Bicycle Madness – the Dunwich Dynamo

Now suppose I said to you, at lunchtime on a nice Saturday outside a London pub, ‘Fancy a trip to the seaside?’ And suppose I then proposed we should head there on our bikes. You’d think I was mad.

But apparently that’s just how the Dunwich Dynamo started. Some friends in a pub. And their bikes. And 120 miles later, they went for a swim.

Amazing moonlight scene on the Dunwich Dynamo

If you’ve ever fancied going on a long bike ride, this has to be the one. It’s turn-up-and-go – no registration, no formalities, no competitive rankings – you just have to be at the Pub in the Park, Martello Street, Hackney [map], at eight o’clock Saturday evening (24th July).  Route instructions are given out at the start, but you can take a look at a Gmaps route beforehand. It’s almost all pretty flat (a relief to cyclists like me who have to walk up steep hills!), and despite the turn-up-and-go nature of the ride, there’s some decent organisation – a food and drink stop in the little village of Sible Hedingham, and a coach service to get cyclists back to London (their bikes go in the accompanying fleet of trucks). The coaches don’t set off till 1 in the afternoon, so there’s time for a swim and a good breakfast in Dunwich.

Dunwich – a mad destination. Once upon a time it was a boom town (there’s even a Bishop of Dunwich), till the North Sea eroded the cliffs and most of the town fell into the foaming waters below. Now it’s just a little village.

Cycling the Essex and Suffolk lanes by night – a mad thing to do. But the ride is always the Saturday nearest the full moon, so as long as the sky is clear, it’s surprisingly light. There are little jam-jar lanterns from time to time marking the course as you get into the country. And as you get towards the coast, dawn arrives – sometimes spectacularly, sometimes not. If you’ve kept a reasonable pace you should be in Dunwich in time for breakfast.

There are usually over 500 cyclists, so you’ll not be on your own – though the Dynamo is an unsupported ride, so there’s no van coming behind to help if you get a puncture or just feel too tired. (In the case of punctures, fellow cyclists will usually help.)

So what are you waiting for? On your bike!

photo by KarlOnSea at flickr