Plug For Dunwhich Dynamo From John Stainsby

Nigel and I are going to do the Dunwich Dynamo night ride on 12th July. See the attached link to the Strava route. It's just under 180km/120miles and starts at London Fields park in Hackney and winds it's way out of London towards Epping and on through the Suffolk countryside to finish at the small village of Dunwich next to the sea. There are around 1500+ cyclists of all types taking part. It has no formal organisation and just works. You simply leave when you want in the early to mid evening and follow the endless stream of riders through the night. There is one arranged midway feed stop but this gets packed. You are self sufficient and ride at your own pace. It is not a race a such more a mass event. Think Gum Ball rally on bikes. It has been done on a butchers bike, Boris bike, bromptons, tandems, even a Penny Farthing and everything else in between! I will be riding with Nigel amd my brother to do a quickish run (limited stops but not a crazy pace) certainly no pub stops like a lot of people do but they suffer later. At the end the re is a pub that opens from around 5am and also does breakfast. There is also a cafe on the beach that opens early. Lots of people crash out on the beach waiting for lifts and so e even go for a dip to freshen up! We will meet at the start if anyone else wants in and then when it feels right leave. Dont bother to buy a paper route map they sell at the start you just follow the rest ad head east until you see the sea! There are coaches and transport for bikes that can be paid for to get back to London but I think these will be sold out by now. So the logistics of getting to London (train) and then back home are the main issues. If you can get someone to drive up to the end on Sunday whilst you snooze on the beach this is the best solution. You rest and they get there around noon. Other options are a 50 km ride to Ipswich for the mainline train. I cannot recommend this ride enough it is incredible to see an endless stream of red lights snaking ahead all night. The route is not hilly and only has the odd lump. People are really friendly and some are very colourful with lights on themselves and their bikes. There is a magical feeling about riding through sleeping villages in the dead of night on a journey from the 'smoke' to the coast. It feels subversive and that is liberating. http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/introducing-dunwich-dynamo/ http://www.strava.com/routes/465225 John Stainsby