Dunwich Dynamo 2019

So much that I want to say about the 2019DD.  My 5th, but the first time I've done it in 10 years.  

London Fields was, again, awesome, and a great introduction to the ethos of the ride for the guys doing it for the first time.   Hackney is so cool nowadays, especially for backwoodsmen like us.  Masses massed, all friendly, smoking, drinking, dancing, nervously setting off early to beat the rush.  Some hope - the consensus seems to be 3,000 people rode the route.  No pre-race nerves, no jostling for position, just people smiling.

We set off at about 8:20pm after a number of middle-aged gentlemen had to do what middle-aged gentlemen do.  The first hour through London was slow but good.  A lot of smells (well, 1 smell in particular), sounds and sights to keep us occupied as we followed the long trail of bikes out into Essex.  This part of the ride was markedly different to my previous times - all of the bike lanes.  No weaving in & out of cars, no annoyed drivers.  A bit slower, but those lanes weren't built for the amount of traffic they had on them.  The next part of the ride has always been the most unpleasant, out to Epping.  We had a particular driver & passenger who seemed to be congratulating us on making love to homosexual vaginas, but they were alone in a sea of 'people just co-existing'.

Out of Epping, we turned right, and boom - country lanes all night long.  So many great memories keep hitting me about the ride from here on in - the kids sat by the roadside wrapped in blankets & cheering us in as if we were on the Tour.  Going around corners in sleepy and sleeping villages to find the entire road closed due to drinking, eating & happy cyclists.  3 blokes stood by the roadside in the middle of nowhere cheering us on.  Sudbury coming along at just the right time.  The haystack fire near Sudbury.   The sheer number of people on the road at all times.  The fake sunrise that turned out to be Ipswich's lights.  Needham Market where we met a very tired Weever Fish jnr.  And then the light started to change, subtly and slowly it was a new day.

By now we were strung out.  2 had gone home from Needham Market, 3 of us were ahead, Weever Fish jnr was dropping his kids off at the pool and the final 2 were coping stoically with a puncture outside a huge BBQ...

Then we were through Framlingham without seeing the carstle on the hill, and the fabled '7 miles to Dunwich' sign went past.  The transport for our bikes was already in Dunwich and people were milling around in the dawn light.

Suddenly we were going downhill and were there, into the car park in Dunwich, nicely before 6am.  I walked my bike over the pebbles on the beach and dipped the front wheel in the sea - as far east as we could go together.

An awesome ride for me, completed with one of my oldest friends and some of my oldest friends...

Finally, The Ship and breakfast & a pint (it was evening for us still...).  

Bring on DD XXVIII in 2020.  More pictures here and the ever smart Strava flyby (curated just to show the groups) here.

Harry's Stag Day and Night

Late trains, litres of gin in backpacks, Pokemon movie gatecrashing,  air-guitar solo straddling a pedibus, pub fights, £80 poppadoms, the day had them all and more.

Sleepy-time

Flight-club

Suffolk Sunrise 2014

Here's my take on it.

Early.
Go.
Clark goes bang.  A puncture.  Funny.
Steve W hustles a lovely girl for her phone #.  Dave H impressed.
Wet.
Windy.
Cuppa.
Slow.
Great food.  Appear to be last.
Fast.
Cuppa.
BLOODY HELL.  ?11? punctures & buy our 3rd new tyre of the day.  Monsoon conditions.  Ian C appears to be hypothermic.  Dave H swears more than anyone I've ever heard.  4x4 rescue (who were brilliant) tell us about an amazing guy in a 'Hill Killer' shirt who was 15 minutes ahead of anyone else when they saw him.  GO PAUL.  But still, this bloody rain & these bloody punctures.
11+ hours later - Framlingham.
Darren so tired after his run from Dennington he doesn't notice he's been given a girls medal.

Kudos to Dave H, without whose puncture repair skills we'd still be out there.  Thanks all, it was a blast.  Here's my route profile, showing all of those stops...

The Love Train:

Suffolk Sunrise 2013

Having my hand forced by injured participants, I nervously jumped up a group, from Slouch to Fast and we set off about 20 minutes after the Elite group. I very quickly found the pace too much to sustain and had pains, with only 10 miles completed and a decision I might regret, I persuaded Steve and his group to completely desert me. 1 mph slower and my stamina seem to recover, but the pain seemed to continue until, cursing my pre-race tinkering, I noticed my saddle was 2 inches too low.  It was like a different set of legs had taken over, well for another 10 miles or so, just coming in towards the 1^st stop, my legs felt heavy once again, looking down I now realised that the saddle was actually slipping down until it hit the reflector bracket. Had someone had oiled my shaft the night before! Just like when you are camping a couple of big leaves, seem to wipe most of it off, clamp up super tight and why, why did I not do that earlier.

My target time was eight hours with 7 hours cycling, averaging 15 mph seem possible and now checking with my only friend left, Mr Strava, he was telling me it was possible, but tight. I started to feel more confident, but knew all too well what the last 10-20 miles would feel like, also knowing the wind had little affect so far, so I knew it would not be long til it did. After lunch at 47miles, I managed to get in a little group and stayed with them for 5 or so miles, which was a welcome relief, but apart form a few more short tows that was about the only drafting I got.  I bimbled on, cursing a bit and enjoying it at times, but the last 35 miles were windy and tough, the last 20 very tough, but I could not give up, after all, I am a Gauntleteer. I had 3 stops, drunk 4 litres of fluid and gel ran through my veins, bowl of spicy pasta for lunch and 4 bananas saw me through.  If it had gone slightly better, yes I could have gone maybe 1mph faster, if I had not mended someone’s chain I could have saved some time and yes if I had not stopped at all I could have shaved off another 50 mins, but incredibly even with all this, I would still be a full hour slower than the Elite Surfer group – Very Impressive.  That will be difficult to pull back in the 10K.

Highlight, the fool who thought he could keep up with me down a steep descent with a tight sandy corner at the bottom. I got the turn-in right, hit the apex as my Rossi gate leg clicked back on to the pedal, giving me enough time to turn and see him cross the road and use the opposite bank to stop himself. I did warn him and getting my foot down must have given him a clue.

Lowlight, realising I have not trained enough and as always, the last 10 miles, although there were still some to overtake this year. 

I was not quick, but some 40 mins quicker than last year, mainly pushing forward on my own, so a great sense of achievement and as always, well organised and well catered, way of seeing our lovely county.

DH

The Tour Ride

Saturday 8th September and I rode the Tour Ride, the official sportive of the Tour of Britain.  Pretty much the full first stage, with just a few changes of route.

I was lucky enough to get into the first group of 50 riders to leave Christchurch Park at 8am, just 6 people ahead of me.  Great conditions as first Woodbridge, then Snape, Aldburgh and Thorpness passed.  Foolishly I latched onto the back of a big group of fast riders.  I reached the first stop at Southwold at 20mph average.

I rode by myself for sometime before hooking up with two men wearing Woodbridge to Watergate Bay shirts.  We approached Great Yarmouth and 20 plus police motorbikes guided us through the midday traffic, across red lights, blocking junctions in our favour.  Fantastic.

I stopped for the third and final time at 90 miles.  My average speed had tumbled and everything felt uncomfortable.  I pushed on, and on, and on by myself.  I couldn't find anyone to latch onto.  Painful.  At 111 miles, Swanton Morley if I remember correctly, and a short, sharp hill was enough to stop some riders ahead of me.  I just managed to clear it in the big ring.  Only just.  I rode the last hour at 15 mph.

I crossed the line with an elapsed time of 8:06 ish (can't remember for sure, it was a bit if a blur), riding time 7:38 for 128.63 miles.    

Suffolk Sunrise - 100 mile road ride - Sunday 13th May 2012

Sunday 13th May and the first of back-to-back weekend events for some of the Woodbridge Surfers.  
What does the 0 stand for in 06:00 hrs?  Oh my God, it's early.  Oh yes, Dave H, Ian C,   Ian H, Maysty and I rendezvoued in Woodbridge at 06:00 hrs and then travelled to this year's start at Framlingham.  


We left as part of the first group of riders at 07:00 hrs - a chilly,but dry start.
We headed back towards Woodbridge and stopped for our first drink break at Sutton with 20 miles completed.  Time for tea and Chocolate Tracker bars, then back on the road.  Familiar countryside of Orford and Snape, then Knoddishall for lunch at 50 miles.  It was only 10:30 hrs, but that didn't stop us devouring full plates of bread, pasta, meat and salad, followed by tea and cake. 
We headed up the coast, passing the Ship at Dunwich without stopping for a pint.  We turned inland and crossed the A12 at Blythburgh.  This was a now a new route for us all.  The warmth of the lunch break had been replaced by gusting wind.  We reached the final drink stop, Rumburgh, in need of more tea and cake.  Just 30 miles to go! 


After a few miles we turned into the wind for the final leg of our journey.  With 86 miles completed everything was going well.  No incidents, no mechanicals, not a single puncture.  The 87th mile was more problematic.  A rub of tyres, a tuck and roll.  Blood on the tarmac.  A few plasters and some electricians tape.  After 10 minutes we were off again.
The towers of Framlingham appeared and the ride was over.
Highlights for me were Dave forcing back 8 energy gels and Maysty freewheeling for half the ride.

A great ride.  Well organised and a fantastic way to see some beautiful parts of Suffolk.  Put a date in your diary for Sunday 12th May 2013.
Look out for a medical update when those damaged fingers can type again.