Dunwich Dynamo 2015

[jiberjaber]

If you're going to ride to Ipswich, it's only a short ride from there to Chelmsford.... Come on, it's an adventure, not a bike ride.

Lol

 

[rb58]

Seriously, my experience of very long rides is that you reach a state of tiredness, then you stay at that rate for the rest of the ride. Just keep the pace steady and you'll be fine.

 

[User10571]

Start on the bike, finish on the bike. The feeling you get and the look of shock when you tell others what you have done is worth it alone.

I have done the round trip twice now and for me to start it is a 96 mile ride to Hackney on the Saturday. In 2013 the furthest I had ridden that year was 80 miles but thought what the hell and when I got home I had 242 on the clock. Last year I talked another couple in riding down from Ipswich and this year I reckon there will be 7 or 8 of us.

Listen to what he says.
He speaks wisely.

 

[StuAff]

Seriously, my experience of very long rides is that you reach a state of tiredness, then you stay at that rate for the rest of the ride. Just keep the pace steady and you'll be fine.

^That. Keep the pace steady, take breaks as and when you feel the need, and get your fuelling right, and it's straightforward. Seriously. I don't know what distances you've covered on other rides, but you've done 60 and 70 on the last two night rides without much bother, which means a ton is almost certainly well within your grasp. And once you get to that kind of mileage, extending it a bit really isn't a problem. What works for me is to treat it like an audax- stops every 30 miles or so (even if you just get off the bike for a minute or two and have a banana, for example), and to remember it's not a race. For example, on this, when I rode to the 2013 Cardiff-Swansea FNRttC, I stopped briefly at 38 miles, lunch stop at 76, another snack break at about 120, dinner in Cardiff at 157. After that, the halfway stop (Ogmore by Sea) and breakfast in Mumbles.

 

[StuAff]

Listen to what he says.
He speaks wisely.

That he does.

 

[Aperitif]

"Aye, indeed."

Total encouragement from this sector, JJ - and a story to tell, as 4F outlines. One thing; the tail light trauma will be ferocious. A few of us did it one night and it was a nice contrast to the hustle & bustle of the flashing carnival...

 

[jefmcg]

Seriously, my experience of very long rides is that you reach a state of tiredness, then you stay at that rate for the rest of the ride. Just keep the pace steady and you'll be fine.

Or not. I've "fallen asleep" on a long ride, after 300km and about 20 hours. It's easy to fix, you get off your bike and walk until the sleepiness wears off, then back on.

Sometimes I hate audaxing.

 

[jiberjaber]

OK - I am fairly convinced I could give this a shot, I certainly had the concept of breaking the imperial ton this month as Fridays ride of 86 miles was close to it... not making excuses here but two things are playing in my mind.

The trip to France I am heading out on the following Wednesday, lot to do for that, some of which can't be done too far in advance (its a competition I am heading out for which is part of another hobby of mine), so being wiped out that weekend might not be ideal...

The second thing is I came off the bike about a month ago, quite spectacularly, then the fall down the stairs on Saturday must have damaged the skin in the same area, so I ended up with a grapefruit sized fluid sac on my leg Sunday night which I had drained yesterday. Its half full again already, so will probably be a couple more trips to the docs yet.... I've been staring at the sunshine wanting to ride all week... I know its 2 months away but.....

So if I can sort out the above, I think I am up for this! A quiet ride in to London and a pleasant evening ride out to the coast, and a gentle saunter back inland, what's not to love about that And I get to reuse this:

 

[Matilda]

Hi all, I have never done the Dun Run before but always wanted to try... I am worried I am too much of an amateur though! Cycle to work and back each day (like 10 miles return), and the longest I've cycled except for that is 35 miles - so would be quite an increase in distance! I need some advice - would the Dynamo be a fun thing for me or simply a foolhardy, stupid thing that I would deeply regret, around 4 am on a field in Essex?

 

[rb58]

With the right preparation it's great fun. A real experience and a great adventure. But you will need to prepare and up your mileage before then if you don't want it to be a nightmare.

 

[Matilda]

Hmm. That is what I suspected. I may well be too lazy to up my mileage - I just want to go straight to the cool advantures!

 

[StuAff]

With the right preparation it's great fun. A real experience and a great adventure. But you will need to prepare and up your mileage before then if you don't want it to be a nightmare.

+1. Start now and you'll have time enough.

 

[Matilda]

How far do you guys reckon I'd have to practice cycling before taking on the Dynamo? An actual 120 mile practice run? Or 80, 90?

 

[rb58]

How far do you guys reckon I'd have to practice cycling before taking on the Dynamo? An actual 120 mile practice run? Or 80, 90?

Someone much wiser than me once said that if you can ride 20 miles, you can ride 40. By that logic, if you're comfortable at 60 miles, you should be able to make 120. If it were me, I'd want to be happy with about 75-80 miles. I don't think there's any need to tackle a full 120 before the actual day. And if you do decide to do it, don't forget to make arrangements to get home again.

 

[StuAff]

Someone much wiser than me once said that if you can ride 20 miles, you can ride 40. By that logic, if you're comfortable at 60 miles, you should be able to make 120. If it were me, I'd want to be happy with about 75-80 miles. I don't think there's any need to tackle a full 120 before the actual day. And if you do decide to do it, don't forget to make arrangements to get home again.

+1.