Dunwich 2014
I’m nervous to even post this as it’s been on my list of things to do since 2008 but it looks like I’m finally going to get round to doing the Dunwich Dynamo or Dun Run.
Every year, on the Saturday closest to a full moon in July, thousands of cyclists meet in London and ride 120 miles through the night to the Suffolk coast. There’s no organisation, support crew or logical reason to do it. Introducing Dunwich Dynamo is easy as it’s just a beautiful thing.
I’m fit enough and have done plenty of cycling recently and really do want to do this now. There’s simply no excuses not to. I’m going to go up on Friday and leave the van there with a cool box with bacon, eggs, milk etc and use the stove to cook a decent breakfast before having a swim and a nap and getting back to London. Blankets and a down jacket are also going to be waiting for me as well as fresh towels.
I’ve also spent quite a bit of time thinking about kit and what best to wear to get through the night. From speaking to others it seems like 3/4 length bibs area good idea, to keep the knees warm, and then a jersey with arm warmers and also a soft shell in a musette for when the temperature drops. I really want to avoid riding with a bag on so have bought a saddle bag, which although ugly, will do a decent job of packing inner tubes etc which frees up my jersey / jacket pockets for gels and bars. Two water bottles should be ok and fill up where possible on the way.
The total route from home to Dunwich is 185k which although I’ve never done I’m reasonably confident about. I’ve done 130k on rough ground on the Brompton so proper roads with big wheels should be fine.
In terms of prep I’m going to an Italian restaurant with Emma on Friday night to carb load and then have a relaxed day and maybe a nap on Sat. I’m really hoping for good weather but think I really need to do it regardless. All I have to do is make sure I don’t lose the van key on the way!
This little video showing the 2013 Dynamo is great. It shows all sorts of people doing it on various types of bikes and the sheer number of people looks to make for a great atmosphere.