The Dunwich Dynamo 2015 thread
Discussion
It's coming to that time of year again for the annual pilgrimage to the sea, complicated this year by Abelio trains putting severe limitations on bikes especially on the saturday, which limits the opportunity for a drive out/train back/do the dynamo then home.
usual options apply, 2 drive out to the finish, leave 1 car and return to start in other etc.
I'm up for a PH crew and am happy to leave my estate in suffolk with 4 roof racks and possibly even 3 boot mounted if required.
usual options apply, 2 drive out to the finish, leave 1 car and return to start in other etc.
I'm up for a PH crew and am happy to leave my estate in suffolk with 4 roof racks and possibly even 3 boot mounted if required.
http://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/dunwich-dynamo-coa...
Is the coach worth doing? probably cheaper to shuttle cars but I'd pay £25 to save 360miles of driving
Is the coach worth doing? probably cheaper to shuttle cars but I'd pay £25 to save 360miles of driving
Did this last year, loved the ride, but getting home was such a ballache!!!
I live in Wilts , so 100 miles from start, quite a journey to get going
Loved the ride, its magical seeing the sun slowly ride from 4am, plus the endless river of lights!! Thousands got multiple punctures due to conditions, make sure you have good condition tuff tyres, me and my mate were lucky and hand non, but there were people fixing punctures every 20 metres the whole ride!
Managed to miss all the rain and just saw silent lightening through the night in the distance, got to the beach at circa 5am and the heavens opened! No shelter either so had to just sit it out. Then 2 things happened that never happened I felt cold and not hungry which is very odd for me.
We didn't get to leave the beach until 12 noon! The computers link for the coach booking went down, so we had to queue for 3 hours just to get your coach ticket, it was the dullest queue I have ever done after being up 24 hours straight and feeling cold! when we finally got on the coach you load you bike on a huge lorry. They did a good job, but pile all the bikes on top of each other. Then the lorry left with our bikes, but our coach had an issue with the driver, meaning the coach sat there for 45 minutes , with talk of it not going to go to London! Bit scary thinking my bike was nearly in London and I hadn't left the beach, we were the last coach as well!!
Finally we left , back at London you grab your bike when you see it come off the lorry, so make sure you get there OK!
I then had to ride across central London, 1 hour on the train, then another 20 miles cycling home, was a long weekend! The ride was amazing but the logistics have stopped me doing it this year again! Would be ace if you lived in or near Dunwich!
I live in Wilts , so 100 miles from start, quite a journey to get going
Loved the ride, its magical seeing the sun slowly ride from 4am, plus the endless river of lights!! Thousands got multiple punctures due to conditions, make sure you have good condition tuff tyres, me and my mate were lucky and hand non, but there were people fixing punctures every 20 metres the whole ride!
Managed to miss all the rain and just saw silent lightening through the night in the distance, got to the beach at circa 5am and the heavens opened! No shelter either so had to just sit it out. Then 2 things happened that never happened I felt cold and not hungry which is very odd for me.
We didn't get to leave the beach until 12 noon! The computers link for the coach booking went down, so we had to queue for 3 hours just to get your coach ticket, it was the dullest queue I have ever done after being up 24 hours straight and feeling cold! when we finally got on the coach you load you bike on a huge lorry. They did a good job, but pile all the bikes on top of each other. Then the lorry left with our bikes, but our coach had an issue with the driver, meaning the coach sat there for 45 minutes , with talk of it not going to go to London! Bit scary thinking my bike was nearly in London and I hadn't left the beach, we were the last coach as well!!
Finally we left , back at London you grab your bike when you see it come off the lorry, so make sure you get there OK!
I then had to ride across central London, 1 hour on the train, then another 20 miles cycling home, was a long weekend! The ride was amazing but the logistics have stopped me doing it this year again! Would be ace if you lived in or near Dunwich!
JustinF said:
All depends on your expectations and patience, with the coach you are beholden to their schedule maybe waiting on the beach for 4-6 hours for transport back, with a car waiting it's up to us.
Besides, the Aero Hot team car is now part of PH folklore.If you're happy to park it up at the finish I could drive up to Dunwich and bring you back to Hackney on the Saturday afternoon. I only have an E46 coupe, and no rack, but the rear seats fold down and I can get my medium bike in with just the front wheel off. I fully expect I could get your (presumably large) bike in by lowering the seat post, if needs be. I could only get one bike in at a time though, but could drop you at the start and go back home to pick up my bike afterwards, if you didn't mind having to hang around in the start pub for, at most, a couple of hours?
SixPotBelly said:
Besides, the Aero Hot team car is now part of PH folklore.
If you're happy to park it up at the finish I could drive up to Dunwich and bring you back to Hackney on the Saturday afternoon. I only have an E46 coupe, and no rack, but the rear seats fold down and I can get my medium bike in with just the front wheel off. I fully expect I could get your (presumably large) bike in by lowering the seat post, if needs be. I could only get one bike in at a time though, but could drop you at the start and go back home to pick up my bike afterwards, if you didn't mind having to hang around in the start pub for, at most, a couple of hours?
Sounds like a plan or I could drop my bike at yours, convoy up and not have to faff with taking bikes apart?If you're happy to park it up at the finish I could drive up to Dunwich and bring you back to Hackney on the Saturday afternoon. I only have an E46 coupe, and no rack, but the rear seats fold down and I can get my medium bike in with just the front wheel off. I fully expect I could get your (presumably large) bike in by lowering the seat post, if needs be. I could only get one bike in at a time though, but could drop you at the start and go back home to pick up my bike afterwards, if you didn't mind having to hang around in the start pub for, at most, a couple of hours?
It clashes with something else this year which is annoying. I really enjoyed the first one I did two years ago and would love to do it again. As above though the transport back was a bit rubbish.
A mate did it with his local club and they had people carriers to take them to the start and back to their village at the end. If I did do it again then I’d be keen to avoid the bus + removal van route. I got a text from him saying he was home, showered and firing up the bbq while I was stuck in traffic, crawling towards Bermondsey in a coach with barely any, if any AC and a schlep back across London to look forward to.
If I did it again I’d try to do it with a mate who lives on the route and give up some time beforehand to get a vehicle left at the beach to be able to get the fry up, toss a coin for who gets to have a pint and then get out of there.
A mate did it with his local club and they had people carriers to take them to the start and back to their village at the end. If I did do it again then I’d be keen to avoid the bus + removal van route. I got a text from him saying he was home, showered and firing up the bbq while I was stuck in traffic, crawling towards Bermondsey in a coach with barely any, if any AC and a schlep back across London to look forward to.
If I did it again I’d try to do it with a mate who lives on the route and give up some time beforehand to get a vehicle left at the beach to be able to get the fry up, toss a coin for who gets to have a pint and then get out of there.
JustinF said:
it's all in the planning 
I always meant to do this when I lived in London. Now I don't, coming up from Devon seems a bit silly. It's the sort of event I really fancy though, I think there's a Bristol to Exmouth night ride, or something similar, but it won't be as well supported.
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