in with the valve on the nozzle open, or unscrewing an already-pierced but full canister). Makes you jump a bit.
I've been there and it wasn't nice.
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I've only once gone the "official" way, turning left after Sibton. I really can't see the point, as carrying on the A1120 to Yoxford is fine, whilst if you go the back road, it's covered in grit and in places is little more than a track.
Agreed. Those lanes are unpleasant and potentially dangerous in the dark. I'll be staying on the A1120 also.
i suspect Team Slow won't get to that point until well after sunrise!
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I dont think I will be losing any weight either, I just bought pepperami sausages, mini babybell cheese, donuts, bananas, dried apricots, raisins, sunflower seeds, crisps, mini cheddars, jelly babies, wine gums, cereal bars, sour snakes and those fluffy mushroom shaped sweet thingies.
Oh and just in case some Asda caffeine tablets and some ibuprofen! ;D
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Annie's got the food, she's got the BBQ, but has she forgotten a vital piece of equipment...
(http://www.theforestgallery.co.uk/pictures/The%20Naughty%20Step.jpg)
the naughty step......there might be tired, fractious cyclists who are in need of discipline..... ;)
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I'm thinking with all my foodz in my rack bag I might have to turf out anything else non-essential. Do you think I will need a bike lock?
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just got this via an obscure route - does it matter?
Just a note to your cyclists – I think the A12 maybe closed at Darsham crossing on Saturday night – You might be able to get a push bike though – there will be signed diversions – I would suggest coming off just before the crossing and coming through Westleton – will check it out.
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Have a fantastic night folks! The Dun Run is something else...
We were at the Cafe at Dunwich last Saturday, on the Seething 600 audax, so we got them prepped and practiced for you... :thumbsup:
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Good luck to you all on this ride, it sounds great fun. I only I were closer I'd be with you, maybe next year if I can get organised.
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Have a fantastic night folks! The Dun Run is something else...
We were at the Cafe at Dunwich last Saturday, on the Seething 600 audax, so we got them prepped and practiced for you... :thumbsup:
Indeed. I spoke to one girl assistant who said she's been asked to turn up for work at 5am on Sunday. She didn't even sound particularly pissed off about it!
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I'm thinking with all my foodz in my rack bag I might have to turf out anything else non-essential. Do you think I will need a bike lock?
Unlikely. I can take one for you if you so desire?
Andrew..... I'm trying hard to remember everything, perhaps a great big chain and lock will suffice?
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I've made the cakes. The bread will be made tomorrow. If you need me to bring anything else, now is the time to put in requests.
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Andrew..... I'm trying hard to remember everything, perhaps a great big chain and lock will suffice?
Mans body found off Sussex coast, weighed down with bike chains ............. :o
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What sort of time do people think they'll be congregating at London Fields, and for that matter what sort of time do Team Slow bods think is a sensible time to depart?
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Well, I'm s'posed to meet Wow at Liverpool Street around 6:30 (unless I get lost on the way there :) ) and then we need to ride from there.... in my case with my eyes shut and just Not Thinking about London traffic. I'm such a wuss....
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I think my train from Dunwich is coming into liverpool street station at about 16:45 , but then i gotta find my way to hackney (I've never been to hackney or even into London in the last 20 years so could be interesting) ;D
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10mph average sounds good to me. That'll get us there around 8am-ish (assuming an 8pm-ish departure).
I'm trying to work out where the yacf posse met up last year. Was it in the park near Martello Terrace?
Think so -- If you stood in the park looking at the pub we congregated just to the right of it.
[/quote]
So London Fields, opposite and just to the right of the Pub on the Park (according to google maps) on Martello terrace ready to depart 8pm?
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IIRC my train gets in at 18:30ish, so allowing for cockups and a nice knee-friendly pootle over from Euston, I should be there just before 7.
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So London Fields, opposite and just to the right of the Pub on the Park (according to google maps) on Martello terrace ready to depart 8pm?
Last year it was particularly easy to spot the YACF posse, since there was an Ordinary leaned against a tree!
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/small.php?file=Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg&size=320) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg)
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This year it should be even easier, as the gravitational forces pulling you towards the event horizon of the supermassvie panniers of CAKE ought to do most of the hard work for you.
Or you could look for people in YACF jerseys, I suppose.
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Last year it was particularly easy to spot the YACF posse, since there was an Ordinary leaned against a tree!
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/small.php?file=Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg&size=320) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg)
I can't believe that was a year ago. I had such a great ride, thanks in very large part to alexb, darkpoint and her welshness, to the extent that I said to her welshness on the way back that I thought I didn't need to do it again. But I'm feeling incredibly envious! Maybe next year...
Good luck everyone. Can't wait to see the pics and hear the stories.
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No, you don't need a lock. This is because no-one ever wants to look at, let alone ride, a bike ever again by the time they get to Dunwich. Someone wants to nick my bike? Let them take the ****er.
I have often thought, however, that a bunch of thieving scratters with a Luton van could clean up at one of these rides...
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Oh dear, I've just read through most of this thread and I'm getting seriously tempted. I really missed not doing it last year.
The only problem is that I've only cycled 16 miles in the past year (yes that's 16, not 16k). Oh, and I caught Lyme Disease (a tad debilitating and definitely not to be recommended) last summer whilst frolicking in the heather in an absence of clothing in the far, far north of Scotland and getting bitten by a tick* in a somewhat sensitive location - that's a sensitive anatomical location as opposed to a sensitive Site of Special Scientific Interest-type location. And I've torn the ligaments in my ankle by falling off a farm gate. So this might be an exercise in extreme stupidity but then what is the Dun Run if not extreme stupidity. At least I'll be in good company from the sounds of posts here.
If I do come it's going to be as part of Team Ultra-Slow. I will probably set-off at about 6.30 to 7 but everyone else will get past me by Epping. At least then, if I fall asleep in the middle of the road (as is quite possible - exhaustion being a sad by-product of Lyme Disease), I won't get run over by 999 other cyclists.
I would bring my tent etc and camp out for a couple of days but, even though they're featherweight, I'm not sure that I can even manage much more than a banana weighing me down.
Seriously though, this is going to be a bit difficult and, if I am daft enough to try it and you happen to spot me along the way, any encouragement, support, pushing, pulling, towing etc will be very gratefully received.
*I actually found the wee beastie in my sleeping bag and, not realising what it was or what utter havoc it was about to unleash on my life, gently carried it outside and placed it back down on the grass. Aaaaah, how sweet! O:-)
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Ron...don't do it. I usually feel like death warmed up when riding between midnight and the first signs of dawn, so you'll be worse. The one year that I baled out, I didn't regret it.
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Ron...don't do it. I usually feel like death warmed up when riding between midnight and the first signs of dawn, so you'll be worse. The one year that I baled out, I didn't regret it.
I know, this would be my seventh (or is it eighth) Dun Run. But one shouldn't give in to these things.
I have various bale out strategies in case things get a bit serious (which is why I'd start a bit early so as to coincide with last trains home at various key places) but I don't particularly want to bale out if I can help it.
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My strategy's simple: if the knee goes knuclear, camp up, drain my hip flask and whine like a schoolgirl until morning; then realise I've camped in someone's garden and flee to the nearest station.
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My strategy's simple: if the knee goes knuclear, camp up, drain my hip flask and whine like a schoolgirl until morning; then realise I've camped in someone's garden and flee to the nearest station.
Sounds good. Do you have a tent/hip flask for two?
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I have a better bale-out strategy. Get on mobile, whistle up magic bus in the form of my father-in-law, who will conveniently be staying in Lavenham :smug:
It's not proper challenge riding, I know, but I only used him in 2007 when I was on a track bike in the hissing rain, being jetwashed with gritty water from the rear wheel, couldn't see anything with my crappy LED lights and Simon Legg-bandage, veteran of 100 night rides, had already thrown in the towel.
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I have often thought, however, that a bunch of thieving scratters with a Luton van could clean up at one of these rides...
People would probably even help load up...
(http://www.pbase.com/gchong2426/image/100453795.jpg)
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I have a better bale-out strategy. Get on mobile, whistle up magic bus in the form of my father-in-law, who will conveniently be staying in Lavenham :smug:
Are you giving out father-in-law's phone number by any chance?
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I've only once gone the "official" way, turning left after Sibton. I really can't see the point, as carrying on the A1120 to Yoxford is fine, whilst if you go the back road, it's covered in grit and in places is little more than a track.
Agreed. Those lanes are unpleasant and potentially dangerous in the dark. I'll be staying on the A1120 also.
i suspect Team Slow won't get to that point until well after sunrise!
Sunrise? The sun is usually over the yardarm by the time I get there!
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My strategy's simple: if the knee goes knuclear, camp up, drain my hip flask and whine like a schoolgirl until morning; then realise I've camped in someone's garden and flee to the nearest station.
Sounds good. Do you have a tent/hip flask for two?
There are a bunch of us riding with gimped knees, so I doubt if you'd be the slowest.
Like Andy, if it starts to hurt too much I'll find a warm corner & curl up till morning, then consider my options. Bring a sleeping bag/bivi bag at least.
Lyme Disease sounds nasty, a friend has had some eyesight issues which he thinks may be tick related, that's his reward for going to foreign climes in a green suit.
Look on the bright side, Team Slow will be carrying so much food that there will be no incentive to butcher those who fall by the wayside... ;)
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Or you could look for people in YACF jerseys, I suppose.
Last year we had at least three jerseys at London Fields, although mine didn't get any further, since it was a minor miracle that I even appeared at the start, after doing a FNRttC the night before.
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2009Start/small.php?file=P1010117.JPG&size=400) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2009Start/P1010117.JPG)
I've managed to find my rubber mallet, so that's one less thing I need to search out!
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Or you could look for people in YACF jerseys, I suppose.
Last year we had at least three jerseys at London Fields, although mine didn't get any further, since it was a minor miracle that I even appeared at the start, after doing a FNRttC the night before.
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2009Start/small.php?file=P1010117.JPG&size=400) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2009Start/P1010117.JPG)
I've managed to find my rubber mallet, so that's one less thing I need to search out!
I can bring a mallet.
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Lyme Disease sounds nasty, a friend has had some eyesight issues which he thinks may be tick related, that's his reward for going to foreign climes in a green suit.
My problem is that I went to foreign climes (well, it would be if the SNP has its way) in a pink suit!
Look on the bright side, Team Slow will be carrying so much food that there will be no incentive to butcher those who fall by the wayside... ;)
Sounds like my sort of team. Once they've consumed all the food in my panniers they'll be in no fit state to move, let alone butcher me. I am somewhat renowned for the weight I carry on my bike* - as well as my habit of leaving a fully illuminated bike to mark where I have disappeared into the bushes!
*And not just on my bike - when I got back from walking to Cape Wrath last year I dared to put my rucksack on the scales. I'd rather not admit to what they said but it was on the stupid side of extremely excessive. To the point where I couldn't actually get my rucksack on my back from ground level.
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that's the official feed stop? yes there are lanterns in jars leading up to it
(thought it was Monks Eleigh for soem reason)
Monks Eleigh feed was 2005.
so is the bikely route OK apart from missing out the loop to the FOOD in Sible? I can remember Parkfields when I get there and do a Go To if need be
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It's not proper challenge riding, I know, but I only used him in 2007 when I was on a track bike in the hissing rain, being jetwashed with gritty water from the rear wheel, couldn't see anything with my crappy LED lights and Simon Legg-bandage, veteran of 100 night rides, had already thrown in the towel.
While those of us with no bale out strategy just carried on to the end.
I'm regretting not being there this year and, when I see the photos and read the reports I'll regret it even more.
Have fun !
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I've managed to find my rubber mallet, so that's one less thing I need to search out!
I can bring a mallet.
I think Annie is coming to Dunwich in a Tardis :o
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While those of us with no bale out strategy just carried on to the end.
Yes, my nearest emergency bail out relative is 200 miles away, and in the opposite direction to Dunwich!
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I've managed to find my rubber mallet, so that's one less thing I need to search out!
I can bring a mallet.
I think Annie is coming to Dunwich in a Tardis :o
You'd be surprised at how much stuff I can squeeze into my car. :o
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Since I have a pre-booked ticket back to York on Sunday pm, and buying an alternative roll-up fare from pretty much anywhere else on the route would cost a couple of limbs, I have to get there somehow. It'll be reet :)
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Well I'm all packed and thinking I should get an early night as I will need to leave here before 8am :o
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You're very organised.... I have just hung up some laundry, which will hopefully be dry enough for me to wear by the time I set off tomorrow afternoon. I might get around to emptying all the
assorted rubbish essential work stuff out of my panniers in a minute. And I have baked a rather large quantity of St Clements cake....
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Mostly not packed, the bike needs a final fettle, but I've got till about 15:00 tomorrow to sort that out.
Bon nuit, and see you all at London Fields.
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Yep yep see you there ;D
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Luckily I won't need to leave before 6-30pm at the earliest! It'll only be an hour or so cycle across town to London Fields (if I can find it). My packing will start in earnest tomorrow morning, but I do need to remember to get all the lights on charge before I go to bed. The GPSes are charged, and the phone won't take too long.
I do need to be up earlyish to get Talisker into the cattery, partly because he'll be easy to capture at breakfast time, and won't appreciate being kept in the house, so I may as well minimise annoying him!
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When I put the drive there into my sat nav i realised its 4h 42m from here to Dunwich, hence teh early start because I am on the 1.45pm train from Saxmundham to London once I've dumped the car somewhere random in Dunwich!
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Not packed, not worked out what I need to pack, the house isn't yet ready for the viewings tomorrow, and I'm drinking BEER and watching Tremors rather than ameliorating any of the above. ::-)
Um. Tim and I can bring a BBQ, but would need stuffs (i.e. charcoal) to burn in it, stuffs to cook on it (though I'm getting confused about for which meal), Paraffin to burn whilst waiting for fud to cook, and BEER to drink so that burning paraffin seems like a good idea. How much of this we carry ourselves and how much we bribe Annie to bring I haven't yet worked out. It would appear that a giant worm has just devoured lots of sheeps.
We're gonna be Team Slow but two out of four of our knees kinda work. Rock on! ;D
They're hitting the worm with a SHUVEL. I never knew M. le Maire had a previous career in Hollywood!
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Last year it was particularly easy to spot the YACF posse, since there was an Ordinary leaned against a tree!
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/small.php?file=Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg&size=320) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/Ordinary_DunRun_LondonFields_July2009.jpg)
I can't believe that was a year ago. I had such a great ride, thanks in very large part to alexb, darkpoint and her welshness, to the extent that I said to her welshness on the way back that I thought I didn't need to do it again. But I'm feeling incredibly envious! Maybe next year...
Good luck everyone. Can't wait to see the pics and hear the stories.
I rode with you for much of my first Dun Run. Doesn't seem right to ride it again (four years on) without you. :'(
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Not packed, not worked out what I need to pack, the house isn't yet ready for the viewings tomorrow, and I'm drinking BEER and watching Tremors rather than ameliorating any of the above. ::-)
Um. Tim and I can bring a BBQ, but would need stuffs (i.e. charcoal) to burn in it, stuffs to cook on it (though I'm getting confused about for which meal), Paraffin to burn whilst waiting for fud to cook, and BEER to drink so that burning paraffin seems like a good idea. How much of this we carry ourselves and how much we bribe Annie to bring I haven't yet worked out. It would appear that a giant worm has just devoured lots of sheeps.
We're gonna be Team Slow but two out of four of our knees kinda work. Rock on! ;D
They're hitting the worm with a SHUVEL. I never knew M. le Maire had a previous career in Hollywood!
Love that film - I can't decide if Fred Ward's part in that or his performance as Gus Grissom in the Right Stuff is my favourite role by him. Only problem with watching Tremors in our house is that it reminds Ms Weasel she wants to watch Footloose yet again.
I would be up for a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon resupply run to the nearest shops for beer/food for the evening/following morning as we judge.
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I've got as far as sampling the rum...
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I've got as far as thinking 'must put the cleats back on my shoes and find my train tickets...'
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I've got as far as sampling the rum...
Yarr!
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I would be up for a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon resupply run to the nearest shops for beer/food for the evening/following morning as we judge.
A raiding party?
Yeah, I'll come :)
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...must not get out DVDs of Tremors quadrilogy, I need my sleep tonight!
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I would be up for a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon resupply run to the nearest shops for beer/food for the evening/following morning as we judge.
A raiding party?
Yeah, I'll come :)
Raiding party FTW! I did some research a few weeks ago, and there was deffo a co-op somewhere in range.
Can't remember where it was for the life of me. I blame the rum, and I've not even been drinking it. :-[
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...must not get out DVDs of Tremors quadrilogy, I need my sleep tonight!
Look, if I'm going down you're coming with me! >:(
Um. As it were. :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
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I would be up for a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon resupply run to the nearest shops for beer/food for the evening/following morning as we judge.
A raiding party?
I was assuming that I would have to do something like this. I'll have emergency rations, but that'll mostly be whatever I can carry which is dehydrated, and there's only so much you can do with Couscous, Custard, and Smash!
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...must not get out DVDs of Tremors quadrilogy, I need my sleep tonight!
Look, if I'm going down you're coming with me! >:(
Actually I'm saved, I forgot that the DVD player is buggered, and I haven't ripped any of those DVDs to the server.
... of course I'm half heartedly watching ITV4+1 on tvcatchup.com, so they're just about to start with Tremors!
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... of course I'm half heartedly watching ITV4+1 on tvcatchup.com, so they're just about to start with Tremors!
Wait an hour and you'll get the really cheesy phoneline adverts! Does noone wear anything?
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Just checked my write up from last year http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5870.msg376326#msg376326 (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5870.msg376326#msg376326) ....
Must go to bed and sleep...
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I'm really not sure that watching Tremors is a good idea before camping on a beach...
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I would be up for a Sunday lunchtime/afternoon resupply run to the nearest shops for beer/food for the evening/following morning as we judge.
A raiding party?
I was assuming that I would have to do something like this. I'll have emergency rations, but that'll mostly be whatever I can carry which is dehydrated, and there's only so much you can do with Couscous, Custard, and Smash!
I'll have a tandem, with trailer, outside the nearest Supermarche* - you raid it, pile up the trailer with booze and the highest end comestibles that the east coast has to offer, stuff the emergency chocolate covered coffee beans up each nostril of my stoker and job's a good'un.
Alternatively, we need to get everyone en-masse and try and find some nearby poncy 'spa' hotel and do a lightning pool and bar raid. If they were French they would understand.
*Me? The fifteenth Duke of WimBim (or whatever), here, outside the Co-Op? With my cycling clothing? Whatever were they thinking of?
Probably should think of sleep soon.
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You're not staying up late, you're resetting your body clock.
Raiding party? I knew I should have brought the littlest longship.
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Right. Laptop battery dying. Off to bed.
A demain!
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You're not staying up late, you're resetting your body clock.
Raiding party? I knew I should have brought the littlest longship.
I was really looking forward to the yacf flotilla too, but as you probably know our sevlor is also staying at home on grounds of sanity. My plan next year is to lose the weight of the boat from me so that towing it isn't such a problem.
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Well I've got the three lots of bike lights on charge, two GPSes, one camera, and a phone. The washing cycle has just finished, so I've bunged all that lot into the drier. The meter will be merrily whizzing around. :-\
I should probably hit the sack, and try and be ready for a night without such luxuries!
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OK - I'm about to go to bed for the last time until Dunwich.
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I seem to have rather a lot of cake.
8 x St Clements cakes, waiting to be iced
4 x Coffee cakes in the oven right now (wish me luck, it's a new recipe that I've never tried before)
4 x chocolate and banananananananana cakes with chocolate ganache
1 x Chocolate with Cherry Jam
That won't all fit in a pannier, if I want to bring any of the other niceties of life. Like a toothbrush, or my train tickets.
Anyone hungry? Actually I could bung some in the freezer in preparation for next weekend's silly bike adventure. Or I could bring it all for the entertainment value - I mean, I don't think that Team Slow can quite eat all that (can we?) but there will be several hundred other cyclists around. Someone would probably eat it....
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I'm still drinking pre-ride energy drink and consuming carbohydrates, before resetting my body clock to about 4am.
Oh okay, yes, that does mean beer and pizza and staying up too late.
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I seem to have rather a lot of cake.
8 x St Clements cakes, waiting to be iced
4 x Coffee cakes in the oven right now (wish me luck, it's a new recipe that I've never tried before)
4 x chocolate and banananananananana cakes with chocolate ganache
1 x Chocolate with Cherry Jam
That won't all fit in a pannier, if I want to bring any of the other niceties of life. Like a toothbrush, or my train tickets.
Anyone hungry? Actually I could bung some in the freezer in preparation for next weekend's silly bike adventure. Or I could bring it all for the entertainment value - I mean, I don't think that Team Slow can quite eat all that (can we?) but there will be several hundred other cyclists around. Someone would probably eat it....
I can probably eat a significant proportion of the coffee cake if required to 'prevent it going to waste'.
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Well I'm all packed and thinking I should get an early night as I will need to leave here before 8am :o
I've still got STUFFS-TO-DO tomorrow (packing, picnic construction, fitting mudguards to mrs_o's bike to ensure it doesn't rain etc.).
Therefore, I have retired to bed early and will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow have opened a second bottle of wine and put my recording of today's TdF stage on.
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I seem to have rather a lot of cake.
8 x St Clements cakes, waiting to be iced
4 x Coffee cakes in the oven right now (wish me luck, it's a new recipe that I've never tried before)
4 x chocolate and banananananananana cakes with chocolate ganache
1 x Chocolate with Cherry Jam
That won't all fit in a pannier, if I want to bring any of the other niceties of life. Like a toothbrush, or my train tickets.
Anyone hungry? Actually I could bung some in the freezer in preparation for next weekend's silly bike adventure. Or I could bring it all for the entertainment value - I mean, I don't think that Team Slow can quite eat all that (can we?) but there will be several hundred other cyclists around. Someone would probably eat it....
I can probably eat a significant proportion of the coffee cake if required to 'prevent it going to waste'.
I'll have some to ensure it goes to waist.
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Weather forecast is officially damp now. Might keep the numbers down.
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Crinklylion: I will there waving goodbye and I can help you with holding the cakes for you ;)
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Well so far I've wasted 1kg of flour, the yeast obviously didn't do the job properly...now on second lot and praying it will be ok. We have a viewing in a couple of hours so at least the house will smell of bread and cake. It is currently very sunny but somewhat humid. About to throw the dogs in the garden and try to get some semblance of order in the kitchen and the dining room and everywhere.
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Well I've just lubed the tyres and inflated the chains.
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This is me signing off. See you at London Fields.
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Don't forget the seatpost bolt Wow!
M'off to ice coffee cakes. I think that the new recipe is a success. Any willing food critics prepared to offer judgement later?
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I'll be leaving in a few minutes, see y'all there.
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all this baking.. blimey! I'm just back from a 90 minute run, tired legs are surely the perfect prep.
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Won't be long now.... (http://tinyurl.com/3yrk37l)
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Hope you all have a good ride through the night :)
I am going to the DD one day :-[
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(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs035.ash2/35108_415828971838_551606838_4380071_4784359_n.jpg)
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Nom nom nom!
:thumbsup: (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/smilies/nomnomnom3.gif)
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I wish every one a great ride, I can see you won't run out of food :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Ride long and prosper you all
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(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs035.ash2/35108_415828971838_551606838_4380071_4784359_n.jpg)
You're not related to El Supremo by any chance..?
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(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs035.ash2/35108_415828971838_551606838_4380071_4784359_n.jpg)
You're not related to El Supremo by any chance..?
Are you carrying all that on the tandem?
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I should have room in my pannier for cake, but doubt I could meet you at Liverpool Street. Having only recently returned from the FNRttC, I need SLEEP.
I will be at the start by 8pm.
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Nom, nom, nom. But how am I going to get all that into a back pocket? ::-)
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(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs035.ash2/35108_415828971838_551606838_4380071_4784359_n.jpg)
Blimey!
That's industrial quantities ;D
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That's just my share! >:( :P
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Seat post fitted. Routes loaded into Garmin. Trying to arrange Monday night with son in Wivenhoe.
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Nom, nom, nom. But how am I going to get all that into a back pocket? ::-)
The orange and lemon and the chocolate and banananananananana ones are perfectly jersey-pocket sized. We tested this theory on the Cleethorpes FNRttC :)
Are you carrying all that on the tandem?
We'll carry as much of it as fits in my panniers from Liverpool St to 'ackney - any that don't fit will have to get left behind to be fed to northern_cyclists next weekend, when I go for a completely flat ride around the Dales. On both occasions I may employ my now tried and tested, cunning and sneaky 'don't get dropped' strategy of handing cake out to everybody else to weigh them down ;D
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I have just poured eight shots of espresso into a bottle.
*sproing*
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Weather forecast is officially damp now. Might keep the numbers down.
It's improving since Rog'z post :thumbsup:
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Nom, nom, nom. But how am I going to get all that into a back pocket? ::-)
Internal storage is the key. ;D
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Better pack up all my cake and head to the station....
Tickets - check
Saddle - check
Some spare clothes for tomorrow - check
Mitts - check
A little something for Butterfly to congratulate her on her upcoming celebration - check
Sun cream - check
(Not very) waterproof - check
Shoe with cleats fitted back on - check
Cakes - oh yes.
I can now confirm that a Ortlieb front roller can pack in 15 CrinklyCakes.
Just need to decide whether to take my cheapo Aldi cycling softshell which I bought last time they did kit but have never worn because it has always been much too small as opposed to just about fitting even though it looks horrible as is now the case (+ points has pockets, packs smaller, - points might be a bit too warm and looks dreadful!) or my cheapo fleece which is a bit warm but I like better....
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See you at Lpoo St at 6.30 ish!
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Just need to decide whether to take my cheapo Aldi cycling softshell which I bought last time they did kit but have never worn
I have one of these, it's a work of Stan. Utterly boil-in-the-bag, and fairly useless while riding in anything but monsoon conditions. Okay as a windproof while you're standing around, thobut. I'd go with your known-good fleece. They make better improvised pillows :)
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Good luck you guys. I'm in Washington. It's 103 degrees in the shade and we're about to head off for a 23 hour train journey. I know where I'd rather be...
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I've put three bags on the tandem. Mrs. Wow's seat post & saddle are in one of the bags. A seat post suitable for CL is fitted, but no saddle. Not much more to do now. I'll buy some milk en route - there's a garage in epping Forest which will do that sort of thing. I've got tea bags, stove, water, cooking pots.
And I've had a call from a certain Lepidopteran: CL and I are going to have company from Lpoo St to London Fields.! :D
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Forcing myself to eat some food before I head off for the train...
ETA: and I'm off...
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It isn't going to happen for me this year, I'm afraid. I'm utterly exhausted just getting everything ready - I doubt I'd even get to Epping. But, as I've got the end of next week off, the idea of popping my tent on the back of the bike and heading off for a gentle few days riding certainly does appeal, especially now I've got everything ready.
Have a good ride people.
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After procrastinating for ages I think I'll be coming.
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Safe journey everyone.
I am on the second round of bread dough, some 10 hours after starting with the first. Will see how this one goes.
If anyone wants my mobile in case there is anything else they need me to bring then please PM me.
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Have fun all. Hope the weather is as nice as it is here.
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I'm on my way. Don't go without me!
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I'm on the train. Got spotted by Jez again on the platform. No NewStreetHell this time. My knee hasn't made it's mind up yet.
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I am awake again and packing. Just need to pop out across the road to get a few limes. Must fight the temptation to go back to bed.
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Right, just leaving Croydon, so I should be at London Fields in an hour or so.
Hopefully I'll see everyone there.
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Change of plan for me I'm afraid, as I won't be there. After the FNRttC, I'd intended to pop over to my dad's place in Bognor for an hour or so, which would then give me enough time to get home for at least 4 hours sleep. But I decided to stay there longer to have a proper natter and lunch on the beach with him.
So even though my energy levels are high, and I'm feeling good, even with all the Zipvit caffeinated energy gels I've got, it would be silly to do another night of sleep deprivation.
So ride safe everyone, have fun, and give Annie at the beach a big hug from me.
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Change of plan for me I'm afraid, as I won't be there. After the FNRttC, I'd intended to pop over to my dad's place in Bognor for an hour or so, which would then give me enough time to get home for at least 4 hours sleep. But I decided to stay there longer to have a proper natter and lunch on the beach with him.
So even though my energy levels are high, and I'm feeling good, even with all the Zipvit caffeinated energy gels I've got, it would be silly to do another night of sleep deprivation.
So ride safe everyone, have fun, and give Annie at the beach a big hug from me.
Awhh, I'll miss you but hope to see you soon :-*
I'm just wondering if I should drive over early and try to sleep in the car or get up at 2 and leave at 2.30am? So many decisions.
More bread has been made and I now never want to eat bread again, despite it smelling quite yummy. I'll bring it all as I'm certain no-one will care what it's like when they arrive at the beach.
Look forward to seeing everyone. I may pack my bikini.
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I've had word that they are at the starting point. My car is loaded and almost bursting at the seams.
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Woolly and I just saw them off from London Fields. Much cake was consumed (CL is a genius). Everyone was in high spirits. I hope you have wonderful rides! We're now nomming pancakes and milkshakes... :)
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Enjoy all - it was nice down there in Suffolk today. Not doing the ride as my buddy has problems.
Annie - do not over-feed them ;-)
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Clarion, TGL and I rode over to Liverpool St to meet up with Wowbagger and CrinklyLion and ride to London fields with them. We saw lots of Dun Runners at the station, some from here and some from CC :). Once we arrived in London fields it was great to see so many people that we haven't seen for ages :D. The range and quantity of bikes was as awe-inspiring as ever 8). Crinkly's cake was fabulous and some of the loads being dragged to Suffolk were totally nuts ;D. I hope everyone has a fab time.
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Me and RogZ at the huuuuge village hall having flown the first half... Were here with most of dulwich cycling club and a few whippets. Time for Red bull and a cheese and marmite sandwich!
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You're flying! and you don't even have normal wheels! :thumbsup:
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At Needham market lake, resting.
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Home!! showered, changed, getting outside a cup of tea. Ride report after snooze, but it was mainly 'fast', then 'medium' then 'slow', then amazing breakfast from Annie at the beach :)
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Congratulations everyone, de brief after resting?
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Home!! showered, changed, getting outside a cup of tea. Ride report after snooze, but it was mainly 'fast', then 'medium' then 'slow', then amazing breakfast from Annie at the beach :)
Glad it was a good night. Very jealous. Maybe next year.
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I took a whole bunch of photos, which I'll upload later. :)
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Met a young lad on the train on his way to the Run, whom I asked to pass on my best to the riders.
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We're home :thumbsup:
Rode the ride in a small peloton of six. We were Team not quite so Slow (Av sp 13mph).
Had an interesting moment when, in order to catch last orders in Moreton, we took a slight diversion along the A414. Many followed, and some chose to overtake us just before we turned left for Moreton.... I'm hoping they realised their mistake and turned around before reaching Chelmsford.
Gave the half way stop a miss as we were carring our own supplies, and consumed these by the roadside in Great Waldingfield.
Arrived in Dunwich not long after 07:00 and were treated to the delights of Annie's Hospitality Suite :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Thanks Annie!
Team not quite so Slow were Pippa, Jane, Andrij and a brace of Pippa's friends.
Rog and Mike, your bikes were spotted on the back of a car as we passed through Yoxford.
This was my fourth Dynamo in as many years - and almost certainly the most enjoyable.
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Well done, Team not quite so Slow! :thumbsup:
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Well done, Team not quite so Slow! :thumbsup:
Seconded.
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Super to see everyone-riders and non-riders alike.
My bike and body have developed some new noises.
Thanks Annie for your efforts, never had coke at 8:30 in morning before. But it seemed right
Good luck team camp.
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an excellent ride as always; rode it with a couple of mates from work on their longest ever ride; but they had to be back to be Daddies so didn't have much time to slow down either on the ride or at the finish.
we also started 1 1/2 hr late after one of the Daddies forgot his car key and did not dare ring Mum to bring it so a vey scary 30km round trip to Finchley after the start to get it
overtook the YACF train somewhere after Epping including the tandem trailer all lit up like a xmas tree; was that you Feline in the other YACF KOTM top? and another extremely rare yellow one. The Parkfields food control was very unpublicised on route ( I remembered the road name and found it via gps) but absolutely heaving; they only had plain salad rolls left.
met a few others en route and at the finish inc Emilia, Oaky, Andrij, Jurek, Dkahn, Rich F who popped in on a DIY300 and of course pixieannie who has taken over another El Supremo franchise :thumbsup:
made it into a gps 200 by starting at Paddington and riding to Leiston after the finish; I was very popular on the ride though as one of few riders with a gps; but I lost most most of my faithful followers at Framlgham who did not believe I was on the proper route, only to meet them all agaain at Darsham
must camp next year
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It's becoming a trend this carrying a tent to the beach malarkey, it is soooo last year :)
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DIY gpx worked and was 206km with 1700m climbing :thumbsup:
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Great to meet Rich Forest and Annie in Dunwich - never actually spoken before. Annie's setup in the car park looked more like the mobile grocery shops that I vaguely remember from my childhood (but they didn't cook food to order!).
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Team not quite so Slow were Pippa, Jane, Andrij and a brace of Pippa's friends.
Rog and Mike, your bikes were spotted on the back of a car as we passed through Yoxford.
This was my fourth Dynamo in as many years - and almost certainly the most enjoyable.
Yes,we saw you raiding the shop in Yoxford when we were on the way back - about 7am.
Proper ride report later; suffice to say that we stormed the first half (and was it geraldc who had chalked "allez allez" on Church Hill?) and then faded over the second half, partly because we had no incentive to hurry, knowing Annie would be catering on the beach :thumbsup:
Far more bikes on the road, far more early starters than usual. However we saw absolutely no other bikes between Framlingham and the "Dunwich 7" sign after Peasenhall. I don't think other people were actually following the defined route.
Biggest bonus apart from Annie: a house somewhere near Brandeston Gosbeck? I've forgotten already - that was serving hot bacon rolls, tea and coffee for the local air ambulance. Big floodlight outside and cyclists like moths to a flame. *Everyone* was stopping while we were there.
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I've snoozed, watched the final stage of the tour ( :o ) and done some weeding so I cant be accused of wasting the day...
I got the train down from Cambridge at about 5 and met a bloke called Ashley who was nervously heading down for his first dun run on his new road bike with new clipless pedals and never having ridden for more than 40 miles. He seemed to arrive at every stop about 1/2 hour before us, so I guess he had a good ride!
After catching up with everyone, a quick beer and a slice of wonderful coffee cake at London Fields, me & rog left at 8 (8.02 apparently ::-)) We thrashed up through london, with Rog being much quicker than me away from all the lights and on a mission to get to the food stop before the queues got too long. We overtook an awful lot of people who must have left well before 7, and were overtaken by a few, mainly in Dulwich tops (I think they came past us 4 or 5 times during the ride - testament to Rogers GPS-fu)
We paused for a wee in what was, apparently 'the best pee stop in the south east' and pushed on to the food hall, got there just as the queues were starting up having averaged about 16. A plenty of sandwiches and a bottle refill then we were off.
The second half started badly for me, i took a long time to get going and struggled a bit, but Rog towed me along and I perked up after the impromptu coffee stop. After a quick pause and stretch at the bus shelter in Framlingham we didnt see a soul till the Dunwich 7 sign, then all calm till a git on a brompton came past me in the last mile - I wasnt going to lose the 'small wheel challenge' in the last mile and gave chase - he saw me come past and picked up the speed a bit till we were racing at about 25 till he let me win :) We got to the carpark at about 5, had a coffee and a bacon roll 2 bacon rolls from the angelic annie then Rogers father in law gave me a lift back to cambridge, then it was 10 minutes on the bike back to the car (plus a 2 minute stretch when I got cramp) and a drive home!
See you next year!
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What a thoroughly splendid day at the beach... I grew up next to a beach and never imagined it could be filled so quickly with so many hungry people, arriving on all sorts of cycles/contraptions and so many amazing outfits and reasons for riding.
I was fortunate enough to have about an hour or so of sleep before receiving a message from Rich, asking if I was at the beach. The message arrived at 01.43, about 2 minutes before my alarm call. Within 15 minutes I had popped the rest of the house into the back of my car, cleaned my teeth, avoided breaking any ribs and was on my way. En-route I had to call the Boys and Girls in Blue to a young man, sat on the top of the Orwell Bridge; not normal behaviour for that time of the morning, with no sight of a car or other means of transport, I was quite concerned. They had a car on the way to the young man within a minute although when they called to ask me for a description, I couldn't give much more than, 'young man, sat on edge of bridge'. I do hope that he was ok.
Shortly before Dunwich I came across Bambi and probably her Grandmama, wandering across my path, I didn't call anyone about these two but waited patiently for them to go on their way.
I found two bodies in the Flora Cafe at Dunwich, both alive and able to converse; Rich and Toontra. Rich, having just completed 300k of a 500k audax and Toontra, first time I had met Toontra and a pleasure.
Much of the rest of the day involved popping the kettles on, filling the urn thingy, cooking sausage, bacon, beans and other stuff that I can't quite remember at the moment and probably have no desire to remember tomorrow or next week.
Roger and Mike arrived around 5am. Roger got his sausage and all was well. Both guys looking as fit as ever.
Then peeps just arrived in dribs and drabs, one guy had come over from Helsinki and I am unable to remember his name but it was a pleasure to meet him.
Blankets, chairs, sleeping bags and bodies were to be found loitering around my faithful automobile. Great to see everyone again, an amazing effort and achievement. Congratulations to Mrs Oaky who had if I remember rightly, never ridden over 50 miles and certainly not in the night, also to CrinklyLion of Team Cake and Cuddles, Feline who looked far too clean. I apologise for suggesting we drag you around the car park to make you dirty. Some had no problem getting dirty, mentioning no names, Jane. I am certain that her eggs multiplied in their box as there appeared to be an endless supply of eggs.
I had to leave a little earlier then planned and so can't say much more about the happenings but well done to everyone and apologies if I haven't mentioned you here but I am an ickle bit tired and still emptying the car. I have a few photographs, I'll post them tomorrow. If I remember anything else I will post later.
Oh yes, I think I saw Bishop Kahn through Needham Market, sorry I didn't pull over.
x
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just remembered - did anyone else see a bloke with a big dog in his cargobike?
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just remembered - did anyone else see a bloke with a big dog in his cargobike?
yup at the start.
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just remembered - did anyone else see a bloke with a big dog in his cargobike?
yup at the start.
We saw them arrive. An amazing sight. The dog looked as fresh as a daisy.
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. However we saw absolutely no other bikes between Framlingham and the "Dunwich 7" sign after Peasenhall. I don't think other people were actually following the defined route.
ditto; everyone was congregating at that stone thingie after Framlingham when I stuck to my guns and only 2 others followed me, out of loyalty I suppose. I just got a gpx from Werner who was selling route sheets at the start and he used the same route as I so it must be the official one. He also rode back to Ipswich which was apparently pretty hard and into a headwind
quite a few were coming via Leiston when I rode down there
just remembered - did anyone else see a bloke with a big dog in his cargobike?
saw something that big (cargo carrier in the front) lit up blue en route parked but no dog.
big showing from Horsham but otherwise no big clubs / groups other than 2/3 of yacf
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We saw a porky bloke on a Brompton wearing a Brooks jersey several times on the way out of London, but he wasn't at the finish. Other odd sights besides the dog on the cargo bike: Dulwich Paragon with white and blue fairy lights on the riders (helmet and cascading down their backs), a LFGSS support van at Sudbury (cheating!), one trike, and a pleasantly refreshed local on a BMX who gave us a good run for our money in Dunmow. I reckon he can outspin Fixedwheelnut.
Generally there were far more young riders and nearly everyone in the first 100-200 was on a road racing bike. We looked a bit out of place as early middle-agers on a Moulton and a tourer.
Did anyone else see the smashed glass bottle between Moreton and Fyfield? I did, just as I rode straight through it, but Marathon Racers laughed it off. I suspect that caused a few fairy visits over the night.
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The guy on the Brompton/Brooks tshirt did finish - we played leapfrog for about 50 miles but my party arrived about 20 minutes ahead of him. He was pedalling with his instep towards the end, not sure due to pain or that was his style,
The dog in the cargo box was quite something.
As were the couple on the tandem, passed us in Epping playing music and looking very cool and laid back, but got more and more bedraggled as the ride progressed.
When does the pain go away?
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We saw a porky bloke on a Brompton wearing a Brooks jersey several times on the way out of London, but he wasn't at the finish.
He was at the finish when we arrived, talking to another Bromptoneer.
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Cool. He looked the part, although seeing him made me really glad I hadn't taken the B.
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I must say a special thanks to Mat and Stu at Lifecycle UK in Bildeston for dropping everything to help with the Weasel's rear wheel. I did bribe them by leaving a cake and the promise of a return visit very soon. I owe the til £1.50, sorry Rob. Also sorry we missed you at the beach. I think I arrived at your shop as you arrived at the beach.
The Weasels had a major rear wheel failure, 11 broken spokes in total. Even with the use of a vice and two very capable and strong, young men.....that free wheel wasn't going anywhere. Sadly we were unable to rebuild the wheel and without a suitable alternative, it was returned to Dunwich minus the 11 spokes. I am sorry I couldn't drive it back in person but I would have been a danger to other road users due to a massive attack of sleep munchies.
Hope you all have fun at the campsite.
I'll post some pics shortly.
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I, and a significant quanity of cake, made it to the beach. 15 cakes left York with me, and I managed to distrubute all bar 5 of them by the time I hit the sea :)
Grand to have company across from Liverpool St to Hackney, and once there to see so many familiar and new forum faces.
I have confirmed that attempting the dun run as your first century+ ride, first attempt at tandeming (if you discount 10 minutes round the block to see if I could reach the pedals a few weeks back) and first clipless ride is utterly insane, but rather good fun. It was distinctly warm, so I ended up stashing my t-shirt in the panniers at an early stop (when other were donning arm warmers and extra layers) and completing the entire ride wearing my vest! The feed stop, which we had a slight detour to find since we went straight past it, was very quiet when we got there so I managed to buy something other than cake to eat, which was probably a good thing.
Annie's preparations were awesome! We were among the last of Team Slow to actually arrive, at around 11, and found an endearing heap of snoozing YACFers bundled up in sleeping bags and blankies, with sprinkling of forumites still looking bright eyed and bushy tailed and consuming an apparently inexhaustible supply of delicious food.
A most pleasant swim the sea, followed by drying off and clean clothes, meant I was ready for the train journey home so Wowbagger and I hopped back on the tandem and rode to Darsham where seatpost, saddle and stoker swapping ensued as I jumped on the train home just as Mrs Wow's train was due to arrive so that they could head off on further adventures. A mile or two out of Dunwich the sun came out properly, and I regret not having applied sun cream - pink and ouchy.
Hope that the rest of team slow have a good evening. I'm off to eat a chinese takeaway now :)
And Adrian, I really did save a cake for you this time. Have to try again on another ride.
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And Adrian, I really did save a cake for you this time. Have to try again on another ride.
Damn, now I regret my no show.
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just remembered - did anyone else see a bloke with a big dog in his cargobike?
As did we at the pub in Moreton. Along with everyone else when I squealed "oh look he's got a doggy on his bike".
That was my first Dun Run and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. A lovely route and nice to do a night ride with so many others but yet at the same time on our own – a very different beast to a FNRttC. Despite the large numbers, we were often, in Team Not So Slow, all on our own for long periods. Chapeau to Inge and Domingo, both work colleagues, who joined me on this, Domingo having bought his bike 2 weeks ago only and done 20km on it so far and Inge who only bought her bike a couple of months ago. They arrived at Dunwich and felt good enough to cycle to Diss.
It was fantastic in the last 30 or so miles to see cyclist lounging around on every grass verge – it felt like cyclists ruled the world.
Did anyone else spot the chap running along the road somewhere before Needham market in barefeet? In the middle of nowhere?
And the lady standing at the side of the road not far after the pub in Moreton making some kind of very quiet protest, I suspect about cycling – all I heard was “shouldn’t be allowed, clear off”.
Many many thanks to Annie for her superb spread at Dunwich – it was lovely to meet you :-*
And to Team Not So Slow for the company. Fantastic night.
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Wow what a ride ;D
Just arrived home after a 7 hour drive home from Dunwich (there were 2 accidents on the M25, by the time I got passed all that was left of the wreckage was the remains of a motorbike being put on a recovery truck :( ).
It was an awesome ride with awesome company and yummie nomnoms made by CL and Pixieannie, thanks so much for all your efforts, I don't think I was in any fit state to thank you properly at Dunwich I was a bit zombified.
My first Dun Run (and first night ride and >50 mile ride) went so much better than I expected mostly due to the Yacf moral support enroute, some happy memories and can't wait to see the pics ;D
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Proper ride report later; suffice to say that we stormed the first half (and was it geraldc who had chalked "allez allez" on Church Hill?) and then faded over the second half, partly because we had no incentive to hurry, knowing Annie would be catering on the beach :thumbsup:
Yes that was me!
I went to Finchingfield at 11 to draw on the road, but there was already a constant stream of cyclists, so I just scrawled something quick and went home ;D
Turns out chalking stuff on the road is actually quite difficult. I now have a lot more respect for the little girls next door who manage to cover their parents driveway in a matter of seconds.
I think next time I try write messages on the road, I'll get spray chalk.
(http://www.pbase.com/image/126845597/medium.jpg)
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Rich and another 'bent rider', chatting in the early hours
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/027.jpg)
The Bishop (he who likes to drink tea but is not a vicar)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/029.jpg)
Man of many miles
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/030.jpg)
Joined by Darkpoint
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/028.jpg)
Birthday boy in the background
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/032.jpg)
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The only view I got of 'The Lovely Jane'.
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/031.jpg)
A smiley, happy chappy
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/036.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/033.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/034.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/038.jpg)
Actually, it wasn't the only pic. Also present, the much missed Jurek and the newly met Pippa
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/039.jpg)
Even big people need a sleepie byes
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/044.jpg)
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Mr and Mrs Oaky
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/045.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/046.jpg)
TimO and Luke, looking far too fresh
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/048.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/049.jpg)
They kept on coming
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/054.jpg)
and got even more gorgeous as the day went on
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t250/nettienoodles/Dun%20Run%202010/055.jpg)
Sorry but that's all, apologies if I didn't get your pic but not enough time or busy making tea or something else.
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In tent, totally knackered. Food, beach, swim, Annie. All good, the latter, amazing. Barbecue, more food, beer, tea, banana custard. Pikes, paraffin, FIRE!
Poi, staff, chains and pics. Sleep now, more later.
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Photos from the start. Apologies for the delay - My 'puter's been on a go slow. :-\
Clicky on the first for the slideshow
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/th_P1000894.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/?action=view¤t=cd92e6a1.pbw)
Colourful Characters:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/P1000895.jpg)
Cake:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/P1000928a.jpg)
We Three Kings:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/P1000916.jpg)
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Great to see you all again and to meet some new faces.
I stuck with team slow until a few miles before Dunmow but progress was too slow for my tastes, so I spent the rest of the ride leapfrogging groups (and stopping at pubs) until I got to people I could only just stick with.
I rode home (to Ely) this year, getting 223miles in all for the weekend. :D
Huge thanks to Annie again.
Here's lots of photos - I'll do some captions tomorrow when I'm more awake.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Yuba2.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Yuba.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Charlottesnapper.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/PollyWellie.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/lookaway.jpg)
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ado15/Dun%20Run%202010/P1000916.jpg)
Spotless ;D
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(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Richfreinds.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Richfacedown.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/luke.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/JulianPhil.jpg)
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The 'Oakys' share beans.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Oakyssharebeans.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Breakfast.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/feline.jpg)
The fabulous Feline (how did she manage to keep her kit and bike so clean?)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/felineTimo.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/teamslowarrive.jpg)
Pike Tandem ale celebration.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Pikes.jpg)
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(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Kim.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/emilio.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/dunwich.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/breakfast2.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/wobblyjohn/Dun%20Run%2010/Bikealoft.jpg)
That's all :smug:
Nighty Night O:-)
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A wonerful ride, the longest I've done this year and Wst time Ibve done more that 10 miles since June. I was Slowest of the Slow, and after feeling a bit wierd at Needham market (eyes shutting when riding) was last man in to Camp Annie, luckily there was tons off food left! An entertaining night with Tim, kathy and apprentice pyromainiacs, I was so tires I just watched. Currently a lowely sunny day on the beach.
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can't recall which pub this was - i recall the dog man was here.
can't believe how many pubs were still open and more importantly how many i didn't stop to drink in.
(http://www.ealingcycling.org.uk/SiteImages/PeoplePics/DD1st.JPG)
(http://www.ealingcycling.org.uk/SiteImages/PeoplePics/DD6th.JPG)
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So glad I threw my kit together at the last minute and decided I was well enough after all on Saturday afternoon. Really good to see loads of familiar faces at the start. "Team not so slow and not too fast either" were fine company- we had a few fine chuckles together and there were a few times when I felt really rough when I felt I was being discreetly and unobtrusively but very well looked after. Thanks so much, Jurek, Pippa, Inge and Domingo.
And Annie- what a welcome! Behind a table that could barely support the feast laid out on it, the beautiful lady herself. A few more fine chuckles and not a few mouthfuls of fine food (great couscous Annie) later, Andrij and I availed ourselves of the train tickets from Diss which Jurek and Pippa no longer needed, and left. We should probably have left about half an hour earlier. I blame the company, too entertaining- why can't you be normal, boring people? Then we wouldn't have had to push our poor, already tired legs beyond what they were meant to do after 115 miles and no sleep. Due to getting lost at the beginning despite Jurek's very clear map, we ended up having to ride 30 miles, possibly more) in not much more than two hours by the time we got properly underway. Without Andrij setting the pace so well I don't think we would have made it. As it was I staggered onto the platform behind him with just under a minute left. Thanks Andrij.
This Dun Run is definitely in the top two now due in no small part to you lot! Equal first with the one with a massive full moon, lots of bats, wildlife and a not quite halfway champagne party (but that's another story).
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We saw them arrive. An amazing sight. The dog looked as fresh as a daisy.
If someone had carried me there in a box on the front of their bike, I think I could have arrived looking fresh as a daisy, too (sparkling clean as well.)
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Another couple of things I forgot:
We saw Sam Walker several times, beginning at Castle Hedingham. No words were exchanged, I'm afraid, but he was going well.
And Annie and Mr A used to work with my father, it turns out.
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Barry Mason's blog post (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southwarkcyclists/message/9150) mentions yacf.
1,350 riders, he reckons.
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1,350 riders, he reckons.
In the time I've been doing the rides, I've never seen as many on the beach as I did yesterday.
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I kept saying to mike, "I've never seen so many riders on the road at this point".
In 2007 Team Speed left at 8pm and by Epping we were undoubtedly first on the road; it was clear all the way. This year we saw an aged CTC trio at Wethersfield who, judging from their speed, must have started at teatime.
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Chatting outside the Flora cafe, Barry thought my comment of 'not as many as last year' was controversial. There definately wasn't as big a queue for breakfast - maybe a consequence of the bacon buttie stop/Annies YACF stall/better cafe service/more people taking food with them.
I think last years topped 1500 - only half the riders I talked to at the end had breakfast at the cafe.
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In the park, my completely non-scientific assessment was that the crowd was similar to, or slightly less than, last year.
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I thought it looked about the same at the start BUT there were definitely more on the road. Earlier departures, I think.
Mike and I agreed that the unofficial feeding station is something that Barry should encourage; the halfway stop and the Flora Cafe are beyond saturated, and there's easy money to be made if you have a well-detached house on the route. If you have neighbours who are light sleepers it wouldn't work so well ;)
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Mike and I agreed that the unofficial feeding station is something that Barry should encourage; the halfway stop and the Flora Cafe are beyond saturated, and there's easy money to be made if you have a well-detached house on the route. If you have neighbours who are light sleepers it wouldn't work so well ;)
The Chap that set up the bacon buttie stop, had done the ride 3 times before and had left London Fields to ride home at 8 that night. His neighbours were on holiday, and the ones the other side were excited and keen to come and help if needed. - I was among a group he came and chatted to.
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The Sible Hedingham control was a bit chaotic becuase there was one bloke doing teas coffees and bananas and running out all the time and having to go back himslef and boil water, and then a melee to get soup and rolls so you ended up having to queue for both.
self service with a till at the end would have been quicker as the hall was pretty big.
but having said that I queued for 45 mins and by the time I got out there was no queue so I may just have arrived at rush hour (0130)
my mates completely missed it and I caught them up in Great Waldingfield and I don't think they were the only ones
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my mates completely missed it and I caught them up in Great Waldingfield and I don't think they were the only ones
I think a LOT of people missed it for one reason or another. I was the first there but overtook many people in the 20 miles afterwards that had obviously not stopped. Several asked me where the food stop was!
I hope enough people found/used it to cover their costs.
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mrs_o and I had a fantastic time.
I bumped into clarion, Butterfly and TGL at Liverpool St. who were waiting for wowbagger and CrinklyLion. I nipped off to complete my shopping (Jelly Beans and wine at M&S, pasties from the Pasty Shop).
We (mrs_o, our friend Andy from Witham and myself) set off for Hackney, a bit before wow arrived, since mrs_o had never ridden in London traffic before so I thought we'd better build in the possibility of stopping / re-routing if necessary (and she wanted to get it over with ASAP).
We milled around with an increasing bunch of yacfers in the usual corner. Drinks were had, hands were shaken, acquaintances made (and re-made). It was nice to see Andrij and coll_coll at the start, who I'd ridden so much of the middle/latter part of last year's ride with. (Once on the road, the sound of coll_coll's freewheel brought it all back!).
I also spotted James Bowthorpe (chap who broke Mark Beaumont's round the world record) complete with belt-drive Santos bike, just next to the Pub.
We set off with Team Slow at some time after 8:30, after a couple of drinks to fine-tune the pre-ride carbo-loading regime. The group strung out a bit through the outskirts of London, but re-grouped at the 24hr garage @ 12 miles. mrs_o and I decided to set off a bit ahead since we definitely wanted to reach the pub in Moreton with time for a drink before last orders.
We got there in good time and were supping when we saw most of Team Slow (and the guy with the dog) ride through (I cheered wow+CrinklyLion through with a cry of "Go Team Slow!!!"). I didn't realise for some time that Team Slow had all stopped a few yards down the road. I stopped for a quick chat on our way out of Moreton. We went on ahead, on the grounds that we expected to be Team Stopping A Lot, and so would probably get swept up by the Team Slow peloton at some point later.
mrs_o and I separated from our friend Andy, somewhere between there and Finchingfield. We had come laden with picnic options (well one of us was laden!) and decided that at the top of the hill in Finchingfield would be a good spot to stop. We sat under a tree on a bench just outside the Three Tuns (which was shut, but the pub in the centre of Finchingfield was open when we went past - I don't remember that from last year) and enjoyed the first instalment of our picnic watching the stream of riders going past.
From here on, we passed an increasing number of navigationally challenged souls, who we put right whenever possible. We stopped at the village hall to refill bottles and have a loo stop, where I bumped into Martin, also resplendent in his KOTM jersey - that was, I think the 5th I'd seen that night - Myself, Feline, rogerzilla, darkpoint, Martin). We didn't partake of the food there, but it did seem that the queue was less daunting than last year's (although I got the impression there were more people at the halfway stop this year, catching 40 winks on the grass all around).
Several Essex and Suffolk village residents had stayed up with drinks and deckchairs to cheer us on again this year. :thumbsup:
At some point, we spotted man+dog both asleep on/under a park bench.
Also, some enterprising soul has, I see, cottoned on to the marketing opportunity this year - a sign appeared "Dun Run - Bacon Rolls 2 miles ->". They seemed to do a fair old trade too. Pity that the twit who decided to stop in front of us to have one decided it was important enough that he had to stop at the point of the road most narrowed by people already stopped, completely blocking the way through and slowly faffing in the middle of the road for his money, totally oblivious to the others wanting to ride on through.
We managed two more picnics en-route too, one at ~91 miles the other I don't recall.
We arrived at Dunwich at around 08:15 to find the most superb sight. The wonderful pixieannie had set up a base-camp of epicurean delights. There's a serious danger that the write-up of the food and welcome at the finish might end up longer than the write up of the rest of the ride.
The moment we arrived, a flame-haired pixie started running around, offering drinks (tea, coffee juice, water, alcohol,....) breakfast (bacon rolls and beans - yum :)), seats, blankets and indicating the table of delights to nom in the meantime. the olive foccaccia was absolutely wonderful. Cashew nuts hit the spot too (I'd lost a little salt and protein travelling through the matter transference beam).
Already there were RichForrest (reclined on a blanket), Andrij (sitting under one) and one chap whose forum name I forgot to get. Several others arrived to the same welcoming flurry of pixie activity and food production.
Some fantastic pictures upthread -- I'll upload mine later and edit this for a few links. I even got a couple of pics of the chap+dog arriving at Dunwich.
I'm very impressed with mrs_o, who managed it superbly. That was the first time she'd been more than ~56 miles (and at a rolling pace a bit higher than she'd done that too - I think we managed a moving average of around 12.5 mph in the end). I did get curse a bit on a few of the hills towards the end (although mrs_o stated somewhat embarrassedly that she was in her granny ring, she was still overtaking blokes on road bikes up the hills). ;D :thumbsup:
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I forgot the quote of the night, from the taciturn but friendly Lotum, when asked if he'd done the Dun Run before:
'No. I've just done LEL.'
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my mates completely missed it and I caught them up in Great Waldingfield and I don't think they were the only ones
I think a LOT of people missed it for one reason or another. I was the first there but overtook many people in the 20 miles afterwards that had obviously not stopped. Several asked me where the food stop was!
I hope enough people found/used it to cover their costs.
I just followed the route sheet, and found it OK, but there were a few lost souls with us asking things like "is this definitely the way to the food?" etc. I've done a few Audax rides though, so am used to following route sheet type instructions.
There was one chap we say after we'd left the stop and were back on the route who helpfully asked if we'd overshot it and pointed us back towards it just in case. He'd already been there (but if he was back on the road again, then he was heading in the wrong direction!).
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Two people we spoke with had missed it. One asked, somewhere after Little Waldingfield, where he could get water between there and Dunwich. Nowhere, we said, although he could have been saved by the freelance pit stop.
Another asked on the road how far it was to the feed stop. 25 miles ago, we said.
I think people missed it for two reasons: it was changed from GW only four days beforehand, and also it was off the normal route by half a mile.
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Some great pics :)
Especially huge well done to Feline and Mrs O (who were both expressing slight concern about whether this was a really_stupid_idea at the start) - that's a heck of a way to do your first century, and you both look disgustingly fresh and fit to go at the end :)
I feel surprisingly chipper after a good night's sleep. A few aches and pains, but I could quite cheerfully head out for a bike ride if it weren't Monday and therefore my no-cycling day. The sunburn, which happened on the way to the railway station and whilst waiting for trains, is extremely impressive and somewhat painful though. A few majorly uncomfortable episodes of cramp in my left foot, contributed a bit to the tandem's slowness - we had to stop several times in the last 30-ish, including a last stop less than half a mile from the end, for me to take my shoes off and jump up and down at the side of the road shouting 'bugger bugger bugger that hurts!'. And I think I might need a membership card for the Team Slow slightly dodgy knee club - it started to twinge a bit in the last thirty or so miles and got steadily more uncomfortable all the way to the end. Hopefully a couple off days of the bike will see it right before next weekend's rides.
The Selle Italia, as recommended by the bottoms of various YACF ladies, did the job OK. Which is to say that I was rather glad to arrive at the beach and get off, but I don't think a different saddle would have much improved that - especially when you consider that it took us about 14 hours (including plenty of stops, so I don't know what the riding time was) to get there. That amount of time, combined with me being a heffalump so plenty of weight on said saddle, a completely different and unfamiliar bike setup (we did a bit of fit-tweaking along the way, but maybe I should have paid more attention to this in the early bit of the ride when I was a bit more awake to see if I could get it more right), a very warm night, a more upright riding position than I'm used to and the fact that on the tandem shifting position around and getting up out of the saddle is a bit more complex that on the solo, meant that it was always likely that it would get a bit uncomfortable at some time. The idea of getting back on and riding back to the station a couple of hours later didn't make me cry, so I think that counts as a Selle Italia win!
Clipless was absolutely the right way to go - at 4 am I can guarantee I would have lost pedals on some of the descents and won myself some corking bruises, so thanks to those experienced stokers who encouraged me to try. I suspect that slightly out cleat positioning may have contributed a bit to the knee/cramp issues, but that's what happens when you do the Dun Run as a shakedown ride :)
I was right that the back of the tandem was the way to do this ride for me. On the solo I don't think I'd have made it to Hackney as I probably would have turned tail and run for the train home once I saw the London traffic. So an gigantic thank you to Wowbagger for towing me along so remarkably cheerfully - as I said on the way to the train that's probably the hardest ride I've done in terms of the physical challenge but it certainly didn't feel like that hardest. And CrinklyCub is very impressed that we cleared 40 mph on some of the downhills :)
And give Mrs Wow a big fat :-* from me, to say thank you for lending me her stoker seat and her husband for the night!
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Rich and another 'bent rider', chatting in the early hours
That's me, uninvited. Thanks for the warm welcome though.
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Some great photos! Lots of familiar faces. Shame I couldn't do it this year :'(
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It isn't going to happen for me this year, I'm afraid. I'm utterly exhausted just getting everything ready - I doubt I'd even get to Epping. But, as I've got the end of next week off, the idea of popping my tent on the back of the bike and heading off for a gentle few days riding certainly does appeal, especially now I've got everything ready.
Have a good ride people.
I feel for you but you're wise not to put yourself through it. Getting the system as fully recovered as possible before throwing further insults at it is the key I think. It could get very boring indeed for you but you have to concentrate on the long view.
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Woolly and I just saw them off from London Fields. Much cake was consumed (CL is a genius). Everyone was in high spirits. I hope you have wonderful rides! We're now nomming pancakes and milkshakes... :)
The chocolate covered coffee beans adorning the chocolate cake were a master stroke. Deliciosity, stimulousness and tummy filling in one nommy package. Thanks so much, Crinkly.
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Crinkly, Feline and Mrs Oaky - serious respect on your first centuries! 8)
Crinkly - if you have an avocado handy I find slathering its flesh on my, er, flesh great for sunburn, believe it or not!
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dkahn400 - proof that the drugs DO work ;D
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It's becoming a trend this carrying a tent to the beach malarkey, it is soooo last year :)
I lugged camping gear (hammock and tarp rather than tent) all the way there and all the way home again without using it. On the way home I was very tempted to spend the night in Epping Forest. It was a bail-out option but tired though I was I managed to resist.
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Woolly and I just saw them off from London Fields. Much cake was consumed (CL is a genius). Everyone was in high spirits. I hope you have wonderful rides! We're now nomming pancakes and milkshakes... :)
The chocolate covered coffee beans adorning the chocolate cake were a master stroke. Deliciosity, stimulousness and tummy filling in one nommy package. Thanks so much, Crinkly.
That cake was brilliant! Incredibly tasty and rocket fuel to boot. Top marks from the mid-Essex judge.
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Woolly and I just saw them off from London Fields. Much cake was consumed (CL is a genius). Everyone was in high spirits. I hope you have wonderful rides! We're now nomming pancakes and milkshakes... :)
The chocolate covered coffee beans adorning the chocolate cake were a master stroke. Deliciosity, stimulousness and tummy filling in one nommy package. Thanks so much, Crinkly.
That cake was brilliant! Incredibly tasty and rocket fuel to boot. Top marks from the mid-Essex judge.
I was quite pleased with it. Definitely a recipe to save and use again :)
Now, children, are you paying attention?
This
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs213.snc4/39009_416415926838_551606838_4396251_185354_n.jpg)
is why you don't foget to put the suncream on ::-)
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Rich and another 'bent rider', chatting in the early hours
That's me, uninvited. Thanks for the warm welcome though.
You were most welcome
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I left home at 13.00 on Sat for a 300km ride out thinking that at my usual speeds I'd get there at about 4am
I went a bit faster than usual and averaged 30.1kph getting there at 1.40 and a completely empty carpark and beach.
I sat outside until the cafe owner got there at 2.50. Thankfully opening up as I was starting to shiver outside.
Toontra was the first rider to arrive and looked a bit surprised that someone had got there before him ;D
I did tell him I cycled a different way and he was the first.
Annie then arrived and started the food prep'. The food was excellent :thumbsup: :-*
Throughout the morning more and more people arrived, I had a sleep and left for home at 13.00
The ride back was a lot harder due to tired legs, a headwind and the heat and rolling hills all the way to Brandon.
Another almost dive into a ditch due to sand on a cornerand flint covered lanes causing a slow puncture just before Thetford allowed me to sleep for 45mins before fixing it.
The headwind lasted for about 180km and dropped my speed 10/15kph from the outward journey. I got home in the end at 01.00
Good to meet up with people on here I've not had the pleasure to meet before :thumbsup:
And good to meet again with those I have ;D
P.S. Those pics make me look huge :o
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P.S. Those pics make me look huge :o
Serves you right for being about 9 foot tall :P
Actually, I thought you were looking skinnier than at Easter - is that not the case?
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Great shots; nice to see "everyone". Must manage to do it again soon. :-[
PS That back looks very, very poorly. Ouch!
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PS That back looks very, very poorly. Ouch!
Back, shoulders, upper arms, and a fair bit of chest and cleavage are all pillar box red - and it was from less than an hour on the bike plus a bit of standing around on platforms waiting for trains. A photograph of my back seemed the least inappropriate one to post!
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PS That back looks very, very poorly. Ouch!
Back, shoulders, upper arms, and a fair bit of chest and cleavage are all pillar box red - and it was from less than an hour on the bike plus a bit of standing around on platforms waiting for trains. A photograph of my back seemed the least inappropriate one to post!
Take care of it; may want to see a pharmacist for some lotion to apply.
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Yes it is thanks, I'm down to about 15.5 stone now ;D
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I need a 'green with envy' smiley. Dun Run is DEFINITELY on the list for next year. It sounds like such a good time!
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Yes it is thanks, I'm down to about 15.5 stone now ;D
Snap - last time I weighed myself a few weeks back, so it might be less now. Although I, of course, am definitely not 9 feet tall!
Morrissette - it was a great thing to do, and if I can make it to the end I'm very sure that you'd have no problem :) I have to confess to feeling rather jealous of the happy campers who were staying as I left, as I'm sure they'll have a great time. But I'm already in trouble for having disappeared for the entire weekend, and the train home today would have been prohibitively expensive too.
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some photos are at Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mark.oakden/DunwichDynamo2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSP0-_z3MDJWg&feat=directlink), lightly captioned. I'll link some inline to my ride report up thread later on.
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And the lady standing at the side of the road not far after the pub in Moreton making some kind of very quiet protest, I suspect about cycling – all I heard was “shouldn’t be allowed, clear off”.
But we were clearing off - to the seaside. ;D
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Yes it is thanks, I'm down to about 15.5 stone now ;D
That's why I didn't imemdiately recognise you - you're noticeably lighter than in that squeezing-into-a-black-YACF-jersey photo.
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And the lady standing at the side of the road not far after the pub in Moreton making some kind of very quiet protest, I suspect about cycling – all I heard was “shouldn’t be allowed, clear off”.
But we were clearing off - to the seaside. ;D
Indeed :facepalm: Unfortunately, what she was saying didn't register until a few moment later (I thought she was saying "clean up") otherwise I would have been happy to point out that we were, in fact, leaving.
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The Sible Hedingham control was a bit chaotic becuase there was one bloke doing teas coffees and bananas and running out all the time and having to go back himslef and boil water, and then a melee to get soup and rolls so you ended up having to queue for both.
self service with a till at the end would have been quicker as the hall was pretty big.
but having said that I queued for 45 mins and by the time I got out there was no queue so I may just have arrived at rush hour (0130)
my mates completely missed it and I caught them up in Great Waldingfield and I don't think they were the only ones
I got through it fairly quickly, maybe 10 minutes between walking in the door and sitting down with my soup and my hummus and salad sandwich. It was mobbed with Dulwich Paragon riders.
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So an gigantic thank you to Wowbagger for towing me along so remarkably cheerfully -
I'm pretty sure you did your share of the work, if not the CrinklyLion's share. I certainly didn't hear any complaints from the captain.
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some photos are at Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mark.oakden/DunwichDynamo2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSP0-_z3MDJWg&feat=directlink), lightly captioned. I'll link some inline to my ride report up thread later on.
Huh! You took the kiddie seat off the back of Mrs O's bike! Next year do it with the seat full of sleeping kid, it would make a dog and a dinghy look a bit tame :thumbsup:
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PS That back looks very, very poorly. Ouch!
Back, shoulders, upper arms, and a fair bit of chest and cleavage are all pillar box red - and it was from less than an hour on the bike plus a bit of standing around on platforms waiting for trains. A photograph of my back seemed the least inappropriate one to post!
Ouchity, ouch. Wearing a proper cycling top in the sun is not a bad idea either.
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....my hummus and salad sandwich.
A hummus (sic) and salad sandwich?!!! Not exactly cycling food!
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....my hummus and salad sandwich.
A hummus (sic) and salad sandwich?!!! Not exactly cycling food!
Yebbut bobb cycling food is Stella at the start, Stella on the bike and Stella at the finish.
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....my hummus and salad sandwich.
A hummus (sic) and salad sandwich?!!! Not exactly cycling food!
Didn't seem to do me any harm. I think you'll find that hummus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus#Etymology) is a legitimate spelling BTW.
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Ouchity, ouch. Wearing a proper cycling top in the sun is not a bad idea either.
Too fat for that - it's really hard to get cycling kit in my size.
Although since I've been shrinking a bit there's a few more options. But all very expensive and I refuse to spend that much dosh on something I may have shrunk out of before I've worn it out!
A hummus (sic) and salad sandwich?!!! Not exactly cycling food!
There seemed to only be salad sarnies by the time I got there which was, bizarrely, exactly the right thing for me. I quite often find that my appetite shuts down a bit on bike rides and I can't be bothered to eat - and I can go quite a long way just living off my hump so long as I drink loads. But I like salad sandwiches, so I actually ate something which was probably a good idea on this ride!
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they only did salad sandwiches right from the start, I think.
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Too fat for that - it's really hard to get cycling kit in my size.
Although since I've been shrinking a bit there's a few more options. But all very expensive and I refuse to spend that much dosh on something I may have shrunk out of before I've worn it out!
I think you would probably be alright in the YACF jerseys. We should do some jersey swopping when we have the next forum ride so that those who aren't sure can try them. They are probably not any longer than your t shirt.
It is fantastic how svelt everyone is looking. You, Kathy, Charlotte, Julian, Roger, Kim - lots of people are looking fabulous :D.
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Well I'm now back at work, having left most of the happy campers about to leave Dunwich for Ipswich. I left for Darsham and met Wow and Mrs Wow who I accompanied to Darsham Station when they continued onwards with their journey back to Southend.
Many thanks to Annie for a splendid spread of food, which I was a little too zonked to appreciate fully, I'm sure all of us were very happy to see you and partake of your hard work.
The ride itself was largely great, although the road through Epping Forest (more or less) was rather horrible due to the large amount of traffic, poor road surface, and pathetic cycle lane.
I sort of stayed with Team Slow for a fair bit of the ride, but after the half way stop I got separated from most of them, and kept on going, thinking I was going to catch up the Team Pike somewhere ahead of me. I met up with Luke about 40 miles from the end, and we continued onwards with a stop every ten miles or so to recuperate and have some munchies. We got to Dunwich without too much strain I think around 9-15, having left London Fields near 8-30 which I'm happy with, not ever claiming that I was going to be fast!
As we approached Dunwich I did spy Pippa and Jurek drinking something (which I assume was coffee) as the sped of in a car, although they did stop briefly to say Bye Bye. :)
After a brief tour of the car park, we found Annie, and the speedier group, but not to my surprise the Pikes, who I thought were ahead of me, not as turned out to be the case behind me.
A while later all the others arrived, and also partook of Annie's hospitality.
Towards the evening we shifted ourselves, our bikes and luggage, and some of what Annie had left behind further up the beech, and assembled our informal yacf campsite. There was a brief light shower of rain at 8pm, just as we were erecting our tents, but this accelerated the job just in time for the rain to stop!
The evening's entertainments ensued, involving Charlotte and Wascally Weasel's homebuilt stoves, a party sized BBQ left by Annie, a variety of burning things twirled and swung around by the Pike's, and some alcohol. ;D
We didn't entirely paint the beech red, since we were all more than a little pooped for some reason, so embarrassingly there was even beer left over at the end of the evening. :o
In the morning a certain amount of dunking in the sea, and breakfasting was undertaken, followed by the dismantling of tents and whatnot, and attempting to fit it all back into bags and trailers from whence it had all emerged, with all the challenges that this involves!
When we were packing up, someone discovered that they had locked their bike up, with a lock they didn't have the key to. After a fair amount of effort by Kim and her tools, ten minutes later the lock could be added to Jurek's collection of destroyed security equipment. ;D
There was a brief Didgeridoo masterclass by Phil, and then we all traipsed back along the pebbles to the cafe, deposited all the rubbish in the bins (largely filling them up!), and met up with a friend of Wow's who was going to look after Annie's stuff until it could be picked up.
Like CrinklyLion I got a little sunburnt, although thankfully I'm nowhere near as pink, having got fairly brown a few weeks back. Ouch though, that looks a little painful CL, I hope you've got some aftersun on it.
A tremendously fun weekend, and I'm very glad I did it. :thumbsup:
My photos are here (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/), but some of the night time ones will be blurry or too dark, since I haven't really been through them and chucked out the naff ones yet.
I also need to glue some of the landscape panoramas together. Watch this space.
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As we approached Dunwich I did spy Pippa and Jurek drinking something (which I assume was coffee) as the sped of in a car, although they did stop briefly to say Bye Bye. :)
Erm. If by coffee you mean New Zealand's finest chilled fermented grape juice, then yes ;)
NB - Jurek and I were not driving. We had the luxury of a lift from someone very generous who had offered to pick us up. With food, booze and blankets. Superstar.
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After a day spent fettling my bike and a disco nap I took a spin down to the Pub in the park for a spot of dinner with my brother. We watched as the number of cyclists slowly built up. We finished up, finished our pints (lemonade for me) and at 8 we set off.
We cycled up the Lea Bridge Rd and I popped in to Tesco to pick up some malt loaf (it’s BOGOF at the moment) and lucozade. I bid my brother farewell and headed off in to deepest Essex. The weather was perfect and as I pootled along I whistled whatever tune popped in to my head. The miles sped by easily due, I’m sure, in no small part to the tailwind. And then “crunch” I cycled through a pile of broken glass. “That will catch someone out later,” I quipped to the chap cycling next to me. A mile or so later I could feel the rear tyre of my Brompton becoming squidgy. I pumped it up in the vain hope that the loss of pressure was due to the LED light I had screwed onto the valve. It held, sort of, until Dunmow and I knew I would have to fix it. I hoiked the offending part of the tube out from the tyre and patched it. I also removed a small flake of glass out of the Marathon tyre (not as immune to fairy attack as one might think) and carried on my way. I almost missed the feed stop but thanks to some people waiting at the junction I was redirected in the correct direction.
The half way point was by now so busy that I sat on the curb and scoffed half a malt loaf asked some chaps hanging around their “support vehicle” if they had a pump and then carried on my way. I ate a packet of crisps at the easily missed junction at Needham Market pointing people off in the correction and laughing at the drunken couple across the road. “Fousands ov em!”
The rest of the ride was beautiful if fairly uneventful bar the opportunity to cycle up the hill to take a closer look at the windmill.
As we entered the heath land road I glanced at the time 4.45. ‘If I stick the hammer down I might be able to get to the beach before 5.’ I thought to myself. I rushed on and passed someone in pink who has latterly described me as a “git”. He then passed and said that he wasn’t having that. I tried to explain that I hadn’t intended to race and pressed on.
I reached the beach at 5.01. To my knowledge I was the first Brompton there which raised a few remarks from my fellow queuers and 30 minutes later I was tucking in to my fried breakfast enjoying a coffee, a coke and a beer. Then headed off for a snooze just as team Brompton rolled in.
Other than the puncture the only low point of the ride was, as ever, the train journey back which was blighted by bureaucracy.
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It was great to meet and remeet so many YACFers. The YACF spot is an ideal place to congregate: handy for the pub and the Chinese. Pre-ride carbo loading therefore was a pint and mushroom chow mein. Thanks to TimO (I think it was) for organising and executing the Chinese food raid. The finishing touches to the preparation were made with the help of CrinklyLion and her rocket-fuelled cake. We couldn't in all conscience let her carry all that weight all that way so it was encumbent on us to eat quantities of it before the start. It was every bit as delicious as it looked, and it looked fantastic.
I'd intended to join Rogerzilla's Team Fast but when it came to it an 8 o'clock start seemed a bit early; it was still daylight and I was enjoying the company far too much. So I joined what appeared to be the mass exodus at about 9 o'clock. I came across Team Slow who had formed up and were hanging about just beyond the park. They were waiting for Wow and Crinkly whom they had somehow mislaid. I carried on, and about 40 yards later there was the tandem, waiting for Team Slow. I was just explaining the situation to Wow when a Team Slow scout arrived on the scene so all was well.
Once we were on the long straight road to Epping I started to push a bit harder and soon was overtaking group after group. As the miles rolled on the groups became smaller and more widely separated but never completely out of view. The flashing lights into the distance look very pretty but they are completely unsuitable for group riding. I was amazed how few people had the courtesy to set their lights to steady. It's true that flashing lights are more visible but on a ride like this any motorist coming up behind you cannot possibly be unaware of the presence of cyclists. And don't talk to me about the few people with headache inducing super-bright lights on flashing and angled straight back.
Early on in the Essex hills strange and disconcerting noises began to issue from my rear hub. With some of the graunchier sounds I could feel the bike frame juddering. I guessed that a ball bearing had broken up inside it but there wasn't much I could do about it other than hope it would keep turning. I'd thrown some camping gear into the panniers so the bike was quite heavy. This wasn't too much of a hinderance except when the hills became steep then I would get out of the saddle to a crescendo of grinding noises and frame juddering. In the last few miles before Sible Hedingham I really thought it was about to become unridable but it somehow held together. The feed stop was a little hard to find as the minor road I'd plotted in my GPS track didn't exist. I worked around and found it after about a five minute delay. All the time I was gathering a little knot of followers. Initially they were probably attracted by the grinding noises; they were then captured by the sight of a GPS on the handlebars which misled them into thinking I might know where I was going.
The hall was beginning to get busy and bicycle parking was starting to become limited. I trotted round the back and found a bit of wall to lean the steed against. Inside, trade was becoming brisk but the queue was not yet too bad. The tables were a sea of light blue as the place was mobbed by Dulwich Paragon riders in their club kit. As I stepped outside again it was clear that the feed stop was soon going to be much busier. Bikes and dead bodies were now littering the ground all around the hall. The hub seemed grateful for its brief rest and was a lot less noisy as I set off again.
I began to encounter the same 8 or 9 riders on road bikes and carrying very light loads. When the road went steeply up I slowed down dramatically and they would come flying past and disappear into the far distance. When the hills were less severe I would gradually catch them up again. When the way went downhill I would fly past with a chorus of defiant graunching sounds and leave them far behind. All the time we kept catching groups of slower riders some of whom must have set off very early indeed.
The informal food stop was extremely welcome. I'd missed the sign advertising it and it initially appeared to be just a group of tried tired and clueless cyclists entirely blocking the road. It was partly that of course but the bright lights on the right revealed its true nature. It was reminiscent of the buvettes set up by enterprising people on the PBP. The proceeds were going to the air ambulance which doubly justified the stop. I had a nice cup of tea and a veggie sausage sandwich, and got my dwindling bidons refilled. Fantastic.
The goal was getting closer and the sky lighter. Again the little group of roadies went past me on a hill and again I repassed them later on. We had now reached the welcome sight of the Dunwich road signs. Again the road was climbing and again they were reeling me in. I thought "dearie me" (or words to that effect), gritted my teeth and put in a major effort, finally dropping them for good. It was now the final run in and my GPS was telling me the exact distance to go, good news that I was able to relay to the dozen or so very tired riders I passed in the last couple of miles.
The magnificent ruin of Dunwich Greyfriars was passed, then I reached the beach which is always a great feeling. I glanced at my watch and it was 5:25. There were already quite a few bikes there. I found a spot for mine then joined the queue for the cafe. As the queue shuffled slowly forward I looked to my left and there was the wonderful pixieannie surrounded by the two things I needed most - food and a place to sit. I wandered over and was immediately engulfed in a sea of hospitality. Rogerzilla was still there, and there was Rich Forrest too, back from his recent 1200. By all accounts Rich is absolutely flying at the moment. He'd done a DIY 300km to get there and had arrived well ahead of schedule having averaged over 30kph.
Annie sat me down and plied me with food and drink. It didn't take much plying. Tea was my immediate requirement and it came forth in great profusion followed closely by a beautiful plate of couscous and salad. I was beginning to get chilled but this was not a problem as Annie draped blankets over me. I didn't have to ask for anything; I merely had to form the thought and Annie would immediately fulfill it, apologising the whole time for the quality of the service. Wonderful olive focaccia bread for which she apologised. A steaming hot plate of beans for which she apologised. More tea for which she apologised. Rogerzilla departed and Rich and I had pixieannie all to ourselves. I took full advantage and gradually became warmer and more and more stuffed with the bounty of the earth. Annie has given me a new name. As I drink tea and am not a vicar I must apparently be The Bishop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpX3XdU-V9o)
Other YACFers began to appear in various states of freshness or woe. All were overwhelmed by pixieannie's care. The gradual arrival of Team Slow was completed by the Wascally Weasel tandem. Wascally had broken 11 spokes in his rear wheel thus achieving the distinction of being the only person on the beach with a rear wheel less healthy than mine. It needed spokes and of course it was Annie who was on the phone sorting out an emergency repair. Sadly as I now learn the bike shop was unable to fix it. I hope they weren't too badly stranded.
The Pikes were there with their Pike Tandem cycling tops and their fiery playthings. Charlotte was there with her wood gassifying stove. Wascally Weasel had brought his impressive looking version of the same. The place was full of people I like and whose company I enjoy and I desperately wanted to stay and camp in the dunes, though pitching the hammock would have been a challenge. I did not have the leisure, however, and at around midday I finally tore myself away and began the ride home.
Pixieannie (of course) had produced some cone spanners and an apology as the thought "I could probably do with some cone spanners" had formed in my head. I had tinkered with the hub without actually daring to pull it apart and it was now much quieter and freer running though still a bit clanky. The wind was now in my face and the going was quite slow and tough. I stopped at a pub in Sible Hedingham and had a couple of pints, some salted nuts and a long rest. I felt a lot fresher after this and gradually the wind began to drop and eventually turn round completely until it was actually in my favour.
Eventually I detoured from my track and rode to Ongar on the off chance there would be a train heading west but I was too late and the last train had gone. I then headed north and picked up the original track. Hammocks are perfect for stealth camping in the woods and the temptation of Epping Forest almost got the better of me as I rode through it. But I needed to be home that night and I carried on, reaching London Fields again at about 0:30. It was then just a question of clanking my way across London, finally getting home just before 2:00. Both the bike and I were ready for a night's rest.
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Ouchity, ouch. Wearing a proper cycling top in the sun is not a bad idea either.
Too fat for that - it's really hard to get cycling kit in my size.
Although since I've been shrinking a bit there's a few more options. But all very expensive and I refuse to spend that much dosh on something I may have shrunk out of before I've worn it out!
I appreciate the problem but continue to cycle and you will continue to shrink. It is a sensible idea of course to maximise the exercise by also continuing to stuff the panniers with several kilograms of irresistible cake.
::-)
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And then “crunch” I cycled through a pile of broken glass.
So did I, and my tyres survived. But you deserved it, being a "git" ;D
Did anyone else come from Darsham and have to cut across the Westleton village green because of the closed road?
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And then “crunch” I cycled through a pile of broken glass.
So did I, and my tyres survived. But you deserved it, being a "git" ;D
Did anyone else come from Darsham and have to cut across the Westleton village green because of the closed road?
Yes.
:)
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It was our second off-road excursion of the night, although the first one only involved an illegal U-turn, the pavement, a pedestrian crossing and an illegal right turn (http://www.rletc.com/forum/images/smilies/extras/smiley20whistling.gif)
(http://www.peeble.com/oopsmap.gif)
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And then “crunch” I cycled through a pile of broken glass.
So did I, and my tyres survived. But you deserved it, being a "git" ;D
Did anyone else come from Darsham and have to cut across the Westleton village green because of the closed road?
If that's the bit in Westleton where the route sheet says "WESTLETON bear LEFT by Green. At crossroads S/O SP Dunwich" then no. I followed the diversion which took you along the Right hand side of the green, up to the same crossroads, where LEFT sp Dunwich ;) Plenty of people were riding up the closed road, then along on the green, but the diversion looked easier going to me so I did that instead. You could see the "official" route ~20 yards away the whole way along it.
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getting onto the village green past the blockage was no big deal but getting back down on skinny tyres was...
BTW we avoided the one way system in Hackney and rode through the churchyard with most other riders, probably not the most illegal thing going on in the borough that night..
it was nice seeing the old library (now a trendy club or soemthing) where I used to lock my bike by the railings after the first one got stolen; the second one just had the wheels stolen, the last time I went there and locked both the bike and the wheels the scrotes took the pedals just as sign of defiance...
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And then “crunch” I cycled through a pile of broken glass.
So did I, and my tyres survived. But you deserved it, being a "git" ;D
Did anyone else come from Darsham and have to cut across the Westleton village green because of the closed road?
Yes.
:)
Yes, Bishop. Sorry for all the apologies ;)
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I found the impromptu feed stop between Gosbeck and Helmingham on Google Maps:
Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&channel=s&hl=en&q=gosbeck&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Gosbeck,+Ipswich,+Suffolk,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.163023,1.185681&spn=0.000806,0.002411&t=h&z=19)
They had a sort of New Age yurt in the garden, visible on the aerial photo. There were sleeping bags but I'm not sure if they were available for use. It was colder inside than out anyway.
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Yes, Bishop. ...
Shouldn't that be 'Your Grace'? ;)
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... Thanks to TimO (I think it was) ...
Nope, twas not I, another Tim (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=116).
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Does anyone have any news on the guy who came off his bike?
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It's becoming a trend this carrying a tent to the beach malarkey, it is soooo last year :)
I lugged camping gear (hammock and tarp rather than tent) all the way there and all the way home again without using it. On the way home I was very tempted to spend the night in Epping Forest. It was a bail-out option but tired though I was I managed to resist.
About that taking a tent thing... given the rather large amount of stuffs we took with us that was as hard as I've ever made that ride for myself (even considering the year when I managed to destroy my bum one week before departure).
I have since sworn that I shall never attempt it again with that amount of stuffs (unless the idea of taking a boat and attempting the Dunkirk Dynamo comes to fruition).
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I have since sworn that I shall never attempt it again with that amount of stuffs (unless the idea of taking a boat and attempting the Dunkirk Dynamo comes to fruition).
we shall ride on the beaches,
we shall ride on the cycle paths,
we shall ride in the fields and in the streets,
we shall ride up the hills;
we shall never surrender
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While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice in Narnia.
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...I also need to glue some of the landscape panoramas together. Watch this space.
Done.
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/small.php?file=CampSitePano.jpg&size=400) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/CampSitePano.jpg)
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/small.php?file=FromBeechPano.jpg&size=400) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/FromBeechPano.jpg)
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/small.php?file=CloseUpTentGroupPano.jpg&size=400) (http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/DunRun2010/CloseUpTentGroupPano.jpg)
Click on images for bigness.
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That was fun! The mighty load of Team Slow rolled inexorably north through the night like glacial retreat, deploying after the coaches had gone into a small village complete with circus. Alas, circled wagons were no defence against the Night Of The Earwig. :o
Cunning pillwork managed the gammy knee far enough, and it was a change for the 4am wearies to hit others less than me. Good to re-meet the old faces and meet lots of new ones. Annie - awesome all round. We'll get you along one year...
As always the swim was magical. Nothing soothes the centurion arse like the cool balm of the North Sea!
Does anyone have any news on the guy who came off his bike?
Damn, one did come off then?
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Home. Alive. Awesome victory for Team Slow, and indeed my fellow members of the expanding (or should that be swelling?) Team Knee Injury.
W00t! :D
[This post dictated to an earwig due to being too tired to work a keyboard]
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I really don't dare unpack my tent. How long do earwigs take to die? :demon:
OMG there was a Brompton factory team: Brompton race team's arrival at Dunwich after 120 miles ... on Twitpic (http://twitpic.com/28wxhi)
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I did it on the Brompton, which certainly made getting back easier! There was a French chap with a blue Brompton whose name I'm afraid I forgot (but a yacf type).
I set off with Team Slow, following the three tandems (with two trailers between 'em), recumbent, vast touring loads, etc. However after Finchfingfield (note that the pub there serves BEER until 1am so a slightly earlier start may be useful) we got a bit scattered; I set off with Wow, CL, and Feline (and Andy C?) but arrived at the feed stop riding only with Feline.
After that I rode with Wow, CL, and Andy for a bit, who were kind of catching up with the rest of Team Slow but then decided to stop for tea and cakes. I was easily persuaded and after that the four of us - and then the three of us as Andy fell behind (I was glad to see him arrive) - plugged onto Dunwich spotting only the occasional other rider and a couple of groups who kept passing us and stopping.
I sat on the beach for a bit but then plugged off to get a train. Thanks to Wow and CL for putting up with my merry babble for the last third or so of the ride - it keeps me going to have someone to talk to.
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Does anyone have any news on the guy who came off his bike?
Damn, one did come off then?
We were waved over to the wrong side of the road by a torch wielding civvy woman who was using her Golf to shield the injured party while the medic did his thing.
The chap was sitting up and had claret marks on his forehead - it didn't look like it was too serious.
Unable to tell whether or not there was another cyclist or vehicle involved.
Plenty of others in attendance, so we didn't stop.
As we rode away from the scene, another ambulance was making its way in that direction.
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Twas a wonderul ride, despite the sore arse, knee and earwig infestation. I'm currently having Post Dun Run Fun and am camped at Saxmundham (£3, no hot water or shower) It's a lovely sunny day.
Thanks to al of Team Slow, sorry to the ones I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to on Monday, split second decision prompted by a pub sign (it was shut).....
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I did it on the Brompton, which certainly made getting back easier! There was a French chap with a blue Brompton whose name I'm afraid I forgot (but a yacf type)...
There was a Finnish chap with a blue Brompton: Lotum.
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Brief bloggage (http://bicycleslut.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/back-home-from-the-dun-run-2010/) this morning; I'll sort out the photos tonight and get some up, to include one or two awesome fire pics from the beach.
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Twas a wonderul ride, despite the sore arse, knee and earwig infestation.
It was good, wasn't it? And it was nice to ride with you for much of the route - sorry we managed to lose you for the last bit. I was getting a bit knackered and I think Wowbagger realised we really needed to make use of every advantage that physics, extra lardy stoker and a pannier full of cake and milk (some of which was even still in the bottle) gave us on the downhills.
Thanks to Wow and CL for putting up with my merry babble for the last third or so of the ride - it keeps me going to have someone to talk to.
T'was a pleasure, sir. I was fairly surprised/impressed that both Wow and yourself managed to put up with me and my several of inpromptu stops in the last stretch with such good cheer - or at least a very convincing impersonation of it - when you must have both been at the 'let's get to the beach and find Annie NOW!' stage :)
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I did it on the Brompton, which certainly made getting back easier! There was a French chap with a blue Brompton whose name I'm afraid I forgot (but a yacf type)...
There was a Finnish chap with a blue Brompton: Lotum.
That would explain his mysterious accent. I think he mentioned - or I got it into my head - that he'd come from Paris, but of course that doesn't make him French...
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I was mightily impressed by the speed of our brommie riders, I had no idea they could go so fast! I suspect if I had one it wouldn't have made it to Dunwich with me as its rider though. Also I really have no idea how you guys managed to make it with such heavy loads, chapeau ;D
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Was much fun, but ye gods, never again with that much luggage! Photos to follow when I escape the office (which won't be until Thursday at this rate)!
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I was mightily impressed by the speed of our brommie riders, I had no idea they could go so fast! I suspect if I had one it wouldn't have made it to Dunwich with me as its rider though. Also I really have no idea how you guys managed to make it with such heavy loads, chapeau ;D
I commuted for several years on my Brompton, and did pretty much the same speed that I do on my other bikes now. I've just got the bog standard seat on it however, and I don't think I'd want to do 110 miles without some serious consideration of the ergonomics of the seat and bars.
Was much fun, but ye gods, never again with that much luggage! ...
I was impressed by the vast amount you appeared to be carrying, and all the stuff that eventually appeared from the luggage! I don't think I'd want to carry that much stuff for a few miles, let alone 110+ !
Still, for once, I beat you somewhere, so it did have it's advantages (to me ;D).
I had to commute in on the Tram and Tube today. Once I'd picked Talisker up from the cattery by bike and trailer I felt far too knackered to cycle into work. A combination of distance cycled, sleep deprivation, and too much alcohol last night wrecked me!
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Hello,
don't post here much, but I must say that you guys looked like the coziest round at the cafe.
Also my regards to the people that pushed their tandem out of Dunwich when I rode to the station.
Your cheerfulness while saying "We were last" is one of the things I admire.
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Maybe we should rename ourselves "Coziest Cycling Forum On The Web"?
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A cozy place for everyone with an interest in cake?
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I was mightily impressed by the speed of our brommie riders, I had no idea they could go so fast!
It's not too bad save in a headwind, where the more upright position hurts you (there's a lower set of bars but then you can't have the satisfyingly giant Touring Pannier), and when you're badly undergeared on a hill. It's OK on an urban commute where you can just bull up the occasional steep bit but in the country you get all the pain of fixed gear and none of the benefits.
I commuted for several years on my Brompton, and did pretty much the same speed that I do on my other bikes now. I've just got the bog standard seat on it however, and I don't think I'd want to do 110 miles without some serious consideration of the ergonomics of the seat and bars.
I wouldn't have even considered it without a Brooks on it. Next time, for sure, bar-ends and clips-and-straps. Mind you, I said that last time.
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Brief bloggage (http://bicycleslut.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/back-home-from-the-dun-run-2010/) this morning; I'll sort out the photos tonight and get some up, to include one or two awesome fire pics from the beach.
Ummm.. you realise you posted that you did last year's ride on a 'penny fahtring' on your blog...
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penny fahtring
::-)
Ta. :thumbsup:
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penny fahtring
::-)
Ta. :thumbsup:
Sorry; it had to be done. ;D
The Pedant
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penny fahtring
::-)
Ta. :thumbsup:
Also "four out of the six eggs I’d bought from our chickens..."
Your chickens obviously drive a hard bargain.
:)
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The YACF sub-editing dept strike again :D
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If there is a single creature in the world that will turn me into a screaming gibbering wreck, running fast in the opposite direction, it's ear-wigs.
How you could sleep in the same tent as one, that would be wigging about in your ear as soon as you fell asleep. Rather you than me.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Ah ear-wigs I remember them from my camping days with me old folks.
Breakfast was get blow, add cornflakes and then pour milk on, then sit back and wait until they have crawled/swam out :)
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I'm home. Have I won?
What an absolutely splendid ride! My train arrived at Lpoo St a little behind schedule but Butterfly, Clarion and Superstoker were there to met me. We met a few other YACFers on their way - a small spinney of Oakies, Mike, and a host of other cyclists looking as though they were heading In The Right Direction. Crinkly Lion arrived and after a little saddle-fettling we were away.
The journey to London Fields was uneventful but our arrival timely. Wobbly John was just off to get some Chinese food, so I asked him to get me some too and went into the pub and bought some beer. WJ didn't actually say he wanted a pint but I had a feeling that he might, so I bought him one anyway so we swapped beer for chow mein. Conversations were had with probably the biggest gathering of YACFers I've been privileged to meet, and at about 8.30 we set off.
I was explaining to CL that Felix Ormerod, an old school and, latterly, cycling chum of mine, lived near the route and I tried to remember which was Mildenhall Road. Suddenly there was Felix, cheering cyclists on. His wife and young son were there too as well as another chap I thought I recognised but couldn't put a name to. We stopped for a chat and then we continued, acutely aware that Team Slow were hurtling turgidly off into the distance.
The Lea Bridge Road was not as unpleasant as it has been in the past. The first major landmark when leaving London, the North Circular Road, was crossed, we trudged up through Epping Forest and then convened at the garage where yet more cake was distributed and I bought half a gallon of milk, a good deal of which escaped before the 100 mile mark. We crossed the M25, whizzed through Epping and eventually passed the Talbot pub, on the A414 at North Weald, at which point the ride becomes officially rural. The street lights disappear, so does most of the traffic and one can get down to the gorgeous business of simply pedalling, pedalling, pedalling the night away.
We were a little slower than last year and although we stopped a little before 11 at Moreton to wait for an absent Mr. Gates, it didn't dawn on me until it was really too late that I could have enjoyed a quick pint of something or other. However, Mr. Gates soon appeared, ordered a pint and then we had to wait some more while he finished it.
As we progressed, I felt it only right, knowing Essex fairly well as I do, that I should make the ride a bit of a guided Tour for CrinklyLion's benefit. So it was that I pointed out a number of schools at which I had taught chess at one time or another, as well as other significant landmarks. Chief of these was probably the Axe and Compasses at Aythorpe Roding which now has a blue plaque on the wall in honour of Jurek. Team Slow had a quick regroup in Dunmow where we might just have had time to get a quick curry at the Jalsa Ghar but didn't, and then it was into the wee small hours.
On arriving at Finchingfield we found an open pub, as well as a lot of cyclists around it. It was now almost 2 a.m. and a pint of orange juice and lemonade, washed down with a bag of crisps, was very welcome, although beer would have been better if they had been selling it. Crinkly and I then tackled Church Hill and it was no match for us. Crinkly had observed earlier in the evening that, heavily laden as everybody's bicycle was, between us, without luggage, we probably weighed more than anyone else with bike and luggage.
We completely forgot about the half-way stop at Sible Hedingham and it was only the appearance of Team Slow heading South that alerted us to the fact. We went in, found that there was almost no-one there, I scoffed a cup of soup, a couple of rolls and a banana and we were on our way again.
By this time it was pretty clear that some of our number were suffering. Quite apart from assorted knees, just after I'd popped Crinkly's 40mph cherry on the descent into Sudbury, we happened upon a rather forlorn looking Julian, cycling alone, who was pleased to see us as she didn't know the way. At the next junction, however, there was Charlotte and I was touchingly reminded of the scene from the House at Pooh Corner in which Rabbit, who had been lost in the mist at the top of the forest, was reunited with Tigger.
The Waldingfields and The Eleighs came and went and suddenly so did my alertness. Somewhere around Barking I hit a wall and lost all energy so tea was essential. At this point there were four of us: Damerell, AndrewC, CL and myself. I found the stove, water, about half the milk, the other half having escaped into CL's Ortlieb, but try as I might I couldn't find the bag containing the tea bags or cups. This was a disaster of the greatest magnitude but AndrewC saved the day with some bags containing something called lapsang souchong. We had some of this and if Douglas Adams has written about it I'm sure he would have said that it was entirely unlike tea. That, however, was of no importance as it contained something which seemed to be very like caffeine and I was awake, even though its flavour reminded me very much of some Godawful Russian Black tobacco with which I used to fill my pipe and make myself the most unpopular person in the common room at Poulton-le-Fylde College of Education.
Fortified, we fairly flew into Needham Market and found the lake and its lavatories, which were open but totally innocent of bog roll so many other cyclists having been there to evacuate before us. That didn't matter because I had taken my own. We returned to the task in hand and crossed the A140 and realised that we were now of an hour when we could expect Mere Mortals to be emerging from their beds. There were definite signs of life in Framlingham and 10 o'clock Peasenhall was certainly Up and Doing.
We stopped every so often so that Crinkly could sort out her cramping foot, and downhills and freewheeling were given over to reseating ourselves to alleviate discomfort, and even though we were astride a "Double Marathon", allegedly one of the strongest tandem frames known to man, I could feel it flexing like a willow in a hurricane under our combined weight. It was Truly Awesome.
After Peasenhall, we tackled the parched wastes of Nowhere Much and, on cue, just after a hill which was definitely tougher than Finchingfield, not least because it was covered in gravel and sand, we arrived at the sign saying Darsham 17 - some wag had added a magnetic 1 to the Tens column. Damerell was a bit concerned that others might find this too disheartening and was all for taking away the extra digit, but he decided to leave it when I threatened to move the 1 to the right of the 7.
And that was about it, really, save for the arrival at the beach and a welcome by the Multitudes. Annie, that Saintly Woman with the Magic Rolling Pin, was there to press calories on me, and I can honestly say that it was the first time in my life that I have had a pint of Tanglefoot or breakfast, followed by bread, cake, bacon rolls, baked beans...
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Damerell was a bit concerned that others might find this too disheartening and was all for taking away the extra digit, but he decided to leave it when I threatened to move the 1 to the right of the 7.
Also at that point it was 100 yards behind us and I didn't fancy any extra. :-)
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It was a long day for me, as the alarm went off at 3 am British Summer Time on Saturday morning, and I had just enough time to down a quick breakfast before rushing to Helsinki Airport. The flight arrived at London Heathrow at 9 am. Had a second breakfast at the airport, and then took the tube to Russell Square, and checked in at the hotel. After unfolding, assembling, and checking out the Brompton in the hotel room, I went out to get some lunch.
Started towards London Fields at 6 pm, following a route I had printed out from Google maps. For someone like me, coming from the deepest backwoods of Finland, the sheer volume of traffic in London is always (even on an early Saturday evening) somewhat intimidating. And on top of that, you guys still insist on driving and riding on the wrong side of the road! About half-way through the journey, some native/local yacfers caught up with me, and I let them take the lead for the rest of the way.
This was the first time I've met yacfers in larger numbers. Butterfly very kindly provided the introductions. And CrinklyLion started feeding me with generous portions of delicious homemade cakes right at the start! One could not but feel very very welcome after such a warm reception! You guys are just as great IRL as you are online! :)
The ambiguity about my nationality is strange. On LEL, people thought I was a bloody Yank, and now on the Dun Run someone thought I was a frigging Frenchman! I may well have a “mysterious accent”, but I don't think it sounds anything like Kenny Everett's classic Marcel Wave character. Anyhow, it was nice to see that at least Annie and Clarion got it right—they had probably had fewer beers than some of the others! ;)
For me, coming from abroad, the big problem is getting the bike to the start (after that, it's just a question of pedalling). The Brompton is the easiest bike to fly with, and also the easiest bike to transport on the tube and trains, so it was an obvious choice. Admittedly, I have made some minor tweaks (Brooks saddle, Ergon grips/bar ends, clipless pedals), and with those a leisurely 200-km ride (such as the Dun Run) is not much more challenging than on a 'full-size' bike. People do have their prejudices, though, as both at the start and at Smithfield Market after the coach ride back to London, there were people wishing to shake my hand and making comments like, “I cannot believe that you did this on a 2-speed Brompton!”.
The ride with Team Slow went well. The weather was favourable, we had some tailwind most of the way, and we arrived at Dunwich at around 10:40 am. The only minor problem I had was that the front carrier block became loose, and for a moment I feared that I cannot remove the bag from the bike. Annie's warm welcome at the beach was another high point of the ride! Sadly, I had to make a quick exit, as I had booked a coach ride back, and they started loading the vans and the buses very soon after our arrival. For next time, I will have to try and figure out some sort of a lightweight camping kit and how to transport it on the Brompton.
So thanks again to everyone for making me feel very welcome! See you next time!
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A cozy place for everyone with an interest in cake?
Everything has been said now. The forum may close. ;D
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This is crazy. You lot have been riding all night and more, voluntary sleep deprivation on a 120-mile ride (I think that's about the distance?), but you've all had such a great time! Ok, next year, I must make it back to the Green and Pleasant from wherever in the world I end up for this malarkey.
Chief of these was probably the Axe and Compasses at Aythorpe Roding which now has a blue plaque on the wall in honour of Jurek.
Please explain. What did he do?
A cozy place for everyone with an interest in cake?
Everything has been said now. The forum may close. ;D
Oh no it bloody well cannot! Not till I've done a Dunwich Dynamo too, at least.
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Chief of these was probably the Axe and Compasses at Aythorpe Roding which now has a blue plaque on the wall in honour of Jurek.
Please explain. What did he do?
Christmas WARTY (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=26862.msg510041#msg510041) refers, M'ludd.
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Ah. All is clear. Probably.
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I'm pleased to say it only took a smattering of seconds for the depths of my memory-branes to regurgitate the incident to which Wow referred.
Great write up BTW.
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It did seem apposite that we had to cut through another lock on Sunday morning, although luckily my Leatherman survived that eventuality, and Kim's hacksaw bladed swiss army knife thingy did most of the damage to the lock.
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She made shockingly quick work of it:
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Ua9XvuIKzVk/TE9RvApOdmI/AAAAAAAABRo/3w2ZpQv6UGE/s800/DSC_0560.JPG)
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Ua9XvuIKzVk/TE9Ru-_UmmI/AAAAAAAABRk/QSIwnsLjnRA/s800/DSC_0557.JPG)
The rest of my photos are now in the gallery (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36135.0) :)
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I've just found an earwig crawling on my leg.
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A Swiss Army knife is now "going equipped" :o
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Okay, this grew into a proper ride report, but it might as well stay in this thread...
I first heard about the Dunwich Dynamo at some point in 2008 and knew I had to do it. Back then a ride of that distance was simply beyond me, having been living in London and using a bike for little more than pootling to the shops for about a year. By 2009, I'd worked up to doing much longer rides, but had inadvertently moved to Birmingham, and lost several weeks of the best cycling season to moving-related stuff. I attempted it regardless. Knowing that my fitness wasn't great, I didn't have anyone I could call to come and rescue me in a car if things went wrong and that there wasn't anyone else I knew doing the ride, I stuffed a pannier to the brim with food, extra clothing and every tool I could conceivably need, and set off for London. While I did eventually make it to the start in time to collect my ticket for the return coach that I had pre-booked, a security alert forcing the closure of most of New Street station meant I had to lug the heavily-laden bike down an escalator, which upset my chronically dodgy right knee. The knee got progressively worse on the climb out to Epping, and became pretty much unbearably painful around some Roding or other. I decided to quit at the halfway feed stop, and limped back to Sudbury for the first train back to London with a small group suffering from exhaustion/mechanicals. I probably encountered Team Penny, sans bikes, but didn't know any of you yet.
Thirsty for more, I eventually convinced a rather reluctant Simon Legg to allow me to join the August 2009 FNRttC to Bognor, where I spent some time riding and chatting with Julian, Teethgrinder and TimO of this parish, and eventually registered on the forum. The rest is, as they say, history.
Anyway, I had Unfinished Business with the Dun Run, so there was no way I wasn't doing it this year. Things were made rather interesting when someone who shall remain nameless, but we'll refer to as the flame-haired temptress of Ealing, made a comment about selling a Streetmachine at the end of the April FNRttC. To cut a long story short, I had a bit less than three months to fettle and become competent at riding the Ultimate Touring Bike, which simply had to be used, as well as develop all those recumbent-specific leg muscles which I spectacularly lacked. The first two took most of May, so I basically had two months to develop some bent legs. I did about 800 miles of riding on the thing in under two months, which may not be a lot to some of you hardened audaxers, but was fairly bonkers given that I was previously averaging a bit more than 2000 miles a year. I chickened out of taking it on the Exmouth Exodus (with which I had Unstarted Business, after being scared off by the severe weather warnings in 2009), on account that it involved Hills. It got a proper shakedown, with load, on the two-day July WARTY, which convinced me that I'd probably get to Dunwich eventually, even if everyone else got bored and left me behind.
My dodgy knee had been remarkably well-behaved throughout most of this. It does seem to prefer the recumbent pedaling position, as long as I don't push too high a gear on climbs. Until last week, when I started getting random twinges. It still seemed to work, though, and as I wasn't the only one with knee problems, I dosed up on anti-inflammatories, rested it totally for three days and hoped for the best.
Having learned well from previous mistakes, I spent Saturday mostly asleep. Woke up three hours before my train, showered, forced myself to eat, made some sandwiches, and set off for New Street at a gentle pace on an even more heavily loaded bike. I made it to the platform in good time, where I was spotted for the second time in about a week by jezhiggins, who was traveling with bike to Cambridge. This was particularly handy when the train arrived, as it meant he could guard my bike while I ran off in search of a member of staff qualified to open the special Virgin bike compartment door. We said goodbye at Euston, where he headed for Kings Cross, and I set off for Hackney. The ride to London fields was fairly uneventful, save for the suspiciously high occurrence of red traffic lights, and being somewhat impressed by my apparent ability to haul a heavy load up the hill previously known as That Bastard Hill At Islington.
After squeezing past the Most Stupidly Parked Bike Ever, I rendezvoused with the YACF group, who were starting work on CrinklyLion's awesome cake supply, eating Chinese takeaway (before a ride? madness!), taking photos and making humorous comments about the amount of Stuff people were carrying. The loos at The Pub On The Park deserve mention for sheer novelty value: After standing in the queue that was snaking up the stairs and halfway across the bar for 5 minutes, someone pointed out that the queue was only for the men's, and that the women could walk right past and enjoy surprisingly uncontended cubicles that even had some toilet paper left. That doesn't happen very often.
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Eventually a consensus was reached, the remaining cake stowed safely in panniers, and Team Slow wrangled their unwieldy bikes back past the Most Stupidly Parked Bike Ever, through the crowd, and we were off. Inevitably the group got split up by traffic lights on the way out of London, but we reunited at the petrol station that marks the end of civilization in Epping.
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As we rode off into the night, it turned out that Team Slow weren't being as slow as anticipated. We made excellent progress to Moreton, where we stopped again to wonder where Andygates had got to (dropped computer followed by taking a wrong turning, I believe). The Weasels' trailer, which was literally lit up like a christmas tree, led the way and drew more impressed comments from the natives than my silly shaped bike. I must try harder next year. As we carried on through and beyond a twisty maze of Rodings, all alike, it really was night riding at its best. The weather was surprisingly warm (I added arm-warmers at one point, which made me a bit too hot, but the rest of my warm clothing went unused) and the light rain promised by the forecast failed to turn up.
At Finchingfield we chanced upon a pub that had stayed open to serve the cyclists, though apparently not anything alcoholic. A request of "Has anybody got any tools?" justified my carrying of a cute little adjustable spanner that isn't really of all that much use for fettling my own bike, and earned andygates and I both a drink for sorting out the cable clamp blot on someone's rear mech. The ducks by the pond opposite the pub were awake and making terrifying zombie duck noises, so having regrouped and rehydrated Team Slow, we made short work of the climb out of the village and rode off to escape them.
As we plodded on, Team Slow started living up to its name, and became a bit more spread out. Eventually, the front part of the group realised that the GPS routes we were mindlessly following lacked this year's halfway stop, and that we'd passed through Sible Hedingham a few miles ago. We retraced our steps, asking riders if we'd passed the food stop, until we caught up with Wowbagger/CrinklyLion, who didn't recognise us and rode right past. A bit of shouting eventually got their attention, and we carried on as a group to the murky depths (and I do mean depths, there was a hell of a slope down to the car park) of Sible Hedingham.
As we whipped out our stoves to brew up, someone had the rather good idea of actually checking to see if there *was* actually a hideous queue inside, on the basis that since we'd failed to find the place (something to do with local kids messing with signs and blowing out candles), many of the other riders will have done too. The building was surprisingly empty. Half a dozen in the queue for tea, and plenty of unoccupied tables. A European bread mountain of uneaten rolls were stowed in various comedy places.
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It was at around this point that I felt cold for the only time that night. Riding a recumbent gives you a sweaty back, even with well-ventilated seats. My seat is not in the slightest bit ventilated, and I sweat buckets at the best of times. When you stop riding, this starts to evaporate and you can get very cold very quickly, something that I often have problems with on night rides. CrinklyLion, who seems to have the opposite problem with regulating body temperature, kindly lent me her jacket to shiver in for a bit until we set off again. Fortunately, the food stop was at the bottom of a short but surprisingly steep slope, and by the time I'd climbed that I was warm again.
Unfortunately, the food stop was at the bottom of a steep slope, and surrounded by other riders, I was on the limit of my ability to balance at low speed. When we stopped at the top of the climb I got spooked by a bike appearing to my right, failed to get a foot (well, the correct foot) down quickly enough and toppled sideways onto the Pikes' trailer. Luckily, there was a convenient car for me to brace myself against, and I managed to land in a highly embarrassing position that nevertheless left me, my bike and the contents of the trailer undamaged. Many thanks to andygates for hauling me out of that mess.
The ride continued in much the same vein as before. The weather continued to be splendid, wind was never a notable feature. Daylight happened. Sudbury came and went. The group spread out. Signs with 'Barking' in them became increasingly funny, yet escape via the District Line was not an option. People started suffering a bit from sleepiness, and resorted to various terrifying concoctions, though I was having no problem with staying awake myself. What I was starting to suffer from was underdeveloped 'bent legs. Nothing serious yet, but a steadily increasing state of legular knackeredness that was bordering on the "Sorry guys, need a leg break" threshold when we stopped outside Needham market for a brew-up.
There was rather handily a toilet block, though the toilets themselves were out of order. Fortunately I'd learned from the recursively closed public toilets of Taunton fiasco after the abortive attempt at the Exmouth Exodus last month, and was able to gain access to the disabled cubicle using my RADAR key (and not, I'm afraid, a spanner as someone implied). Every long-distance (or Sustrans path) cyclist should get one. Perfectly legal to just buy one as long as you pay the VAT. See also its close relative, the British Waterways sanitary station / water point key.
A mug of hot chocolate and a sandwich, and more critically not having to pedal for half an hour or so, restored my legs to working order. Some of the group took the opportunity for a snooze. We learned that the Wowbagger contingent had had the same idea and stopped to brew up a few miles back, and decided to press on rather than wait for them to catch up.
We stopped to regroup again at Framlingham, where I again made use of the facilities. Turning down the opportunity for a civilised pee is always a bad idea. On the way out, I had a brief conversation with a maintenance person who was rather impressed with the recumbent bike, and the idea of riding silly distances overnight. When I turned around the others had vanished. Using the Bristol navigation algorithm, I decided to carry on along the route, which was uphill, rather than to where I had seen everyone waiting, which was down. This turned out to be the right decision, as I rounded a corner and paused to consider which group of sleeping cyclists were lying in the verge next to the correct road, a blur with a trailer in the distance spotted and waved at me. I quickly caught up with the rest of the group, and made yet another mental note to get some new glasses.
The going got a lot harder after that. Peasenhall was the last of what could be called civilisation, and the only useful-looking shop was disturbingly closed-looking. Every little climb became a Bastard Hill, and comments involving Isaac Newton and writing to the council about getting them to sort the gradient out were made. Darsham didn't really seem to amount to much. Then came a really killer hill just on the cusp of the infamous "Dunwich [1]7" sign. This was too much for my knee, which had performed admirably all night (while various bits of my left leg suffered in overcompensation), which did the painful crunch thing. In a rare moment of sense for that early in the morning, I stopped and dismounted immediately, without any consideration for getting the bike moving again, and along with andygates broke out the emergency chocolate. A few minutes of faffing about seemed to help, and after a dismissive experimental attempt at pushing the bike, I remounted and gave it plenty of left-leg welly to defeat the rest of the climb. Team Slow were waiting at the top, and I joined them.
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(to be continued)
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After a while, when there was still no sign of the Weasels' tandem, we took to asking riders if they'd seen what they were doing. Something rear-wheel-related apparently. We waited some more. Charlotte attempted to use the power of the didgeridoo to entice them up the hill. It didn't work, but was at least highly entertaining, not least for the looks on the faces of the other riders as they came round the corner. After a while they appeared, having broken at least 5 spokes (11 plus a knackered freehub by the time they eventually arrived at the beach). I suppose that if you're going to have a mechanical, making it a really epic one is always best for the horror stories later.
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The briefest of pauses for andygates to have his wicked way with the "Dunwich [1]7" sign (some joker had done such an excellent job of adding the '1' using insulating tape that nobody wanted to remove it), and we were off again. I'd dismissed talk of the psychological boost that the sign gives, but the lumpy bits genuinely did seem easier after that. Nothing needs to be said about that final roll into Dunwich. If you haven't done it yourself, you've probably seen it on video. It's like that, but bigger.
And there was Annie and her awesome spread of awesomeness. I rolled up and paused to fiddle with the Garmin for a moment (which was, frustratingly displaying a trip odometer reading of 197km, leading to serious thoughts of laps of the car park style craziness) while the others tucked in (in both the food and blanket sense). After a minute I decided that actually I was quite comfortable where I was and couldn't actually face having to lift a leg to dismount the bike. So I must have sat there for a full ten minutes. I took some photos and posted to twitter. Made "still alive" noises on IRC. Then eventually summoned the energy to get off.
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People dozed, congratulated each other and consumed gallons of tea as we watched the remainder of Team Slow arrive, in various states of griminess and exhaustion (or not, as the case may be). We ate bacon sandwiches as the last of the removal vans departed and people attempted to blag bikes onto the coaches back to London. I ate rather a lot of bacon sandwiches, in fact. Nobody else seem to want them, and it seemed a shame to let them go to waste. I observed that it was strange that I of all people should end up in the traditional Teethgrinder role.
As the other cyclists left by various means, and Annie packed up the majority of the picnic and the broken tandem wheel and went home via a bike shop (who diagnosed a knackered freehub, but lacked a suitable replacement), we variously slept, swam, got sunburnt and just sat around chatting. We watched as coach loads of people appeared, seemingly with the sole intention of visiting the fish & chip shop, and later departed. A brave and hardy crew set off with unladen trailer and the ever-versatile Yuba Mundo in search of food, beer and combustibles. I decided that the knee had stopped hurting, and much as I would have liked to join them and roll that odometer past the 200 mark, it was best not to do anything silly at that point.
We moved our bikes and the remainder of Annie's picnic supplies about 500m down the dunes. This was surprisingly hard work, as the surface was a mixture of packed stones and vegetation, with patches of loose stones. The firmer bits were just about ridable, at least to my fully suspended bike, and the Yuba with its awesomely huge tyres. The others were less successful and wheeled the whole way. Pleading knees I opted out of making a second trip for the rest of the stuff, and set about inspecting the site for dog-related nasties and constructing the henge that Charlotte requested.
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As we started putting our tents up, it started to rain. Fortunately it was but a brief shower - decent enough drops, but didn't last long enough to get anything properly wet. As my tent pitches inner-first, this was a very good thing. The ground, being packed stones is fairly suboptimal for tents. It's not very even, and getting the pegs in proved to be a challenge (the most successful techniques seemed to be a wiggling motion with careful attention to peg angle, or the brute force mallet approach). I discovered that my cheapo Argos tent - a hideous bright orange colour - was a magnet for the little black flies, and took care to make sure I didn't leave it unzipped.
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Though at least it wasn't fluorescent yellow.
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I took the opportunity to change out of my cycling clothes and make extensive use of the antiseptic wipes I'd brought in lieu of a shower or strong desire to go swimming in the sea (I'm not a strong swimmer, and didn't want to be cold). Discovered that the cheapo sandals I'd brought as an alternative to cycling shoes in the presence of sand and water had died of old age, and had to reinforce them with copious amounts of gaffer tape, much to the amusement of onlookers.
Assorted levels of fire-based technology were brought into play, food was cooked, drink was consumed, and insects were for the most part repelled. As darkness fell, the fire poi came out and ensured that the effort we'd gone to to make our camp an inconspicuously long way from the car park was largely pointless. Which was a bit of a shame, as it was an awfully long walk to the loos. I was too tired for energetic forms of pyromania, so made do with stoking Charlotte's wood burning stove for a bit and tokenistically playing with sparklers. Inevitably the beasties started to attack, in spite of the smoke, so I got out my secret weapon: 97% DEET. I've used this stuff against mozzies and tetses in southern Africa, and unlike most insect repellents I've used over the years, it actually works. It did an excellent job on the midges and little black flies. What it doesn't work against is earwigs. Not in a useful way, anyway, it's not like you can spray a lightweight tent in the stuff. And oh my, were there a lot of earwigs.
Not something you really think about, earwigs. They don't fly and they don't bite, so you don't really consider repelling them. Even if you could. Which you can't. Once darkness fell the earwigs started to roam, and they were roaming in the direction of our tents. Even though I'd been extra cautious to keep the black flies from getting in, as I settled down to sleep, I saw an earwig crawling across the mesh of the tent inner. As it passed from the mesh to the solid fabric, I realised it was on the *inside* so I was forced to murder it with my spare phone battery (Through a poor state of preparedness, it was the nearest convenient weapon. Yes, I know, I'll be instant zombie fodder if I go around making rookie mistakes like that.) and evict it using gaffer tape. That done, I made a brief report to the internets, turned over, and slept solidly until about 06:30.
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The morning after the Night Of The Earwigs was little better. After deciding to forgo the long trek to the loos in favour of a convenient alternative involving the use of gaffer tape (but let's not have that discussion yet again), I got down to the serious business of evicting a substantial colony of earwigs from my Trangia and cooking up some rice. TimO was doing something scientific with custard and bananananas, and the others were being unenthusiastic about waking up, or overly enthusiastic about skinnydipping (something I fail to see the attraction of, especially first thing in the morning). While the others were catching up with breakfast, I evicted yet more earwigs from my delightfully dry tent and panniers, and did a neat if not particularly quick job of packing everything up into logical places. I also succeeded in lashing all three of Annie's folding chairs across the top of my rear rack for the trip back to the Flora Cafe.
At which point there was another call for tools: Speshact had forgotten the key for his lock. Well, someone had to do it I suppose. After a quick check to see if anyone happened to have a matching key (stranger things have happened), we set about attacking it with a combination of the hacksaw blade on my well-worn swiss army knife and the awkward cable-cutter on TimO's Leatherman. It must have taken less than 10 minutes, including rest breaks. Cable locks: they're basically crap.
Eventually the camp was packed up, the only remaining evidence of our presence being the Henge, a small pile of charcoal and a large number of bemused earwigs. We rode / pushed our bikes back to the cafe, loads and tyres permitting, where Annie's things were left for her to collect later in the week. We made use of the loos (which were impressively most of the way to spotless, though the gents' was far worse, according to the cleaner) and filled up with water, said goodbyes and went our various ways.
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In the absence of a better plan, I'd booked a ticket for the train back to London from Ipswich that people were using that afternoon. This involved a suboptimal wait in London for my onward train to Brum, but seemed the least failure-prone route given my general unease about untested faffing with a heavily loaded recumbent on CrossCountry trains. Thus began what was an utterly delightful ride to Ipswich. Well, I say utterly delightful. I was a bit tired, but my dodgy knee issues and associated left leg pains had vanished overnight, and I was generally feeling like riding a bike was the thing to be doing. Other members of the group were obviously suffering in the knee and saddle departments. I briefly wondered if, given the lateness of my Birmingham train, I had time to ride back to London. Fortunately someone had the foresight to put a bloody great hill on the route to dispel that idea.
There was silliness involving strawberry laces and assorted piercings. The Pikes' tandem chain snapped, but spares and tools were readily produced (and facial wipes did a spectacular job of grime-removal). Garmins were consulted. Photographs were taken. I noticed my dynamo-powered phone charger didn't appear to be working. The blinkenlight on the regulator output was illuminating as I spinned the wheel, but the phone didn't appear to be taking a charge. I tried swapping USB ports, and switching back to the battery which hadn't been used to kill an earwig, but that didn't seem to help, so I gave up and hoped for the best. But mostly it was a lovely smooth ride, and we got to Ipswich (yes Nat, if you're reading this - I actually went to Ipswich!) in plenty of time for the train.
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/DD2010/PICT0089.sized.jpg)
I nipped to the loos to wash the sunblock and road grime from my face. When I looked down, there was an earwig drowning in the sink.
The train was one of those lovely retro East Angular ones with a proper guard's van. An absolute joy to cram full of silly shaped touring bicycles, and well worth going to Ipswich for. This whisked us to London while the remaining supplies of E-numbers and bizarrely-flavoured crisps were played with, photographed and eventually consumed. Arriving at Liverpool Street station, the consensus was to make a tactical retreat to Weatherspoons until such a time as the various train companies saw fit to carry full-sized bikes on the trains out of London. This suited me perfectly, as I had about four hours to kill. Having made a convoluted dalek-mode exit of the station via the ticket office, an improbably small lift and the awkwardly lacking in ramps concourse, we succeeded in creating a large mass of locked-together and largely unusual bicycles in good view of the pub. While locking up, I got some abuse from a member of a group of smokers who had been standing beside the area we put the bikes. Apparently I should have said excuse me and asked them to move, instead of just putting the bikes there. When I pointed out that I (and presumably the others) had thought it unnecessary on the grounds that they weren't actually in the way, they muttered something about being rude, and wandered off. Odd.
A couple of hours of drinks, food and conversation later (including the inevitable arses conversation that groups of cyclists seem destined to have), we went our separate ways, with me following the Ealing posse, who were heading for Paddington, as far as Euston. I got to see my first (though still bikeless) London cycle hire scheme rack on the way. I arrived in plenty of time for my train, and settled down on the platform to finish off the last of my emergency chocolate supply. This was a London Midland train, which is pretty much the slowest and most tedious way to travel between London and Birmingham, but it is pretty much foolproof in terms of traveling with an awkwardly-shaped bike (you just occupy the foldy seat area by the reveal-a-door toilet), and was dirt cheap.
I arrived at Mordor Central on time, and was pleasantly surprised not to be frozen to death as soon as I stepped off the train. The ride home was uneventful, for Birmingham. That is to say I'd gone three days and 160 odd miles on a recumbent, around London and across Essex and Suffolk, without anything more than genuine interest from other cyclists and one witty comment from a BMX kid in Ipswich. Whereas in three miles, in the dark, mostly on a fast main road, in Birmingham I got hooted at twice and shouted at by pedestrians at least once. *sigh*
Home was quickly followed by the most satisfying shower I've had in ages, a couple of pints of liquid, brief unintelligible wibbling at the internet and bed. Today, I woke up, washed some stuff, ate some food, downloaded some photos (http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=DD2010) and tracklogs (http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/maps/cycling/2010-07-24.html) and wrote this. I'm happy to report that my knee still works. As does my dynamo charger - having bench-tested it, it seems that the fault lies with the teeny tiny Nokia plug which has gone intermittent, rather than anything interesting and electronic.
Looking forward to 2011.
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I've just found an earwig crawling on my leg.
Did it fall from your beard?
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I've just found an earwig crawling on my leg.
Did it fall from your beard?
It might have done. Can't be sure.
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Brilliant write ups Kim and Wow. My own will have to wait until I can get near a proper keyboard and not this phone.
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Really enjoyed reading that, Kim :)
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I forgot to mention: from home to the beach in Dunwich included 118.33 bike miles. 200 yards or so to the station, a long walk along platform 14 at Lpoo St, 2 and a bit from Lpoo St to Hackney, a small diversion around Sible Hedingham which may have added a mile, so I reckon my Cateye said that the ride proper was about 114.something miles.
The Garmin made it a bit less, but not a lot.
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Ah ear-wigs I remember them from my camping days with me old folks.
Breakfast was get blow, add cornflakes and then pour milk on, then sit back and wait until they have crawled/swam out :)
you get a blow for brekkie,lucky boy ;D
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This thread is very bad for me. It's armchair cycling at its best. I feel these ride reports should be published in a book which one could then browse through on a cold winter's evening when the outsides is under 4 feet of snow.
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I haven't found an earwig for 24 hours now (fortunately the tent was packed away dry and I haven't been through that yet).
I may get around or writing up/posting some choice pictures sometime (or at least trying to persuade Kathy to).
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The shenanigans where 15 of us set up a one-night camp has been well documented. We packed the stuff up, Annie was unable to collect, so I phoned Terry and asked him if he could collect Annie's stuff and store it in his garage for her. There was a small matter of 10 cans of Stella which were surplus to requirements.
After Terry had left with all Annie's belongings, Jan and I bade our farewells to the YACFers and pootled towards Terry's house. We had had the foresight to dump our three heaviest bags in his car so our progress up the hill from the beach was more rapid than it would otherwise have been. TimO caught us up on his way to Darsham Station and that was where we parted company. It's not more than a couple of miles from Yoxford to Terry's house and we arrived about 11.15 to a warm welcome from him and his wife Janet.
There was tea, we nattered, and my original intention was to make steady southward progress, probably arriving in Essex in late afternoon and then either finding a camp site or getting on a train home. However, Janet suggested a pub lunch and of course we couldn't refuse. Although I've been in touch with Terry on and off during the 35 years since we left college, we've only seen Janet a couple of times and one of those was their wedding in 1977.
Janet drove us out to the Dennington Queen, which had Adnams (of course) and some very good food. We had a good natter about everything and then returned to their house for more tea and some cake - Victoria sponge. Around 4 p.m. Jan and I had to bid our farewells and we cycled back into Peasenhall and took the southward road toward Saxmundham. We dropped in to Waitrose and bought some salady stuff for dinner and then headed towards Bawdsey where there was a ferry over the first river. There were also a couple of camp sites marked on the OS map, one of which did not have a symbol for caravans.
It was a lovely peaceful ride, past the Snape Maltings, carefully avoiding the left turn towards Orford and the tractors heavily laden with onions and potatoes, as well as the irrigation systems which quite often sent jets of water all over the roads and streams running alongside them. Eventually we rolled up at what was supposed to be the camp site and found that there was nothing there but static caravans. We were advised that there was a camp site nearby and within a quarter of a mile we had found it. It was a Caravan Club site and the sign outside indicated that it was for members only but I rang the bell and the very pleasant lady said yes of course we could camp there. Her husband showed us round and it wasn't long before we had pitched the tent, inflated the downmats and were ready to eat.
There were a few other caravans and one huge tent on the site, but there was only one other small tent which had been pitched very close to what appeared to be the only available picnic table and the tent's occupants were also sitting at this table. We decided to introduce ourselves and ask to share the table and the two lovely young Dutch girls, both cyclists, one of whom spoke very fluent English were perfectly happy for us to do so. We ate our salad and pork pie, shared some fruitcake and tea with them, and nattered until the bats were flying around and about 10 p.m. we retired.
There was a little rain in the night but we both had a decent night's sleep. The milk we had bought the previous day in Saxmundham was still perfectly OK for breakfast. We had muesli, rolls, tea and more conversation with our young friends, who were frying crumpets in a frying pan. They dumped four each into a dish, covered them with honey and yoghurt and evidently enjoyed them immensely. "I've never seen pancakes like this before!" declared the more fluent one. "Are they made to the same recipe as Dutch pancakes?"
At about 9.30 we set off for the Bawdsey ferry and took all the bags off the bike. The ferryman advised us that it would be a good idea for us to book a place on the Felixstowe to Harwich ferry so we telephoned and reserved a place on the 12.35.
I had never been to Felixstowe before and it was very reminiscent of some of the North Kent seaside towns. Southend and Westcliff sea fronts have been largely spoiled by hideous post-war development but Felixstowe seems much more authentic, with lots of Victorian buildings around the place. There is a lot of container port, though, and we watched fascinated as enormous ships laden with containers full of rubbish originating or destined for China came in and out, proof that our economy is indeed doing very well as we create absolutely nothing of any value any more.
We ate bacon and sausage baps as we waited for the ferry and Jan spilled some hot coffee on her hand, which didn't help much. Eventually we dragged the tandem and luggage down the shingle and we were very pleased that we had booked as several foot passengers were turned away. All the hanging around waiting for ferries meant that we had covered only 11 miles in 3½ hours. We intended to see our son Graham in Wivenhoe an that was another 17 miles away, so that would be too late for lunch.
Shortly after we alighted at Harwich the heavens opened in a spectacular fashion and the next couple of hours were punctuated by the putting on and taking off of waterproofs. I have actually perfected the trick, with Jan's help, of removing my waterproof and putting it away whilst we are on the move, which was quite amusing. We cycled gently through Auntie Helen country and finally arrived at the Rose and Crown to find Graham sitting outside. I bought some drinks, we nattered and I discovered that the ferry from Wivenhoe to Fingringhoe only operates at weekends.
That was the deciding factor: we had covered about 30 miles, Jan wanted to get home, so we caught the train for the rest of the journey. Just as we cycled up the last couple of hundred yards home, so the heavens opened once more and we sheltered in the garage for some minutes hoping it would ease off. It didn't so we arrived home really rather damp, walking the 50 or so yards from the garage to the house.
My route (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/dunrun2010.gpx), Dun Run and beyond.
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I've just unpacked my tent...
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/DD2010/IMG_2401.sized.jpg)
Several dozen of these wee bastards were found within.
Not wanting to take off and nuke the tent from orbit, I settled for picking them off one by one with my Kirby M41A vacuum rifle with 30mm grenade launcher. Or something.
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Don't tell me you have a Kirby vacuum cleaner that you paid 700 quid for. Please.
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Fantastic writeups that make me wish I was there. Really enjoyed reading those. One of these years I will ensure that I'm fit enough for this (and have enough leave to take care of the fact that my body clock will be thoroughly messed up).
Not sorry to miss the earwig invasion though.
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Don't tell me you have a Kirby vacuum cleaner that you paid 700 quid for. Please.
I have a Kirby vacuum cleaner that I paid 200 quid for. (And not to Kirby. Their engineering is decent, but their sales tactics are pure evil.)
Better?
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I've just unpacked my tent...
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/DD2010/IMG_2401.sized.jpg)
Several dozen of these wee bastards were found within.
Not wanting to take off and nuke the tent from orbit, I settled for picking them off one by one with my Kirby M41A vaccum rifle with 30mm grenade launcher. Or something.
Argh!
Seeing your tweet about those disgusting insects had me reaching for Wikipedia. In an attempt to get some knowledge and hopefully lose some of my fear of them.
The pictures that came up had me gently gibbering with fear, but I carried on reading. Hoping to find some small nugget of information that would calm me a bit.
I then read two things.
1. Earwigs do sometimes crawl into nice warm comfy ear canals.
2. THEY CAN FLY!
Flying earwigs. OMFG! :o
/me runs for the hills.
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Don't tell me you have a Kirby vacuum cleaner that you paid 700 quid for. Please.
I have a Kirby vacuum cleaner that I paid 200 quid for.
Better?
Less bad.
I am going to reveal one of my most shameful secrets. In my misspent youth I spent a short time selling Kirbys. :-[ :( >:( :sick: The machines are good, but the organisation that sells them in the UK is crooked to the core.
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I would like to speak up on behalf of the poor defenceless earwigs which have been greatly maligned by the uninitiated on this thread.
Did you know that the mother earwig looks after her young? Bees, wasps and ants aside, how many other insects do that? Pretty endearing I'd say.
As for flying, they can but mostly choose not to! So they are environmentally responsible as well.
And these earwigs live all the year round behind Dunwich Beach. That, in my view, makes them insects of impeccable taste.
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The machines are good, but the organisation that sells them in the UK is crooked to the core.
...which is what I discovered when researching them while looking for a new hoover. I'd borrowed a friend's a while ago and been impressed by the performance and no-nonsense engineering with actual metal rather than the snappy plastic you tend to get on Dysons etc. Bought a relatively recent second-hand one on eBay from someone who was finding it a bit too heavy (their major technical failing, it seems), and am generally enjoying actual suction and not having to faff about with coathangers to unclog U-shaped plastic pipes.
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The degree of earwig infestation seems to depend on where you put your tent. I saw when someone lifted up their tent that there was a huge mass of them underneath it, when I moved mine I didn't see any.
I think I've found one in my pannier so far, and that was when I first opened my pannier after getting back.
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I had none in my actual tent, which I'd kept zipped up, but all the stuff I'd left outside was crawling with the little darlings.
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I love earwigs. They mean me no harm (and do me none), although the harm I inflicted on one was an important turning point in my life.
They may be irritating (I found two in my shirt at work on Monday, which were in addition to the other two which had crawled into it on the line or in the laundry basket), but they are fascinating.
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I thought I'd pitched on an earwig nest, but earwigs don't have nests, just seething pinchy infestations...
I haven't dared unpack my tent. Not until I get a frikken laser. I've got too many bug screams (http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0798/9807out.html) left inside me. :o
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Earwigs are fairly benign. Better than cockroaches, say. Guess what crawled out of Mrs Cudzo's suitcase into her brother's Warsaw flat on our return from India...
Edit: before anyone else points it out, yes, this is one of the environmental hazards of flying. The cabin crew are supposed to spray an insecticide just before landing in the cabins of planes arriving from da tropikz, but they don't always bother, and I don't suppose anything gets done to hold luggage. One solitary German cockroach (don't know the species that lives in Asia is called German, but apparently it is) won't do much harm, though. Whereas all the bacteria living in the mud I brought back on my bike...
Ok, back to Dunwich.
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I notice (from perusing the press cuttings at work) that a certain illustrious flame-haired ordinary-riding chapess gets a mention in a letter to the Dunmow Broadcast & Recorder about the Dunwich Dynamo....
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I notice (from perusing the press cuttings at work) that a certain illustrious flame-haired ordinary-riding chapess gets a mention in a letter to the Dunmow Broadcast & Recorder about the Dunwich Dynamo....
Hmm, I can't find anything on their website (http://www.dunmowbroadcast.co.uk/home). Details man, details!
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I collected my belongings from Terry's earlier today..... OMG :sick: :sick: :sick: The bags were infested with earwigs, they were even inside the Weetabix. I won't describe the mess inside the tupperware container that still housed cous cous, goats cheese and something green. The smell was quite like nothing I have ever come across before. :sick: :sick:
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I would like to speak up on behalf of the poor defenceless earwigs
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As for flying, they can but mostly choose not to! So they are environmentally responsible as well.
POTD !
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I won't describe the mess inside the tupperware container that still housed cous cous, goats cheese and something green.
Delicious as it was, I couldn't quite eat it *all*. ;D _burp_
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Whoops, we should really have emptied that tub out.
Sorry your loveliness, will be more thoughtful next time.
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Jeez I'm not liking the look of those earwigs :o/me note to self make sure get a bug proof tent if camping at Dunwich in the future
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some photos are at Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mark.oakden/DunwichDynamo2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSP0-_z3MDJWg&feat=directlink), lightly captioned. I'll link some inline to my ride report up thread later on.
[Thank you oakey for posting the photos, I belive a trip to Jessops is required for a full service of your camera, as every photo with me blurs to make my stomach look far bigger than it really is!!!!]
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some photos are at Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mark.oakden/DunwichDynamo2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSP0-_z3MDJWg&feat=directlink), lightly captioned. I'll link some inline to my ride report up thread later on.
[Thank you oakey for posting the photos, I belive a trip to Jessops is required for a full service of your camera, as every photo with me blurs to make my stomach look far bigger than it really is!!!!]
[[Thank you oakey for posting the photos, I belive a trip to Jessops is required for a full service of your camera, as every photo with me blurs to make my stomach look far bigger than it really is!!!!]/quote]
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some photos are at Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mark.oakden/DunwichDynamo2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSP0-_z3MDJWg&feat=directlink), lightly captioned. I'll link some inline to my ride report up thread later on.
Thank you oakey for posting the photos, I belive a trip to Jessops is required for a full service of your camera, as every photo with me blurs to make my stomach look far bigger than it really is!!!!]
It's probably a setting hidden deep in one of the camera menus. It does that to me sometimes too ;)
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Firstly apologies to Annie for not seeing her and saying hello at the finish.
My participation this year became a dilemma of I enjoyed it greatly last year so wanted to take part versus on Saturday morning being told that I had secured a job interview on the Monday pm.
So I took part, rushed from one end to the other, arrived about 630am after departing cotemporally with Team Slow; turned round after a swift icelolly and grabbed a lift back to Ipswich from Snape; went to bed for a few hours; studied Malting and its use of IT; and did the interview (which went okish).
I don't think I got the job and I regret rushing the ride. However, all things in life are opportunities to learn, and I am where I am.
I did enjoy the massed departure from London; it seemed less aggressive this year, maybe the heat was less oppressive. One exception, the black saloon car that overtook not just the cycles but the queue of traffic as well on the outside of a blind left hand bend.
Only 3 minutes of rain in the early morning. Enough to stop some to put on macs; I was lucky, the rain stopped just when I had become wet enough to make putting on a mac counter-productive.
Did anyone else see the topless man, bulky tattooed chest and arms, leather trousers?
Here's to next year. I will still run that Hope clickety click hub; and a new job willing, a dynamo on the front hub.
Craig