Texas Longhorn 500 Race report After finishing 2923 and 2024 Longhorn500…
Texas Longhorn 500 Race report After finishing 2923 and 2024 Longhorn500 male across all age groups in 1st place I decided to give it one more try. Funny was that I did accomplish 50-59 and 60-69 track records male in during those two years and the record male across age group. So, for reasons of cutting my race cost a lot and make it a bit more interesting for myself I did go for the self-supported option in that race. Almost all races in 2025 I will try self-supported to stay in a very tight budget. I was in the area almost 12 days before the race to get used to climate and more important to the road conditions. Work did cut my training down mor than I like but job comes first so I had to take some compromises on the training. Tested loops 3 and 4 a few times. Also tested loop 2 first 11 miles in the dark since that’s what I expected to face in the race. Tough part without support crew is to not have the car behind me at night. Deer is in larger quantity, and I missed a turn once due to deer running next to me and I had to pay attention on those. Turned around to point of mistake and restarted from there. However, that and a few mechanical issues (chain did jump off a few times). The chain jumping off is no critical issue … it just makes me loose a bit time but it’s easy to correct in ride. So, I took off and was able to pass the first riders a few miles after start. First morning was a bit insane for self-support. It was not just dark but foggy and I even had to take the glasses off and store them because they got wet. Focus was on keeping initial speed up and pay attention on wildlife and the road. Was wondering what took the competitors that long to pass me. First one passing was Brendon Bruce around mile 91. Had a short chat and let him go. He was to strong for me at that time. I normally do a race with strategy in mind and told myself that ok .. he puts me in second place male, but he had a support crew, and I did not. I was still relaxed and stayed on my strategy. Around mile 128 Dorina Vaccaroni got me and passed. I stayed close and changed position a few times, but I remembered … I race male and she races female group so it’s not affecting me in my result. Temperature start getting up and it was dry. Big kudus to Dorina’s crew … they offered me cooling towels and help for the next 100 miles. Since I decided to race self-supported, I rejected … well known the help would have improved my performance. Still amazing cool crew and I was amazed. Finished first loop shortly before sunset and went into loop two in the night. It was later that night about 20-30 miles before the end of that loop 2 (not exactly sure) that I saw a crew car on the side. So, I knew I passed a racer but was not sure whom. Asking Heidi who was at my van after finish of loop 2. She mentioned its Brandon and that I am 8 miles ahead of him and 8 miles behind Dorina. So going into loop 3 I decided to push as hard as possible to build a gap to the racers behind me. I believe that lap3 was my fastest average speed. And my strategy worked well. I was about 25 miles ahead of the next racer behind me and kept same distance to Dorina. Loop 4, I decided to do a bit conservative. I could not pass Dorina that was clear. I just maintained the distance to racers behind and focused on safe riding. It’s the loop with the most cattle guards and potential water crossings plus it’s the section of the race that was directly hit by the fires. Finished the race after 34 hrs. and 36 minutes. With that I did improve my 60-69 male track record from 2024. Considering I did race without support crew I was amazed that I could pull it off. Great race and well-structured loops. Its my third victory for male across all age groups in the Longhorn 500 race. Very happy with that.
