Summer riding: Dunwich Dynamo 2023
In the UK at least, summer is not a time for splitboarding! But luckily other riding options exist….
The Dunwich Dynamo - A classic annual bike ride / carnival from taking you almost 200km from central London, northeast to the Suffolk coast. It’s put on by Southwark Cyclists, free, and not a race, starts at 9pm and gets you to Dunwich beach early doors… And quite a bonus this year - no rain!
If riding through the night, one thing you need is lights - from about 10pm to 7am, and if you don’t have a dynamo then you either need a whopper of a light, or several of them. We saw more than one person with no lights at all - hopeing for the full moon the ride it timed for - lucky for them, they got that.
Many riders treated us to a light show - From Ikea lamps somehow connected up, to yards of LEDs….
There was loads of food (and beer) on tap - pubs and cafes that opened late (or early!); residents setting up stalls outside their homes; scout clubs selling food…
… and we were treated to a glorious sunrise as we got to the coast….
At Dunwich beach itself, the The Ship at Dunwhich pub opens from something like 3am, for the early arrivals, as does the cafe on the beach, for breakfast of the food or liquid variety….
Have a swim (trying not to think too much about the obvious nuclear power station just down the coast), soak up the warmth of the sun…
… then think about getting home. A long sleepy ride on one of the buses back to London that the organisers provide (the ony thing you need to pay for), with your bike taken as well, and consider it a job well done.
