Cyclists ride 'like ghosts' to England's lost city

Thousands of cyclists are set to ride through the night from London to England's "lost city".

The Dunwich Dynamo starts from 18:00 BST on Saturday from Pub on the Park in Hackney and finishes on the beach at Dunwich, Suffolk, between 07:00 and 09:00 on Sunday.

The annual ride of 112 miles (180km) began in 1992 and always takes place on the Saturday in July nearest to the full moon.

Patrick Field, founder of the event, said the cyclists "pass like ghosts" in the night.

"People say, 'Did you hear anything last night?' 'Yeah, I thought I heard something - I wonder what it was,'" he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

Mr Field said Dunwich was initially picked as venue because it was "a big city that did not exist any more".

Now a peaceful village, it was once a thriving medieval port as big as London.

But huge parts of the city were lost during storms between 1328 and 1347, with further decline over the following centuries.

While the actual size of the city is unknown, it was important enough to have once been the seat of the first Bishop of East Anglia.

The ride began as a pay-to-enter event but is now free and riders do not need to raise any money for charity.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 cyclists are expected to take part this weekend.

Mr Field said as you neared the village, you could tell you were riding "toward an important place".

During the evening, pubs and businesses along the route benefit as cyclists use them for pitstops.

Spectators also enjoy coming out to support the riders.

"The only thing left behind [at the end of the event] is that all the tills at the country pubs are broken because they've got so much money in," said Mr Field.

"The pubs stay open for another year. Instead of one Christmas, they have two."

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