Bulletin E-Edition:
A road race on a handcycle may not be ideal, but for Tara Llanes, a top downhill cyclist who broke her neck and back in 2007, the important part is being back in the race
By Mark Morical / The Bulletin
Published: July 31. 2009 4:00AM PST
more photos | order photo
Llanes races today in a 20-kilometer time trial on Skyliners Road in Bend.
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
advertisement:
When Tara Llanes races up and down Skyliners Road in Bend today on her handcycle, she will try to regain at least some of the feelings that used to come from racing her mountain bike downhill.
It won’t be the same, of course. But in her first competition since a mountain biking accident took the use of her legs, Llanes is on the right road — even though she would rather be off-road.
Llanes, 32, of Los Alamitos, Calif., will race in today’s U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road National Championships 20-kilometer time trial.
Paralympics competition — for athletes with physical disabilities — is not at all what she envisioned for herself back before the accident.
“But I know it’s good for me because I want to be fit, I want to be healthy,” Llanes says.
“Anything I can do to be out there competing. That’s why this race is such a big deal for me — I want to do stuff that will really push me hard, and make me feel like I used to feel,” she said.
Llanes (pronounced YAW-ness) grew up in Southern California and started racing bicycle motocross (BMX) when she was 11. By 13, she was ranked No. 1 nationally in her age group. At 16, she made the switch to mountain biking and became a professional downhiller for the next 15 years.
In downhill mountain biking, racers compete against the clock on steep, technical courses that include gravity-defying jumps and tight turns.
“It’s just a ton of adrenaline — you against the mountain and your time,” Llanes says.
Throughout her distinguished mountain biking career, Llanes earned several World Cup podium placings (top three). And in 2006, she was the national downhill champion.
In September 2007, Llanes raced in the Jeep King of the Mountain Dual Slalom, a made-for-TV event staged in Beaver Creek, Colo. Llanes was racing another rider head to head, and she remembers taking off before she was ready.
“I should’ve put my hand up (to signal to the starter that she was not ready), and I didn’t,” Llanes recalls. “I was totally off-balance, and my rhythm was off. I was all over the place. I came to the technical part of the course and I was really indecisive. I came up to this roller (jump) and lost my momentum. I went headfirst into the face of the next jump.”
Llanes suffered a broken neck and back. She says her spine “scorpioned,” bending awkwardly.
Despite seven hours of surgery at a Denver hospital, the accident left Llanes without feeling from her waist down.
But Llanes says she has always stayed positive. At first, while she was in rehabilitation, not realizing the permanence of her injury helped.
“When I was in the hospital, I thought I’d be walking out of the rehab hospital,” Llanes says. “I knew other friends that broke their neck and back and they were fine. I think that really helped me in the hospital. In hindsight, it might have been silly, but I’m glad I thought that. But I understand now, it won’t be an overnight thing.”
Still, she is confident that one day she will again be able to walk. And to ride her mountain bike.
“I’ll be back there as soon as I can,” she says. “With the advancement and with all the research going on, it will happen. It’s just a matter of time.”
But first, Llanes wants to become the first female paraplegic to complete the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. She attended a U.S. Paralympics camp in April with the 2010 Ironman as her goal. A week of hard workouts in Colorado Springs convinced her that she was on her way.
She plans to use leg braces that keep her legs together for the 2.4-mile swim. She also plans to ride her handcycle for the 112-mile bike ride, and to complete the marathon in her racing chair, the wheels of which she powers with her arms.
“It won’t be easy, that’s for damn sure,” Llanes says.
Racing in the national championships today is just another step toward her goal.
With short, dark, spiky hair and well-muscled arms, Llanes looks every bit the athlete. Her handcycle is a sort of low-to-the-ground tricycle. Her legs rest to either side of the front wheel, which she steers and powers with hand cranks. Brake levers are mounted on the handholds.
“For me,” she says, “(racing the handcycle) will never compare to racing downhill in the countryside, or in the mountains in the Alps or Dolomites.
“But you’ve got to do your best to make the most of it.”
Mark Morical can be reached at 541-383-0318 or at mmorical@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
blog comments powered by Disqus
