Sleeping cyclists at the end of the Dunwich Dynamo 2011. 

If like Racing Green you are interested in sustainability in sport, look no further than the Dunwich Dynamo for a great example of a big bike event with little or no impact on the environment.

Many cyclosportives see riders arrive and depart by car, often covering tens or even hundreds of miles in the process. Some are all but inaccessible by public transport.

But the Dunwich Dynamo is a masterclass in how different things could be. Featuring machines ranging from penny farthings to aging baker’s bikes it undoubtedly falls into the category of fun mass ride rather than performance-orientated sportive, but the lessons it provides are transferable.

Riders roll out from London Fields at about 9pm and from then on it’s totally unsupported: no sponsors, no broom wagon, just 120 moonlit miles to the Suffolk coast.

But its real triumph only becomes apparent at dawn as the bleary-eyed riders arrive at Dunwich Beach. You might expect many to meet obliging car-owning friends for a cosy lift back to London. Not so. In fact, while a hardcore minority simply turn round and pedal back to London, almost everyone else opts for one of the coach-plus-lorry convoys organised by Southwark Cyclists and the London School of Cycling.

The "Dun Run" leaves no trace on the beautiful route by which it gets to the sea and -- thanks to this admirable bit of planning -- it leaves nothing on the way back either.  

You can read a little more about my experience of the 2011 edition of the ride on Man Make Move – a blog by Joe Coulson.

Coincidentally, Racing Green's remarkable success at the Blenheim Triathlon back in June meant that the Blenheim Triathlon organisers provided a lift-sharing website for participants in Bike Blenheim Palace on the 21st of August.