Double Down 2014, now known as the “Year of the Höt Wind”. After 7 years we were running out of superlatives, so I figured the best way was to start combining. Year 8 was windier than the year of the wind and almost as hot as the year of the hot. With a record number of 23 riders this year we started out in the warmest weather to date- around 60 degrees. Most wore some arm warmers and a light vest, some wore jersey and shorts and didn’t change the whole time, and others like Selle considered it a winter ride and wore everything they owned. The big news this year was the making of “Double Down the Movie.” The brain child of former DD rider Bill Fehr, this was a professional endeavor and should be on the big screen in mid 2014, possibly the imax and most definitely starring some heavy hitters of the Charlotte cycling world. The DD is becoming a much more cosmopolitan affair with cyclists coming from Florida, Greenville, Houston, and Colorado. Unfortunately several expected cyclists were struck by illness this year and had to sit out. Hopefully they return in 2015. We had two spoke issues this year. Andy from Greenville broke his rear Ksyrium wheel. This is the 2nd time for that wheel (Sweezy a few years ago). It was so out of true that it was rubbing brakes and frame, so Andy let me give it the Smoot Special Truing- a good couple of slams against the ground. The 4th one did the trick and he was rolling again- all the way until lunch where his friend brought a Bicycle Sport sponsored demo wheel. The other was BHB’s hand built front. Rule 4 continues to be ignored!! The wind and heat picked up right after our Camden stop at mile 76 and was unrelenting until turning north towards Moncks Corner at 164. My favorite part of the ride, the sandy Clifton road before lunch, was highly amusing as multiple riders went down and several had to walk through the sand including “Broken Hip Bob,” claiming that titanium screws can’t be impacted. The weather cooled off for the last 50 miles while the wind kept up its evil game of always finding a way to blow right at us. A very nice Papa John’s delivery driver asked us politely to “get off the f&%king road you don’t pay road taxes” as we got into Mt. Pleasant. Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to counter his argument as he was late getting to his next pepperoni with extra cheese drop. Our reception this year was amazing. I think there must have been 40 smiling people cheering for us at Isle of Palms and they all had a few cold beers for us. All in all this was one of the harder DDs, but with so many people sharing the workload up front it went by just as quickly and easily as any 220 mile ride can. I can’t wait for next year and am already training and recruiting. Please add your favorite part of the ride to the comments. Thank you all for coming and making this yet another amazing day on the bike. I couldn’t, or at least wouldn’t, do it alone. And a huge thank you to everyone that supports us- I know we couldn’t do it without a ride home and a cold beer at the finish. And lastly thanks to Bill, Ben, and Jordan for filming it.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 22:29:18 +0000
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