I first met Tara Llanes in the summer of 2006. I was working as the athlete manager for the Jeep King of the Mountain ski & snowboard series. That summer I also took over the gravity cycling events. My background is in skiing and endurance cycling. I was in way over my head and had no idea what I was doing. Tara was one of the first athletes I met at my first JKOM mountain bike event. She is an amazing person and is one of the best female racers of all time.

On the first of September 2007, Tara’s life would be changed forever. While competing in the Jeep King of the Mountain finale in Beaver Creek Colorado, Tara suffered a horrific crash during the first run of her semi-final heat. Tara was rushed to Vail Valley Hospital, and then airlifted to Denver Health Hospital a short time later. Following seven hours of surgery to the back and spinal cord, it was determined she had no feeling from the waist down.

Tara is working as hard as any champion has ever worked to regain the use of her legs. Life is dangerous and incredibly uncertain, add to that our love of sports and the outdoors and any one of us could end up facing the same challenges that Tara now faces.

One of the central themes to this website is identifying what you have to give and how to give it. Tara was racing Jill Kintner when she was injured. Kintner is an Olympic bronze medalist as well as a 3-Time UCI 4x World Champion, 2-Time UCI World Cup Champion, 3-Time US National Champion and has 13 World Cup Victories to her name. In addition to being a phenomenal bike racers Jill is also a very gifted artist. Jill used her talent as a graphic designer to design a custom labeled Heart of a Champion lip balm. The balm is available on Tara’s website. The purchase goes to funding Tara’s road to recovery.

I am inspired by both of these women and encourage anyone reading this to think about all of their gifts and who they could help by giving them. Thanks for reading!

mike