Yeah it was LuLacka. Two days beforehand I severely sprained my left ankle and considered pulling out but didn’t want to miss the day with my friends.
The first twenty miles were those: “Yeah we are hardmen and this is awesome,” miles. I was unable to stand due to my ankle and couldn’t put out a ton of power so got left with one other friend (thank God) going slower. We were fully committed to the 100 and every time we passed a turn off neither of us would look at each other or speak because we were that close to quitting.
It was the coldest, wettest worst ride of my life. It never stopped raining.
At around 48 miles my friend suggested we reroute the fastest way home because my ankle swelled so much it was hitting the crank arm and he was too cold to brake effectively. Before he could even finish his sentence I agreed and we started back, abandoned at an aid station with a space heater and quite literally huddled around a space heater with other abandoned cyclists for warmth for hours waiting for rescue. It was genuinely dangerously cold.
Not one of the 14 of us finished, for several of the truly experienced riders it was the first time they’d ever DNFed. I think our of 500 there were only 3 guys that finished the hundo.
Short story: it was miserable and I loved every minute of it with my friends AFTER it was over. Great day.