Tara Llanes

Cyclist infobox
ridername = Tara Llanes


fullname = Tara Janelle Llanes
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age |1976|11|28
height = 1.63m (5'4" Imperial)
weight =
country = USA
currentteam = Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi
discipline = Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
role = Racer
ridertype = Off Road
protourrank =
europetourrank =
amateuryears = 1989-1990
1990-1991
1991-1994
amateurteams = Aussie Wear
Haro Designs
Haro/Cupri
proyears = 1995-2006
2006-Present
proteams = Retirement from BMX
Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi
majorwins =
updated = September 4, 2008

Tara Janelle Llanes (b. November 28, 1976 in West Covina, California [ [http://espn.go.com/xgames/winterx99/bikerace/bios/llanes.html espn.go Winter X 1999 biography] ] USA) was a American "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990-1993. She later became a champion Mountain Bike (MTB) racer. Her surname is pronounced "Yaw-ness" but for obvious reasons it is often mispronounced "lanes" as in the type of division of a pathway. ["American BMXer" November 1990 Vol.12 No.10 pg.22]

BMX racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

----Retired: Originally in 1995 to focus on Mountain Bike racing full time. She restarted in late 2006 with an eye toward making the 2008 Olympic Team. See "First professional race result". According to Llanes USA Cycling asked her tor restart her BMX career:

However, an apparent career ending injury in MTB eliminated that possibility for 2008. She has however, stated her goal to be to return to racing competition.

*In the NBL Junior Women; No comparable level existed in the ABA.
**In the NBL it was/is Supergirls/Elite Women; in the ABA it is Pro Girls.

Career factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.

----

Amateur/Junior Women

*Aussie Wear Early April 1989-December 1990
*Haro Designs: December 1990-December 1991 The ABA Silverdollar nationals in Reno, Nevada held on January 12, 1991 was Llanes's first race for Haro/Cupri. ["BMX Plus!" May 1991 Vol.14 No.5 pg.36]
*Haro/Cupri: December 1991-December 1994

Professional/Elite Women

*Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi: 2006-Present

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National and International titles. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career.

----

Amateur/Junior Women

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*None (defunct)National Bicycle League (NBL)
*1992 15 Girls Grandnational ChampionAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*"1990 California District 3 (CA03) Girls No.1"
*1990 13 Girls Grand National Champion
*"1990 13 Girls National No.1"
*"1991 California District 3 (CA03) Girls Cruiser No.1"
*"1992 California District 3 (CA03) Girls Cruiser No.1"Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
*None

*See note in professional section

Professional/Elite Women

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*None (defunct)National Bicycle League (NBL)
*NoneAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*NoneUnited States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
*None (defunct)International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
*None (defunct)Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
*None (defunct)

(FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence).

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1997 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.

Pro Series Championships and Invitationals

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

*"1990 District Number Ones" "American BMXer" June 1991 Vol.13 No.5 pg.26] One of several profiles of the ABA's 1990 district number ones written in an autobiographical tense.

BMX magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

----"Bicycle Motocross News:"
*None (Defunct)"Minicycle/BMX Action" & "Super BMX:"
*None"Bicycle Motocross Action" & "Go:"
*None"BMX Plus!:"
*None"Total BMX"
*None (Defunct)"Bicycles and Dirt:"
*None (Defunct)"Ride BMX Magazine:"

"Snap BMX Magazine" & "Transworld BMX:"
*None"BMX World"

"ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer" (the official BMX publication of the ABA under three different names):

Miscellaneous and Trivia

Mountain Bike Career Record

Supplemental Cyclist infobox
secondtype = Mountain Bike Racing


nickname = "T"
height = height|m=1.63
weight = convert|56.7|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on
country = USA
currentteam = Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi
discipline = Down Hill, Dual Slalom
Cross Country
role = Racer
ridertype = Off Road
protourrank =
europetourrank =
amateuryears = 1994-1996
1994-1996
amateurteams = Haro Bicycles
Rotech
proyears = 1996-1997
1997-2000
2000-2002
2002-Present
proteams = Rotech
Specialized
Yeti/Pearl Izumi
Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi
majorwins =
updated = August 21, 2008In 1993 while still racing BMX for Haro Bicycles she asked that sponsor for a mountain bike and to go to mounting bike race. She liked it and soon transitioned from BMX to MTB, with cross country Dual Slalom and after Dual Slalom was abolished by NORBA the 4-Cross Downhill events. During her mountain bike years she acquired the nickname of "T", the first letter of her given name. [ [http://muddbunnies.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/meet-the-contenders-of-the-jeep-king-of-the-mountain-series-tara-llanes/ muddbunnies.worldpress.com 2007 profile of Llanes] ] Unlike in BMX she turned pro in 1996. She almost immediately started doing well on the pro circuit but it was not until 1999 in which she won her first title. In the now discontinued Dual Slalom down hill event of that years ESPN Winter Extreme Games also known Winter "X" Games where she took a Gold medal. She would go on to win a further 14 medals in the next seven years of her career including five championships. During this time she also suffered numerous injuries including punctured lungs and broken foot. Then in September of 2006 the most devastating of all; a crash that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She is in rigorous rehabilitation and despite physician's diagnosis of her never being able to walk again, she is determined to not only walk again, but to return to riding a bicycle and even competing. The last chapter of Llanes's racing career is probably not already written in the face of such determination.

Mountain Bike career milestones

Started racing: According to her website In 1993 at 16 years old. She asked the BMX team manager of Haro Designs who was sponsoring her repeatedly to try it and he finally relented. [ [http://www.tarallanesracing.com/profile.htm Tara Llanes's profile on her website.] ] but in a May 2007 "Mountain Bike Action" interview it was Haro Bicycles that asked her to give it a try. [ [http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=&tier=4&id=E9B981BE67834AA089F7AEE78A5E95D9 May 9, 2000 Mountain Bike Action interview archive.] ]

Sub Discipline(s): Down Hill, 4-Cross, Dual Slalom and Cross Country

First race result: According to Llanes's website. First in Junior Women in Dual Slalom at the Big Bear Lake, California. [ [http://www.tarallanesracing.com/profile.htm Tara Llanes's profile on her website.] ] According to her "Mountain Bike Action" May 2000 interview it was a 2nd place in Junior Women in Dual Slalom at the 1993 NORBA Finals at Mammouth Mountain Resort in Mammoth Lakes, California. [ [http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=&tier=4&id=E9B981BE67834AA089F7AEE78A5E95D9 mbaction.com Mountain Bike Action article.] ]

Sanctioning body: National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)

Turned Professional: 1996

Retired: Her career has been on hold since her paralyzing injury suffered at the Jeep King of the Mountain finals event in Beaver Creek, Colorado on September 1, 2007. She is currently under intense physical rehabilitation with the intention of riding a bicycle again.

Career MTB factory and major Non-factory sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by MTB press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

----

Amateur/Junior Women

*Haro Bicycles: 1994-1996
*Rotech: 1996-December 1997 She turned pro with this sponsor

Professional/Elite Women

*Rotech: 1996-December 1997
*Specialized: December 1997-December 2000
*Yeti/Pearl Izumi: December 2000-October 2002 The Yeti/Peral Izumi team was dissolved after the 2002 season. [ [http://www.eastsidefreeride.com/esfr/display_story.php?id=36 eastsidefreeride.com December 16, 2002 interview] ]
*Giant Bicycles/Pearl Izumi: December 2002-Present Despite her devastating injury Giant Bicycles renewed her contract and they will be working with her on her efforts to recover. [ [http://www.ride-calendar.com/lineup/tara.shtml ride-calendar.com article.] ] [ [http://www.pedalpushersonline.com/?CID=1213 pedalpushersonline.com article.] ]

Career Mountain Bike Racing (MTB) titles

Note: Listed are Regional, National and International titles.

----

Amateur/Junior Women

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
*NoneNational Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)
*1995 Junior National Downhill ChampionUSA Cycling

Independent Championship race series and Invitationals

Professional/Elite Women

ESPN Extreme (X) Games:
*1999 Biker X Winter X Games Champion (Gold Medal) Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
*"1999 Bronze Medal Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2000 Silver Medal Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2001 Bronze Medal Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2000 Dual Silver Medal World Champion"
*"2001 Dual Bronze Medal World Champion"
*"2001 4-Cross World Cup Champion"
*"2004, 2005 4-Cross Bronze Medal World Champion"
*"2004 4-Cross Silver Medal World Cup Champion"
*"2006 4-Cross Bronze Medal World Cup Champion"National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)
*"2002 Dual Slalom National Champion"
*"2002, 2004 U.S. National 4-Cross Champion"
*"2006 National Downhill Champion"USA Cycling
*2006 National Champion.

Independent Championship race series and Invitationals

Notable MTB accolades

=

[http://muddbunnies.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/jeeptara.jpg2007 Image.]

MTB Product Lines

ignificant MTB injuries

*Broke Collar Bone in 1996 at Washington National.
*Broke Collar Bone in the Downhill at the UCI World Cup Canmore, Alberta, Canada on the weekend of July 3-4, 1999. She came back only a few weeks after the accident, albeit she missed two World Cup events during her lay up. [ [http://espn.go.com/extreme/winterx00/s/snowmountainbikingrecap.html espn winter X 2000 article.] ]
*She suffered two concussions in 2000. [ [http://www.eastsidefreeride.com/esfr/display_story.php?id=36 eastsidefreeride.com December 16, 2002 interview] ]
*She suffered numerous injuries during a practice run at the NORBA mountain cross race on Chapman Hill in Durango, Colorado on August 3, 2002. She crashed on one of the very large double jumps. She suffered a broken left collarbone, three fractured ribs, two partially collapsed lungs one of which was severely bruised, a torn MCL in her right knee. [ [http://www.velonews.com/article/2887 August 7, 2002 Velonews.com interview article "Llanes's injury toll lengthy; her season likely over"] ]
*Suffered a broken left foot in a automobile accident on June 16, 2003 on a road in Pennsylvania. She was traveling in the Giant Team truck a Ford F350 which was towing the 30 foot team trailer on her way to Vermont for the third stop in the NORBA NCS series. Rescue had to cut Tara out of the vehicle. Three other occupants in the automobile Jared Rando and Dustin Adams had only minor scrapes. The team mechanic, Matt Duniho who was driving needed stitches. Llanes's foot got jammed under the seat in front of her breaking it. [ [http://www.tarallanesracing.com/journaljune03.htm Llanes's June 2003 Journal entry.] ] She went to the hospital to be treated and flew back to Southern California the next day while her teammates continued onto Vermont in the team's backup vehicle. [ [http://velonews.com/article/4122 Velonews June 17, 2003 report] ] Llanes said of her injury:

Tragedy

On September 1st 2007 Tara crashed at Beaver Creek, Colorado, host to the Jeep King of the Mountain Finale. The accident happened on the second to last straight down the Dual Slalom course as she raced head to head against Jill Kintner in the Semi Finals. She hit and obstacle wrong and the bicycle landed nose first on to the ground. She was thrown over the handlebars and onto her head and then landed on her back, suffering massive and severe lower back trauma paralyzing her lower extremities suffering a C-7 fracture and L-1 damage to her vertebrae. She was first rushed to Vail Valley Medical Center and then was airlifted to Denver Health Hospital. She underwent seven hours of surgery performed by a team of surgeons who specialty was spinal cord injuries but still had no feeling from the waist down. According to the surgeons the condition is most likely permament. [ [http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s1-6-12-16417-1,00.html www.bicycling.com September 12, 2007 article.] ] [ [http://www.fatbmx.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3284 fatbmx.com article] ] [ [http://www.ride-calendar.com/lineup/tara.shtml ride-calendar.com article.] ] Llanes recalls the moment of the accident:

This hasn't stopped Tara from trying to recover fully. She is still undergoing intensive rehabilitation and as of late 2008 she can move her left leg. Her stated goal is to get back into competitive racing once again. [ [http://www.disaboom.com/Health/spinalcordinjury/Research/life-rolls-on-for-tara-llanes.aspx disaboom.com article "Life Rolls on for Tara Llanes"] ] As she stated in an interview with pedalpushersonline.com:

Miscellaneous and Trivia

[http://www.tarallanesracing.com/tarablog/index.htm Llanes's August 31, 2007 blog entry. The last one before her severe accident.]

End Notes

External links

* [http://www.ababmx.com/ The American Bicycle Association (ABA) website.]
* [http://www.nbl.org/ The National Bicycle League (NBL) website.]
* [http://www.tarallanesracing.com/ Tara Llanes's personal website.]
*
* [http://www.eastsidefreeride.com/esfr/display_story.php?id=36 eastsidefreeride.com December 16, 2002 interview]
* [http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-au/ridelife/women/riders_blog/14/ Giant Bicycles bio of Llanes compiled before her September 2007 accident.]
* [http://www.bikesutra.com/Tara_Llanes_interview.html bikesutra.com 2003 interview]
* [http://www.lat34.com/bmx/girl_on_tara_llanes/ July 12, 2007 interview: "Girl On: Tara Llanes".]
* [http://www.smithoptics.com/team.html?id=302