Thursday, 5/11/06 at 9:52 PM
by Tara Llanes
by Tara Llanes
My Inspiration
I felt that since Mother’s Day is just a couple days away that I would dedicate this blog to my Mom and what an inspiration she’s been to me. My mom has always been quite the athlete and I’m glad I took after her. In her younger days she played very competitive triple-A softball, which is where she unfortunately ended up with her first serious injury. She was sliding into second base and jammed her leg resulting in torn cartilage. OUCH!! “Back in those days”, like she always likes to say, all they did was put her leg in a cast. Well, five knee surgeries and scopes later she’s been doing pretty well. Even after all of those surgeries she didn’t let that get her down.
I had started racing BMX bikes around the age of 11 and my Mom was my biggest supporter. I mean how many Mom’s would let their 11 years old daughter start competing in such a dangerous sport? I was lucky that she understood how much I loved it. We would travel all over the 50 states from race to race hoping to win a championship or title.
It wasn’t until I started transitioning into mountain biking that I was able to buy my Mom a mountain bike. She loved it! Pretty soon she was calling up her other female friends or Mom’s that she had met through my racing to go for a ride. With her knees so bad this was the perfect way for her to lose a few extra pounds, stay fit and healthy, and be able to do something active with me. I was so excited for her. I loved being able to teach her how to use her brakes at the right time or when to change gears. I got to teach my Mom something!
A year or so after I got her the bike I had been doing some teaching at the Women’s Only Weekend in Big Bear. About 250 women signed up for a fun filled weekend on mountain bikes. Well, I was able to coax my Mom into coming. It was a great place for her to meet women that lived in Southern California and to hone her skills on her mountain bike. Yes, she did ride down the loose and dusty Dual Slalom course. And yes, she did fall at the bottom. But you know what, she hopped up and was smiling from ear to ear. I ran down that mountain so fast and gave her the biggest hug. We had a great weekend together and I can’t wait to do it again.
About a year after that she called me up and says, “I’m going to do the AIDS ride with Linda”. I asked her, “Do you know how far that is?” I knew my Mom was tough and for a second I almost felt like the Mom. She knew darn well how far it was. It was from San Francisco to L.A and about 100 miles a day. The next thing we did was call my coach and he gave her some workouts she could do to get ready for the big ride. In between doing the workouts my Mom was busy raising money and working 8 hours a day. Everyone that enters the ride has to show up with $2,500 to ride. My Mom once again showed me that with hard work and dedication you could do just about anything. She flew to San Francisco with her friend Linda, $2,500, and dedication out the wazoo!
Meanwhile I was at a Norba National in Vermont and wasn’t supposed to be back in time to greet my Mom as she came into L.A. I was determined to get there. I was able to change some flights around and make it home.
All I knew was that she would be wearing purple (they come in huge packs and are separated only by colored t-shirts). I had talked to her on the phone the day before and told her I wished I could be there. Earlier that day I made a huge sign that said, “Welcome home Barbara and Linda. Congratulations and I love you”, then it had an arrow pointing down with my name underneath so they would know who it was. As they started rolling in, my Mom saw the sign and I saw her. I dropped everything and went over to her and we just stood there and hugged for what seemed like hours. We cried and we laughed the whole time. It was one of the best moments I’ve ever shared with my Mom. She did it! She rode 100 miles a day, and camped out, and was not once picked up by the sag wagon even when it was starting to get dark out. I am still to this day so very proud of her. She was and still is my hero.
Happy Mother’s Day Mom and I love you. I hope someday we can do the AIDS ride together.
Tara
I had started racing BMX bikes around the age of 11 and my Mom was my biggest supporter. I mean how many Mom’s would let their 11 years old daughter start competing in such a dangerous sport? I was lucky that she understood how much I loved it. We would travel all over the 50 states from race to race hoping to win a championship or title.
It wasn’t until I started transitioning into mountain biking that I was able to buy my Mom a mountain bike. She loved it! Pretty soon she was calling up her other female friends or Mom’s that she had met through my racing to go for a ride. With her knees so bad this was the perfect way for her to lose a few extra pounds, stay fit and healthy, and be able to do something active with me. I was so excited for her. I loved being able to teach her how to use her brakes at the right time or when to change gears. I got to teach my Mom something!
A year or so after I got her the bike I had been doing some teaching at the Women’s Only Weekend in Big Bear. About 250 women signed up for a fun filled weekend on mountain bikes. Well, I was able to coax my Mom into coming. It was a great place for her to meet women that lived in Southern California and to hone her skills on her mountain bike. Yes, she did ride down the loose and dusty Dual Slalom course. And yes, she did fall at the bottom. But you know what, she hopped up and was smiling from ear to ear. I ran down that mountain so fast and gave her the biggest hug. We had a great weekend together and I can’t wait to do it again.
About a year after that she called me up and says, “I’m going to do the AIDS ride with Linda”. I asked her, “Do you know how far that is?” I knew my Mom was tough and for a second I almost felt like the Mom. She knew darn well how far it was. It was from San Francisco to L.A and about 100 miles a day. The next thing we did was call my coach and he gave her some workouts she could do to get ready for the big ride. In between doing the workouts my Mom was busy raising money and working 8 hours a day. Everyone that enters the ride has to show up with $2,500 to ride. My Mom once again showed me that with hard work and dedication you could do just about anything. She flew to San Francisco with her friend Linda, $2,500, and dedication out the wazoo!
Meanwhile I was at a Norba National in Vermont and wasn’t supposed to be back in time to greet my Mom as she came into L.A. I was determined to get there. I was able to change some flights around and make it home.
All I knew was that she would be wearing purple (they come in huge packs and are separated only by colored t-shirts). I had talked to her on the phone the day before and told her I wished I could be there. Earlier that day I made a huge sign that said, “Welcome home Barbara and Linda. Congratulations and I love you”, then it had an arrow pointing down with my name underneath so they would know who it was. As they started rolling in, my Mom saw the sign and I saw her. I dropped everything and went over to her and we just stood there and hugged for what seemed like hours. We cried and we laughed the whole time. It was one of the best moments I’ve ever shared with my Mom. She did it! She rode 100 miles a day, and camped out, and was not once picked up by the sag wagon even when it was starting to get dark out. I am still to this day so very proud of her. She was and still is my hero.
Happy Mother’s Day Mom and I love you. I hope someday we can do the AIDS ride together.
Tara
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