Longhorn500 2026 Race Report (1/3) It took a while to take time writing …
Longhorn500 2026 Race Report (1/3) It took a while to take time writing about my experience of this year Longhorn500 Race. Before the race I was unsure if I shall participate or not. I did test the area a bit for over a week and felt like its doable. A few weeks before I had a left tight muscle fiber tear and based on checkup it was ok again. Unfortunate it reduced my readiness due to reduced power training for the 500-mile race. Goal for 2026 race … I knew I could not play a major role in the race and if I would be able to cross the finish line in time and healthy I shall be happy. Race was started for first crewed racers at 5am. Us self-supported racers we started a few minutes later. It was dark and weather was perfectly fine. I took off very typical trying to make good ground at first part of the race. First loop started and I felt ok. No bad feelings on left tight muscle and bicycle all set for the first long 235-mile loop. Due to weather, I did wear long sleeve jersey with a long sleeve shirt under it. Just a few miles into race I felt all going ok and pushed even I knew I could play no col role but maybe get into top 5 at the end. And funny as is I made a mistake and used a left turn where I had to go straight. I believe that was around mile 4 or 5. Noticing not alone making the mistake I did a u-turn and had to get back on route making another left turn … unfortunate not realizing that the front tire lost air and slipped making me fall. Unfortunate falling on left side of the fresh healed muscles was no cool. So I had to stop in the dark trying to fix front tire. Luckily, I believe crew from racer 511 stopped getting me light and helping with pump. It’s always nice people out there even in racing. Big kudos to that race crew and the racer. It was overall easy about 20-30 minutes time lost. And I told myself that race just started so to stay calm and focus on finishing the loop. Switched position with racer 511 a few times but knew he was stronger and I was hoping for daylight and easier to see the road conditions. Funny as is as a self-supported racer you are required to stop briefly and report every arrival at time stations. I did … water was no big deal at beginning but had an issue because one of my water bottles (out of 4) went down on one of the cattle guards. I ran short by one bottle for the 235-mile loop. No big deal because temperature was low. Crazy as expected rain started closer to noon time. Drizzle to light rain at some point. My strategy was simply to stay as safe as possible. Stopped at time station 3 (165 miles) to use the bathroom. No need for any additional stop at loop one. The last 50-60 miles unfortunate caused a few more flat tires on front. I noticed that always when pushing over cattle guards too fast I caused a flat. Having enough spare tubes it was just time consuming. Decided to change front wheel once loop was finished because it may have been the rim liner.
