# Dunwich dynamo 2012 - my ride report



## 4F (2 Jul 2012)

Dunwich Dynamo 2012
After a slow 9 mile bimble to Ipswich I met Scilly Suffolk and Matt O’Brien for the 16:09 for London Liverpool street before the short hop over to London Fields where a pint of ice cold Guinness was consumed. A short hunt for a bite to eat then followed which resulted in some dodgy looking Tapas which claimed to be pork but in reality could have been anything and thankfully my fears of whether this was a wise decision due to the lack of toilet facilities for the next 112 miles did not transpire. 

We set of about 8:15 in our mini CC peleton from London Fields as the masses were starting to move and had the usual first 8 miles of silliness with being general cut up by others who weren’t looking where they were going or seem to have any basic cycle road craft.

We re-grouped after about 6 miles as we headed off into direction “The Coast” and set about a good pace. With the ride being earlier in the year the night seemed a lot lighter which was helpful in avoiding the potholes on the run through Epping. One looked in quite a horrific state and I am sure you would have needed a ladder to get out had you had the misfortune of entering.

Before we knew it Great Dunmow had been and passed and I was more than pleased to see the back of this place as it was where I had an issue with some drunkards on last year’s ride. Sible Hedingham arrived and it was here that the three of us split for a while. Scilly went for some grub, a bottle refill and a kip, I had already decided that I would give it a miss due to the horrific queues encountered in 2010 and cracked on. Matt caught me up 20 minutes or so later and we steamed on towards Sudbury.

We stopped at the bus stop at the top of the hill for a bite to eat and also at the bike shop that had set up an overnight bottle refill, free flapjack and repair centre, top marks to all involved.

Matt and I left Sudbury and the time had just gone midnight which was way earlier then I have ever got here before and certainly helped by the decent pace we had set and the favourable tailwind. A five minute pit stop at Needham lakes followed to answer a call of nature before cracking on to the bacon roll stop in Helmingham. As per last year the bacon was excellent followed by a decent cup of tea and I read that they raised over £800 for charity, again top marks.

This fuel seemed to recharge the legs and we headed of with the time showing 2:20 am knowing that we had less than 30 miles to go to Dunwich. A peleton of about 20 bikes formed and we kept together in the same group virtually all the way greatly aided by one of the chaps having a Garmin shouting directions as we approached turnings. Having always reached these points previously in the morning sunrise they looked very different in the darkness and I was more than thankful for modern technology.

As I mentioned to Matt to look out for stones on the small road at Sibton I had a brown trouser moment as the familiar crackling sound came from under my wheels with a corner looming but thankfully stayed up right and onwards we went.

Across the A12 we went which is where we pushed the pace up and went onwards to Dunwich and before we knew it we had arrived despite me turning at The Ship PH rather than straight on, doh.

The time was 4:07 am which had easily bettered my best expectation of arriving before 6 and the queue for the cafe was a short twenty minutes which was a right result. A full English was ordered and comsumed with three cups of tea and it was at this stage that thom sat at our table and after spotting my cycle chat top and we had a natter for a while.

Matt and I then decided that we would head off home sooner rather than later and at just after 5 am we headed on back in the direction of Ipswich and the 30 miles that this entailed. The very favourable tailwind to Dunwich was now a slightly unpleasant headwind home and was as I remember from last year, a bit of a chore but before we knew it we said our good byes at Martlesham and headed off in our respective directions homeward bound.

I arrived home at 7:15 which somewhat surprised Mrs 4F and the short 4F’s having told them that I would be home before lunch,rather than before breakfast (which turned into breakfast number two).

Total miles on the clock 158 with a time of 10 hrs 33 mins.

This for me was my most enjoyable Dun Run having really laboured to finish last year’s one and already looking forward to 2013.


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## ianrauk (2 Jul 2012)

good report 4F. And a cracking time too


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## wilkyboy (3 Jul 2012)

4F said:


> We set of about 8:15 in our mini CC peleton from London Fields
> 
> We stopped at the bus stop at the top of the hill for a bite to eat and also at the bike shop that had set up an overnight bottle refill, free flapjack and repair centre, top marks to all involved.
> 
> ...




Hi 4F, nice write-up.

I think you left a few minutes later than I did and got into Dunwich a couple of minutes ahead (but I got lost with a group in Gt Dunmow -- we turned right down the hill at the second roundabout when we should've turned left and up). We must've shared a draft at some point or another. I left 8 sharp, got into Dunwich 4.08-ish. I was on a Brompton and by the time you'd have passed I was probably wearing some Hawaiian flower garland some drunk supporter donated in Sudbury. The Sudbury flapjack pitstop kept saying I was first Brommie through those parts -- delicious flap jacks, I made a big donation and took a bag-full away 

Towards the end I was riding with two guys who just kept going and going and going -- not too quick up the climbs, which was nice and the only way I could keep up with them, and then steady and quick enough on the flat and quick into Dunwich. Was that you? Hmm, p'raps not if you turned the wrong way at The Ship, because they knew where they were going (chkl). Possibly you would've passed us around Darsham I reckon, perhaps a little before, assuming our times are one-to-two mins apart. I was wheezing a lot towards the end. I saw a 16" Moulton already at the cafe -- he passed us like a train at around 10pm and apparently he got in around 3:40 -- but I couldn't see any other B's or other little-wheelers, not that I could see much by then.

What a great event! It was my first Dun Run, my first night ride, my first draft behind a tandem (nice!), my first bacon sandwich in the middle of nowhere at 1am (nicer!), my first century, my first sleep on a beach. Big-grin time!  Total miles (with station runs) 135mi. Next year considering riding back to either Diss or Ipswich, depending on the wind -- so long as there's a train to Cambridge -- and racking up an even better total, although I don't think I could yet manage to do it there-and-back. Although, perhaps ...


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## 4F (3 Jul 2012)

Hi wilkyboy, there was a brompton in our peloton with a loud shirt. The 3 guys who were mostly doing the leading were old school with good old fashioned saddlebags and the other guy I remember was some chap wearing Kingston Wheelers gear head to toe. Same group ?


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## wilkyboy (3 Jul 2012)

4F said:


> Hi wilkyboy, there was a brompton in our peloton with a loud shirt. The 3 guys who were mostly doing the leading were old school with good old fashioned saddlebags and the other guy I remember was some chap wearing Kingston Wheelers gear head to toe. Same group ?


 
Yes, sounds like it -- the Hawaiian flower thing I was wearing was definitely loud  (I forgot I had it on until I came to put a fleece on at the end.) The other three guys fit the description -- old school and saddle bags. I was totally focused on not clipping the guy's wheel in front, so didn't notice the Kingston gear, but I remember it was a peloton of six or seven and gradually all but two of the old-schoolers pedalled off the front, so it was just us three skootered into Dunwich a little behind you. Those guys were ace because they got me to the end because I just kept telling myself "if they can do it ...". Chapeau!

It was good riding with you, although my sincere apologies that the conversation was a bit dismal at that time of the a.m.! A brilliant experience though, and 8:08 end-to-end on a Brompton sounds like an okay time? I'm chuffed with it! 

Next year, fitter, more sleep the night before, and carrying less useless crap in my rucksac ... although perhaps a sleeping bag ...


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## 4F (3 Jul 2012)

Yep sounds like it was the same group, decent pace on the flats and comfortable up the hills. We only pushed off the front once we had passed across the A12 as I felt like a good stretch of the legs to the finish. That group was really good and we were in it virtually all the way from the bacon roll stop to the end, certainly not much was spoken as I think everyone one was in a trance like state. Nice nearly meeting you...


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## wilkyboy (4 Jul 2012)

Nice nearly meeting you too ... You know, I do remember someone saying something like "we haven't crossed the A12 yet, where's it gone?" or something -- could have been you! About ten minutes later we did so. And yes I remember everyone rolled off the front about then, but as it was my first time I thought we still might have ten miles to go so I played it safe. I couldn't look at the signs, because every time I looked up I wobbled and nearly clipped someone's back wheel or drifted to the right.

It was a really good pace for me -- after that distance I felt amazingly much better than I ever thought I would -- my seat started complaining around Dunmow and gave up complaining at about Sudbury and apart from the heavy breathing and lactose legs for the final 20mi I felt fine at the end. Apart from a disconcerting numb-tingle in my dingle that lasted a couple of days -- looking for a new saddle now! My legs and back normally ache after a 60mi ride, but for some reason felt good: tired, but not aching. I think the favourable wind may have had something to do with that.

I think I joined the group after Helmingham, maybe Framsden, because I stopped for a bacon roll just before Needham Lakes. We may have ridden together a bit earlier, but I bonked badly off the back of a quick group around Bildeston that time-wise would've been about right for you; I rode with a more sedate fella the next five miles or so to the pop-up above Needham Lakes. Bacon'ed-up I put on a pace drafting a tandem I'd drafted for 20mi from Epping ... until I bonked again on Stonewell Hill up to Gosbeck. After getting over that hill and down the other side, I joined up with your group to Dunwich taking the climbs a little easier. Next year, hopefully pace myself better!


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## compo (4 Jul 2012)

I just meandered the whole route, knowing that if I tried to go for a "time" I would bonk long before the finish. My daughter met me at the top of Gallows Hill as you depart from Sudbury with a hot meal and a flask of tea (she lives in Sudbury, but further off route than I wanted to detour). There isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. I had periods of elation and periods of self doubt but was buoyed up by the endless stream of cheery riders who passed me and the few I passed. I did just over 10 hours actual riding time and was on the road for about 12 hours including stops. My lift back arrived at Dunwich 10 minutes before I did so I didn't bother with breakfast but went down and dipped my toe in the sea and then we started for home.

Will I do it again? You bet I will, and hopefully next year I will have had a lot more miles in my legs prior to the ride.


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## stevevw (4 Jul 2012)

wilkyboy said:


> after that distance I felt amazingly much better than I ever thought I would -- my seat started complaining around Dunmow and gave up complaining at about Sudbury and apart from the heavy breathing and lactose legs for the final 20mi I felt fine at the end. Apart from a disconcerting numb-tingle in my dingle that lasted a couple of days -- looking for a new saddle now!


 
I bet those old school boys had their saddlebags attached to a Brooks B17. That may be a big clue to future saddle choice.


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## 4F (4 Jul 2012)

stevevw said:


> I bet those old school boys had their saddlebags attached to a Brooks B17. That may be a big clue to future saddle choice.


 
Yes but this one doesn't B17 no thankyou. Been there, tried that, sold it one e bay.


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## stevevw (4 Jul 2012)

I will be glad when they go out of fassion again so I can buy a few more as spares. Best saddle I have ever used but as Tony says not for all arses


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## wilkyboy (4 Jul 2012)

stevevw said:


> I bet those old school boys had their saddlebags attached to a Brooks B17.


 
If memory serves, I believe you're right. When I got home on Sunday I started looking at Brookes saddle because I'd been following one closely on the Run and I think it was those guys. Anyway, those saddles look too comfortable to my way of thinking.

Edit: interesting read (I thought): http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html


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## Auntie Helen (7 Jul 2012)

James (my husband) bought a Brooks B17 and sold it after 500 miles - he just couldn't get on with it at all. Clearly not a Brooks Bum.


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