Dunwich Dynamo, 1st July 2023.

[Wowbagger]

Oh, it seems that the only trains going through Ipswich for which bikes were banned were the Norwich Expresses. I saw two guys putting theirs on in any case. Anything starting at Ipswich, it seems, were OK.

I believe that the stance adopted by the station staff was at odds with the pre-ride publicity, but of course a punter isn't to know this in advance.

[Kim]

It's a totally different ride now, and I blame Bradley Wiggins. Since 2012, lots of people have gone out and bought respectably good road bikes, and have become respectably good at riding them.

I've had similar thoughts about the FNRttC.  The higher level of organisation means that the barrier to spontaneity is higher, so the class of newbies is broadly the same as ever, but they're more likely to be on a decent road bike (or of course Brompton) than a sturdy hybrid or commuterised MTB these days.

I'm sure the DunRun still picks up Hackney randoms as it always did, but they don't seem to make it beyond Epping Forest in any kind of numbers.  Possibly the proliferation of GPS is a factor.  A decade ago, it was the stuff of nerds and audaxers (at least the ones who weren't routesheet or paper map purists).  These days the respectably good road bikes are all adorned with some sort of Edge (Garmin make no other GPS receivers) or the Whaoo equivalent, and everyone else has Google Maps on their phone for times of need.  So you don't get people coalescing into groups around someone who seems to know the way like you used to, and the fast people aren't kept in check by their inability to navigate.

Anyway, well done.  I'm not saying never, but I'm sick of carrying full touring kit because of the train shituation.

[StuAff]

I started from Tomsk's abode (many thanks for the hospitality, by the way) at the same time as Ely Dave (good to meet you!), Jellylegs (likewise) and (I think) 4 other people whose names went in one ear and out the other. I didn't see any of them again.

I kept up a decent pace, stopping in Castle Hedingham for half a peanut butty that I had taken, and again at the White Horse in Great Waldingfield, where being Billy No Mates was suboptimal, because I had to joined one queueueue for beer (a very good pint of Yard Ale, if I recall correctly) and then another for calories. I had a very tasty jumbo sausage in a bun with onions (wasn't that a Beatles song back in the day?). It didn't take me all that long and I was soon on the road again. I was in GW around 2.30, I think, and away again by about 3.20 so at least 2 hours ahead of my normal schedule.

I plodded on towards Gosbeck, all the time realising that the pain was increasing, mostly in my wrists - I haven't had a rheumatoid arthritis attack for quite a long time - but also my arse. I stopped at Needham Lakes, where the bogs were open, but there was a large queueueue for the gents. I had had the foresight to pack my radar key so used that one, had a natter to a few people, and arrived at the community centre at 5.20, with 23% of my battery still showing. I plugged it in, bought a "meal deal" (egg & bacon bap, Snickers bar and a cup of coffee) and sat outside in the cold dawn light thinking that this wasn't such a great idea after all. I needed at least 2 hours on charge, I thought, to be able to get to the beach and back to Terry's, but my hand was forced by the community centre closing at 7.30. As I progressed it became increasingly clear that the first of those two objectives wasn't going to happen. I was relying more and more upon the electric motor to get me up hills, I was feeling distinctly queasy from a surfeit of greasy food at an unaccustomed hour, I didn't fancy a swim and there was no way I could to justice to a Flora Breakfast. At 9am I rolled up at Terry's house, where he provided tea and offered calories, which in the first instance I declined, but accepted an hour or so later when his wife Janet had returned from her standard Sunday Morning activity of scavenging at a car boot sale. After a good natter, Terry dropped me off at Darsham station for the 11.44 and we'll go back in the car on Thursday to pick my bike up.

So that's it. My Dun Run days are over - I think that's 10 completed, and a cut-down version DNFd. Anno domini have caught up with me. I'll be 70 when next year's is on, and I shall stay in bed and think of everyone else.

I met a few people I knew - Andrewbr and another guy who recognised me from the Simon Legg era of FNRttC, at Great Waldingfield, and a few other people I nattered to who had seen my posts on Farcebook. I'm not entirely sure of the distance because I left the computer on the bike at Terry's but it was at least 125k, which must be my longest ride since my last Dun Run with Kim and some poor chap called Brian, who was recruited as a stoker but just wasn't rated for more than 50 miles. Poor Brian has since contracted Parkinson's disease, but I note from FB that he completed his 5th DD this morning, starting at 5.30pm and arriving at the beach at 8.30am.

It's a totally different ride now, and I blame Bradley Wiggins. Since 2012, lots of people have gone out and bought respectably good road bikes, and have become respectably good at riding them. The food stops are running out of customers long before a putative Team Slow would put in an appearance. When I cycled through Peasenhall high street, I didn't see a single cyclist, and in the Old Days there would have been lots coming through at that time. I think it had been at least 20 minutes since I saw my last one.

So long, and thanks for all the milk.

Nice one Peter!

[Kim]

The further thought occurs: At some point, possibly within a decade or so, e-bike batteries with enough range to do the whole ride are likely to become a Thing.  I wonder if that's going to cause another demographic shift?

[Wowbagger]

The further thought occurs: At some point, possibly within a decade or so, e-bike batteries with enough range to do the whole ride are likely to become a Thing.  I wonder if that's going to cause another demographic shift?

With enough money they already are. If I could have been arsed to shell out another £1120 and add my name to a waiting list, I could have bought a Homage with two batteries, therefore a Wowbagger/E. Anglia range of >120 miles.

I met a guy on the train from Southend who had an e-bike with drop bars and a slightly enlarged down tube, and he was doing the Dun Run. But he said that his was worth 100 miles with him riding it. He only used it for a little assistance on the hills because a previous injury had made climbing difficult, but on the flat his default speed was about 16mph, so the motor just wasn't engaged.

[JellyLegs]

As Wowbagger says, it was a good night for putting faces to names / YACF usernames.  Nice to meet Wowbagger, ElyDave, George and several others that my lack of sleep means I can now remember faces but neither real or user name - sorry!

Despite living right on the route for the last 26 editions of thhe Dynamo, this was my first ever attempt.  I rode the few miles to Tomsk Towers for the formation of several ACME peletons that set off over a 20 minute period.  Joined the 11:45 Peleton made up Tom, Joss, Linda and George for a promised leisurely ride to Dunwich, several food stops, maybe a cheeky beer and a planned arrival of around 7am. 

What is it they say about best laid plans?  Before we even reached Great Bardfield, we seemed to collectively forget the “leisurely”, the “plenty of stops” , the “beer” ( can it have been a true ACME Peleton if it forgot beer?), and the “7am target arrival”.  The pace increased as our two fixed riders attacked the hills and we soon got into the habit of bouncing some very busy pop up and official food and drink offerings.  Somewhere around Wethersfield we passed Wowbagger making decent progress on his eBrute. 

Not long later 5 became 4 when we dropped George on an uppy downy section and couldn’t find him when we realised he wasn’t the front light on our wheel.  I can’t remember where exactly but on one of the steeper sections we encountered 3 penny farthings inching their way up hill (chapeau to them!).  Our one stop at a busy Needham Lakes got a bit of food on board and we were soon back on route, picking our way through a never ending stream of fairy light clad bikes and riders.  The weather was near perfect, a clear, moonlit night, a slight tailwind and only a few cold spots in the lower lying areas before dawn.

The sky began brightening while we were at Needham Lakes and soon we were making our way through some slumbering but picturesque Suffolk villages in that pre sunrise clarity of light.  This section alone was worth the entry fee.  The sun rose above the horizon as we were at Darsham and the last few miles were spent enjoying some great views across the countryside and acknowledging the real quickies who were passing in the opposite direction already on their way home.

We pulled onto Dunwich beach at 05:20 to see a stunning sun just above a calm sea.  One of our number took a dip, the other three grabbed a few snoozies before we went our separate ways.  Tom and I met up with Raymond and rode to Snape Maltings for breakfast before Tom set off for a leisurely tour home via 3 ferries and a bivvy somewhere on the Essex Sunshine Coast.  I set off to ride a slightly more direct 130km route home via Ipswich but the dozies and a stiff headwind plus a dearth of open shops after Ipswich saw me bail at Bures and get a lift for the last 40km.

My thoughts as a dynamo virgin?  There were some great lighting displays, a couple of mobile discos and, although there were plenty of road bikes, there was an array of more traditional steeds including Bromptons, at least one cargo bike, the 3 penny farthings and more.  The atmosphere was something different, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience .  Thanks to all the ACME bunch for their usual warm welcome and to the others from ACH and more that I met along the way.  No doubt I will see a few of you again next year.  I am genuinely sorry to read above that Wowbagger won’t be one of them.

[Kim]

The further thought occurs: At some point, possibly within a decade or so, e-bike batteries with enough range to do the whole ride are likely to become a Thing.  I wonder if that's going to cause another demographic shift?

With enough money they already are. If I could have been arsed to shell out another £1120 and add my name to a waiting list, I could have bought a Homage with two batteries, therefore a Wowbagger/E. Anglia range of >120 miles.

Well yes, but it's not going to make much difference to the ride until it's the standard option on something reasonably popular amongst the commuterati.  The floodgates will really open when the Deliveroo specials can do it.

Of course, the only thing worse than being knackered in Dunwich with a bicycle is being knackered in Dunwich with a bicycle with a bat flattery.

[ElyDave]

There were certainly some whose ability to read a Garmin exceeded their ability to think about interaction of bikes at speed. I was restraining the S40 on many occasions, particularly downhill as other riders would just womble around randomly, which is not great with downhill recumbent speed

[ElyDave]

As Wowbagger says, it was a good night for putting faces to names / YACF usernames.  Nice to meet Wowbagger, ElyDave, George and several others that my lack of sleep means I can now remember faces but neither real or user name - sorry!

Despite living right on the route for the last 26 editions of thhe Dynamo, this was my first ever attempt.  I rode the few miles to Tomsk Towers for the formation of several ACME peletons that set off over a 20 minute period.  Joined the 11:45 Peleton made up Tom, Joss, Linda and George for a promised leisurely ride to Dunwich, several food stops, maybe a cheeky beer and a planned arrival of around 7am. 

What is it they say about best laid plans?  Before we even reached Great Bardfield, we seemed to collectively forget the “leisurely”, the “plenty of stops” , the “beer” ( can it have been a true ACME Peleton if it forgot beer?), and the “7am target arrival”.  The pace increased as our two fixed riders attacked the hills and we soon got into the habit of bouncing some very busy pop up and official food and drink offerings.  Somewhere around Wethersfield we passed Wowbagger making decent progress on his eBrute. 

Not long later 5 became 4 when we dropped George on an uppy downy section and couldn’t find him when we realised he wasn’t the front light on our wheel.  I can’t remember where exactly but on one of the steeper sections we encountered 3 penny farthings inching their way up hill (chapeau to them!).  Our one stop at a busy Needham Lakes got a bit of food on board and we were soon back on route, picking our way through a never ending stream of fairy light clad bikes and riders.  The weather was near perfect, a clear, moonlit night, a slight tailwind and only a few cold spots in the lower lying areas before dawn.

The sky began brightening while we were at Needham Lakes and soon we were making our way through some slumbering but picturesque Suffolk villages in that pre sunrise clarity of light.  This section alone was worth the entry fee.  The sun rose above the horizon as we were at Darsham and the last few miles were spent enjoying some great views across the countryside and acknowledging the real quickies who were passing in the opposite direction already on their way home.

We pulled onto Dunwich beach at 05:20 to see a stunning sun just above a calm sea.  One of our number took a dip, the other three grabbed a few snoozies before we went our separate ways.  Tom and I met up with Raymond and rode to Snape Maltings for breakfast before Tom set off for a leisurely tour home via 3 ferries and a bivvy somewhere on the Essex Sunshine Coast.  I set off to ride a slightly more direct 130km route home via Ipswich but the dozies and a stiff headwind plus a dearth of open shops after Ipswich saw me bail at Bures and get a lift for the last 40km.

My thoughts as a dynamo virgin?  There were some great lighting displays, a couple of mobile discos and, although there were plenty of road bikes, there was an array of more traditional steeds including Bromptons, at least one cargo bike, the 3 penny farthings and more.  The atmosphere was something different, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience .  Thanks to all the ACME bunch for their usual warm welcome and to the others from ACH and more that I met along the way.  No doubt I will see a few of you again next year.  I am genuinely sorry to read above that Wowbagger won’t be one of them.

If you guys arrived at 0520, I've no idea how I missed you as I was there just before 0500, and breakfasting, I even wandered onto the beach at one point before leaving around 0600

[MsG]

I suspect at Waldringfield that I was stood in the vicinity of several riders on this thread, as AndrewBr was around at the same time.
If anyone saw the orange clad cyclist (pretty much head to toe) on an orange bike with orange lit LED wheels, that was me!

[damerell]

Left Hackney about 2020 with a much faster friend who zoomed off at the 24h garage. Didn't see anyone familiar. I haven't ridden more than about 5 miles at a time since the plague started and after about 70km it was sheer murder. Pints around 35 and 50km but too late in Finchfingfield and foolishly did not have one at White Horse at 102km. As Wow says, everything is shut now before Team Slow, but I did have food of my own. Eventually limped in about 1130, to my surprise not quite the lanterne rouge, although the last of the fast-but-disorganised had got ahead of me around 160km. In a B&B in Yoxford, train from Diss next.

[rogerzilla]

So many people set off very early now.  My strategy has always been to start at 8 (there's practically no-one left in the park at 9 now, the "official" start time) and ride like hell to the halfway stop, beating the queue.  I don't think that would work any more, although it was pretty successful up to 2012, except in 2009 when my mate had a puncture and the queue was snaking around the car park at Great Waldingfield.  In 2019 the queue at the fire station was only just tolerable despite a very fast run - we were in Sudbury before midnight, a first.

I haven't managed to get food at the Flora Café since 2006, though - that's been overwhelmed ever since.  In 2005, a group of us rocked up around 6am, queued for about 30 seconds, and got a table inside.

[Auntie Helen]

The further thought occurs: At some point, possibly within a decade or so, e-bike batteries with enough range to do the whole ride are likely to become a Thing.  I wonder if that's going to cause another demographic shift?

I get 300km from my 13 aH battery so they already exist - you just have to fit them into a velomobile!

[robgul]

The further thought occurs: At some point, possibly within a decade or so, e-bike batteries with enough range to do the whole ride are likely to become a Thing.  I wonder if that's going to cause another demographic shift?

With enough money they already are. If I could have been arsed to shell out another £1120 and add my name to a waiting list, I could have bought a Homage with two batteries, therefore a Wowbagger/E. Anglia range of >120 miles.

I met a guy on the train from Southend who had an e-bike with drop bars and a slightly enlarged down tube, and he was doing the Dun Run. But he said that his was worth 100 miles with him riding it. He only used it for a little assistance on the hills because a previous injury had made climbing difficult, but on the flat his default speed was about 16mph, so the motor just wasn't engaged.

Sounds like a bike with a Fazua motor - I have the Boardman drop bar model . . . and yes to just riding with the motor engaged for the hills, it's comfortable riding unassisted on the flat (I've just invested in a 2nd battery to overcome range anxiety on longer or hillier jaunts)

[rogerzilla]

You're getting perilously close to doing the DD on a Ducati by then!

[JefO]

Set off from Benfleet at 16:48.
Rode to daughter's in South Ockendon, arrived around 6pm. Daughter and I then rode to South Ockendon Church, which is the closest round tower church to London.
There are only half a dozen round tower churches in Essex, I am making a point of visiting all of these. The lady that looks after the church invited us in, as she saw we were taking photos, which was very nice of her as she had just locked it up. We declined, then Daughter and I went separate ways from there, and I enjoyed the Boris routes into London. I got to London Fields at 7.45pm made use of the toilets, refilled my water bottles.
Set off again at 20:05.
Thoroughly enjoyed the route out of London. Never realised how close I was to Hackney when in Leyton (where my grandparents lived, my Dad was born, I was born and lived for the first 20months, before moving to Benfleet). Recognising the rail bridge over Lea Bridge Rd, I diverted round to 37 Lily Rd where all that happened. Took a photo of my red Claud Butler leaning against the wall there. The last time I cycled to Lily Road was 50 years ago and my Claud Butler was a much newer yellow one.
I did look out for the E-Brute, but alas I think it must have been stopped when I passed it.
I never saw any ACME uniforms until I was at the beach.
The Fyfield stop was absolutely brilliant.
Cooking and Serving - brilliant - Burger - brilliant - Cheese - brilliant - Lemon Drizzle cake - brilliant - coffee - brilliant - money collection - brilliant - water service - brilliant.
In fact the only thing more brilliant than the Fyfield stop, were some of the rear lights, which were blinding. I did ask the riders with the brightest rear lights if they could dim them at all, but they are all apparently "really good rear lights" and you "can't dim them". Berks.

And, I had a real go at one group which passed me for the second time, without the necessary energy to get past far enough to pull back in safely, so found myself on the brakes and heading for kerb / potholes etc. again. It really isn't difficult. You keep going fast until the person you are passing isn't still alongside you, and if you don't have the energy for that, you slow down again without forcing them to slow down too. Jeeez.

I am not actually all that grumpy, usually... Just 9 hours sleep spread over the period between 00.01 Thursday and 00.01 Sunday morning possibly heightened my grumpiness. The lack of sleep also completely naffed-up any chance of riding back to Benfleet. The campsite stop and the camping pod were both great ideas. Too far from the Beach end of the ride though. 28 miles (45km?) was too far in the brisk headwind, and I simply could not sleep when I got there, around 7.30am. That is not true, I did drift off. Woke for a bladder alert an hour later (round trip 400m to the loo and back), snoozed for another 45mins. Then I started worrying about getting home in the daylight, so couldn't sleep because of that. Campsite shower was good. Repacking seemed to take ages. Went to the pub and got my dinner around 1.30pm.

Riding with less than 11hours sleep between Wednesday midday and Sunday midday against a brisk and persistent headwind, soon ate away at my sense of humour. After just 45 minutes I stopped and asked an elderly couple the way to the nearest station. Unfortunately, they said "left at the main road" instead of "right at the main road"... Lovely a tailwind! Down hill too! When I saw a sign for the village where I had camped, I realised there was something wrong. I stopped. My phone refused to tell me where the nearest station was. I sat and deliberated over cycling back up the hill into the wind... It was a huge mental barrier... along came a couple of cyclists, on ebikes. One of them put me straight. Yes, I needed to get myself back up the hill, into the wind... but there was a nicer route than the main road. They were going that way... we rode, we chatted, they told me where to go when our routes diverged, and I carried on into Ipswich. I cycled up a ruddy big hill, when I got to the top, I asked the way to the station. Yep. Back down the hill take the road on the left. 
I bought a ticket and eventually got on a train back to Chelmsford. Didn't have too much resistance from the railway people, in fact it was very easy. I was about to miss the 16.11, but there was a Costa coffee emporium, so chatted to a young oriental couple who were deliberating about how to get back to London, having also done the Dun Run, and we ate some of my fig rolls. They were both on hybrid bikes, had virtually no gear with them at all... oh the joys of being so young!

Got into Chelmsford then cycled the route that Garmin decided upon, including much abrasion of stinging nettles and bramble, on quite good tracks I had never used before, to cross the A130 and get onto the road to Rettendon, where my loving wife had driven my car to collect me. Total mileage 206 (329km), I think.

Slept well last night. No aches, slight tingling around little fingers. 

[rogerzilla]

There's a Fyfield stop now? I'm surprised, as it's less than 30 miles out.  Probably takes a lot of overflow from the pub in Moreton, though.

[damerell]

In fact the only thing more brilliant than the Fyfield stop, were some of the rear lights, which were blinding. I did ask the riders with the brightest rear lights if they could dim them at all, but they are all apparently "really good rear lights" and you "can't dim them". Berks.

I've had similar trouble; I'm still using halogen bulb dynamo lights, which I find quite adequate except when someone with a really bright headlight is on my wheel and I'm riding into my own silhouette. I avoided this problem this year by being so slow no-one wanted to be on my wheel.

[MsG]

There's a Fyfield stop now? I'm surprised, as it's less than 30 miles out.  Probably takes a lot of overflow from the pub in Moreton, though.

It was very well organised by the Scouts, easy ordering system, someone on water bottle refill duty - good cake and hot food too.

[grams]

I was the twat with the dog. Because of long stops for her benefit we didn’t reach the beach until 9.

We definitely encountered a group of stragglers who were waiting at each junction for someone to show them the way.

Morton isn’t actually a great stop as it’s only a pub. A lot of groups end up stopping there for ages because one person wants a beer/toilet/etc or just see the crowds. A lot of them would be better off with an event-specific pit stop.

[Wowbagger]

I was the twat with the dog. Because of long stops for her benefit we didn’t reach the beach until 9.

We definitely encountered a group of stragglers who were waiting at each junction for someone to show them the way.

Morton isn’t actually a great stop as it’s only a pub. A lot of groups end up stopping there for ages because one person wants a beer/toilet/etc or just see the crowds. A lot of them would be better off with an event-specific pit stop.

Was it you I saw at Gosbeck with a small spaniel-type thing, some time between 5.30 and 7.30am?

[dod]

As Wowbagger says, it was a good night for putting faces to names / YACF usernames.  Nice to meet Wowbagger, ElyDave, George and several others that my lack of sleep means I can now remember faces but neither real or user name - sorry!

Despite living right on the route for the last 26 editions of thhe Dynamo, this was my first ever attempt.  I rode the few miles to Tomsk Towers for the formation of several ACME peletons that set off over a 20 minute period.  Joined the 11:45 Peleton made up Tom, Joss, Linda and George for a promised leisurely ride to Dunwich, several food stops, maybe a cheeky beer and a planned arrival of around 7am. 

What is it they say about best laid plans?  Before we even reached Great Bardfield, we seemed to collectively forget the “leisurely”, the “plenty of stops” , the “beer” ( can it have been a true ACME Peleton if it forgot beer?), and the “7am target arrival”.  The pace increased as our two fixed riders attacked the hills and we soon got into the habit of bouncing some very busy pop up and official food and drink offerings.  Somewhere around Wethersfield we passed Wowbagger making decent progress on his eBrute. 

Not long later 5 became 4 when we dropped George on an uppy downy section and couldn’t find him when we realised he wasn’t the front light on our wheel.  I can’t remember where exactly but on one of the steeper sections we encountered 3 penny farthings inching their way up hill (chapeau to them!).  Our one stop at a busy Needham Lakes got a bit of food on board and we were soon back on route, picking our way through a never ending stream of fairy light clad bikes and riders.  The weather was near perfect, a clear, moonlit night, a slight tailwind and only a few cold spots in the lower lying areas before dawn.

If you guys arrived at 0520, I've no idea how I missed you as I was there just before 0500, and breakfasting, I even wandered onto the beach at one point before leaving around 0600

George here, I think I had been dropped well before that point as I was on my own when I passed Wowbagger, but by that stage I was starting to feel the dozies and stood no chance of keeping up with Tadej and Jonas on their fixies 

Thanks again to Tomsk for the hospitality, and to Linda for spotting me on the beach as I tried to spot them. I got there at 6:30, after several stops for coffee along the way. From the beach I rode to Stowmarket and had no problem getting me+bike on a train from there to Ely.

I've only done the ride once before (2016), some random observations:

There are now cycle lanes (and one pedestrianised street) on at least the first 10miles of the route, and using them in big groups got tricky in places. Still better than mixing it with the traffic though.

In 2016 there seemed to be a lot more random folk with random bikes having a go at the ride - not far from the start I stopped to help one rider on a shopper bike with a slipping seatpost. Now I'd say it looks more like a sportive with a party atmosphere.

This time I only saw one true pop-up stall, the guy in Monks Eleigh selling home-brewed coffee outside his house using real mugs to serve it. His two sons were run ragged with all the kettle boiling and mug washing, but it was very popular. The other stops were all the well organised pubs/village halls plus the food trucks at Needham Lakes. The one in Brandeston looked good but seemed to be getting no trade at all, I hope it was worth their effort.

There were definitely quite a few lost riders between Framlingham and Dunwich, on my way back west I used several roads that weren't on (and were quite far from) the 'official' route and still came across riders going the other way. I guess the tea lights don't work quite so well after sunrise.

[damerell]

In 2016 there seemed to be a lot more random folk with random bikes having a go at the ride - not far from the start I stopped to help one rider on a shopper bike with a slipping seatpost. Now I'd say it looks more like a sportive with a party atmosphere.

That's a lot of it, not so many funny bikes. The first couple of times I rode it on my 60s? Triumph roadster it barely registered with anyone (admittedly, the first time I had Charlotte's Ordinary providing cover). Now it's a conversation piece.

[SpaceBadger]

There's a Fyfield stop now? I'm surprised, as it's less than 30 miles out.  Probably takes a lot of overflow from the pub in Moreton, though.

I stopped there last year. Best food on the route in my opinion, which I was quite glad of having started light on calories. I doubted a Tesco meal deal was good for 160km and thankfully didn’t test that!

[grams]

Was it you I saw at Gosbeck with a small spaniel-type thing, some time between 5.30 and 7.30am?

Yes, we stopped there with the small spaniel-type thing, about 6:20.