Dunwich Dynamo Sportive 2014

The Dunwich Dynamo is a night ride from London Fields in Hackey, London to Dunwich on the Suffolk Coast. It is not strictly a sportive, more a semi-unsupported ride that gets bigger every year.

From its origins in 1992 when a handful of riders took part to the nearly 2,000 riders in 2012, the "Dun Run" or "DD" as regulars call it, is becoming more and more of a "must ride" event.

It is roughly 200km, although we are told by a rider last year that his Garmin recorded it as 193km. The DD is always held on the Saturday night/Sunday morning nearest to full moon in July. This is to ensure riders have the maximum amount of moonlight to ride in.

The event starts in London Fields with riders leaving between 8pm and 9pm and most get to Dunwich between 7am and 9am, ready for a quick swim in the sea or a pint in the village pub, The Ship Inn. Riders can buy a route map for the bargain price of £1 but the route is so busy that you can pretty much get by just following the red lights of other cyclists.

Riders of all levels of abilities do the Dunwich Dynamo and it is very much a friendly ride rather than a super competitive one. There isn´t too much climbing either and someone in 2011 even finished it on a Boris Bike.

There is a feed stop about 55 miles into the route but there is no guarantee that food will have not sold out. Because of the quantity of riders on the DD there are now a lot of people with pop up stalls in their front gardens, so remember to bring money to pay for it. There is no mechanical support of any kind so bring plenty of inner tubes, a pump etc. And don´t forget to bring lights...and spare batteries if you´re not using a dynamo.

There are return coaches for riders with trailers for bikes but they have to be booked in advance. The places sell out every year and have a big waiting list so get your booking in early - click here to book Dunwich Dynamo coach transport . If you don´t get a place you can either ride back to London or ride to Ipswich, which is 50km away, to get a train home. Or you could try and get a train from Darsham, which is four miles away, but the train is tiny, runs about once every two hours and may not allow lots of cyclists to put their bike on the train.

This is one of the classic rides of the British summer calendar and the original night ride that is now being copied by so many others.