It’s that time of year again. Long, light evenings. Warm nights with any luck. Just the time for a long ride on quiet country lanes from London to the coast. It’s Dunwich Dynamo time!
This year, Lewisham Cyclists will be leading a short feeder to get you to the traditional starting point, the Pub on the Park in Hackney Fields. Details of that are on our rides page. We might even have a celebratory cake to share and boost your calorie intake! Just what you need for a 100+ mile ride. It’ll be quite a party atmosphere in the park before the off. Some people even just ride there, join in with the launch party, so to speak, and then ride home.
So what’s the ride itself like? Well, I believe it’s one ride everyone who rides a bike should do at least once. And after that, well, many carry on going back every year. I’ve done six since the millennium.
Part of its charm is the fact it is a pure turn up and go ride now. No registration. No one organises the ride itself . Some wonderful volunteers (what heroes and heroines, just for a bunch of mad cyclists) run a half way refreshment stop, and other individuals who live along the way have begun running little pop up refreshment stops here and there. You might stumble across one or more of them. Patrick Field and the London School of Cycling provide route maps which you can buy in the park. They use the proceeds to finance the refreshment stop. But, really, it’s your ride. You make all the decisions, sort all the problems, make all the preparations, navigate the route. If you break down, of course fellow riders may well stop and help. It’s that kind of ride, and I have helped quite a few people back on the road over the years. But you can’t absolutely guarantee that will happen. You need to make sure you have a back up plan should your bike fail completely. Lewisham Cyclists are happy to offer advice, tell you what experience has told us. So, by all means email us, or post a query here. A failed bike is not the end of the world by any means, if that happens. This is South East England after all, not the Australian Outback. You will get home safely, in the unlikely event that your bike fails you completely.
What about the return from Dunwich? Well, my favoured option is to make a long weekend of it. Take a tent. Camp overnight. Ride back the next day, or take a few days and make it the start of a few days visiting the Suffolk coast, which is lovely. Seems such a shame to ride all that way and then just sit in a car, minibus or coach back to London.
However, if that is not an option for you, then Southwark Cyclists have organised coaches for quite a few years for which they sell tickets on a website. I believe they are sold out this year, but it is still possible to register for returns on their ticketing website. You will find a link to that site in their FAQ’s here . At least a 1000 will use their option. It’s a mammoth, logistical operation and they too are heroes and heroines on bicycles.
Trains. The year that I came back on the same day, I rode to Diss and took the train from there. It was less crowded than Ipswich and definitely less crowded than Darsham. The later after you arrive at Dunwich you can leave it, the better. Always book well in advance. Don’t just turn up on the day. If you do use the train to get back, treat the staff respectfully. There have been (thankfully only a few) instances of rudeness and aggression from some riders towards train and platform staff. Remember, this ride is not organised, the train staff are not obliged to get you and your bike on the train. Even if you have booked, you might find your space gone because an unbooked rider has forced their way on to the train already. This has happened in the past. It is not the fault of the staff. Don’t expect them to be able to sort it out. They may not be able to do so. The conditions the ride may create on some station platforms with lots of bikes and their riders trying to get on trains at the same time, are not part of their usual working day. I’m guessing it’s not in their job description. You might just have to wait. And you might have to wait a long time. Relax, go with it. Accept being told no with grace and respect. Don’t try and bully your way in. (This has been witnessed too). Remember the spirit of the ride and try to hold on to it a bit longer.
There are no rules on this ride, apart, of course, from the usual rules of the road, which no one who participates should forget. No one runs it, no one has any authority or power to make rules for it. But there is a spirit in which a good deal of those who have been riding it for a while ride it, and in which we hope it will be continue to be ridden. It means riding it, not racing it. That doesn’t mean everyone riding at the same speed of course. We all have a pace at which a ride is a pleasure. Some of us are fast, some of us are not. But it does mean remembering that all kinds of riders will be on the road and all deserve respect and consideration. The ride, and other riders should be what’s on your mind, not finishing faster than anyone else.
It is absolutely not a race. We can’t stop you racing it, nobody runs the ride remember, but a lot of us hope you won’t! Relax, enjoy the night breezes, take time to spot the bats, foxes, all the night wildlife. Listen for the owls.
Remember, you are riding through places where people are sleeping. Trying to settle restless babies. Enjoy a quiet romantic night in. It’s their home, we are just passing through and should do so with respect. Many of us would like to be welcomed back next year. Don’t ruin it for future rides by dumping your rubbish, talking outside people’s homes. Do as you would be done by.
Finally, it is a great ride. Ride it in the right spirit, relishing the freedom and independence that riding a bike can bring to anyone, anywhere, anyhow, anytime and not only will you love it, but so will everyone else who rides it, sees or hears it pass, or helps you get there and back.
Remember, any questions, ask and Lewisham Cyclists will respond. If we don’t know the answer ourselves, we probably know someone else who does.