Friday, 8/25/06 at 6:05 PM
by Tara Llanes
by Tara Llanes
Survivor
Just this past weekend I was in Wisconsin for a Jeep King of the Mountain race. Elkhart, Wisconsin to be exact. Needless to say I had never been there, but it turned out to be a beautiful area and our hotel was right on a lake.
The actual race was a tough one. The course was very flat and had a ton of pedaling, but I was confident. I won my first round and headed into the second round against the #1 seeded Jill Kintner. I had a slight edge coming out of the start gate and was coming off of a jump when my front wheel didn’t make it over the other side and it blew my hands right off my handlebars. I ended up on the ground and trying to catch my breath. I got back up pretty sore and not feeling that fantastic, but was able to salvage a third place putting me into second overall for the series.
But my story really doesn’t have anything to do with my race this past weekend. It has to do with the morning I left Wisconsin at the airport. I was waiting in line to check on my seat for the Milwaukee to Phoenix flight when a woman just out of the blue walked up to me and asked me for my autograph. I believe she was in her 50’s, but looked like she was in her 40’s. She had her right arm in a sling, her right eye was purple, and she had stitches, and yet still looked amazing!
At first when she asked I was just sort of taken aback. No matter how many times someone asks for my autograph I am flattered and honored that they want it. I went to grab a pen and she went to grab something to sign.
She came back over and she started to tell me what happened. I guess she was training for a race and had been putting quite a few miles in on her road bike and had decided last week to go out on her mountain bike instead. Well, she took a bad line and ended up over the bars with a separated shoulder, broken nose, and stitches. So much for me complaining about my sore shoulder and swollen knee. She made me feel like a wimp!
She told me that she had cancer about 5 years ago, survived it, and was on a mission to do this race. She has a daughter in Arizona that works in the medical field at ASU and was going to visit. I absolutely loved talking to her. She doesn’t know it, but I was doing my best not to cry. I felt like in the span of 5 minutes I knew so much about her.
I signed her magazine and she told me she couldn’t wait to tell her daughter that she met me. Before we boarded the plane she said this to me…“There are many women out there that may not write letters or email, but who you give inspiration to. And never forget that.” I just shook my head and didn’t know what to say other than thank you. At that very moment I felt so moved. I just couldn’t believe that my racing had made such an impact on someone so much that would they would say those wonderful things.
That woman’s name is Andrea and she will forever be an inspiration to me.
The actual race was a tough one. The course was very flat and had a ton of pedaling, but I was confident. I won my first round and headed into the second round against the #1 seeded Jill Kintner. I had a slight edge coming out of the start gate and was coming off of a jump when my front wheel didn’t make it over the other side and it blew my hands right off my handlebars. I ended up on the ground and trying to catch my breath. I got back up pretty sore and not feeling that fantastic, but was able to salvage a third place putting me into second overall for the series.
But my story really doesn’t have anything to do with my race this past weekend. It has to do with the morning I left Wisconsin at the airport. I was waiting in line to check on my seat for the Milwaukee to Phoenix flight when a woman just out of the blue walked up to me and asked me for my autograph. I believe she was in her 50’s, but looked like she was in her 40’s. She had her right arm in a sling, her right eye was purple, and she had stitches, and yet still looked amazing!
At first when she asked I was just sort of taken aback. No matter how many times someone asks for my autograph I am flattered and honored that they want it. I went to grab a pen and she went to grab something to sign.
She came back over and she started to tell me what happened. I guess she was training for a race and had been putting quite a few miles in on her road bike and had decided last week to go out on her mountain bike instead. Well, she took a bad line and ended up over the bars with a separated shoulder, broken nose, and stitches. So much for me complaining about my sore shoulder and swollen knee. She made me feel like a wimp!
She told me that she had cancer about 5 years ago, survived it, and was on a mission to do this race. She has a daughter in Arizona that works in the medical field at ASU and was going to visit. I absolutely loved talking to her. She doesn’t know it, but I was doing my best not to cry. I felt like in the span of 5 minutes I knew so much about her.
I signed her magazine and she told me she couldn’t wait to tell her daughter that she met me. Before we boarded the plane she said this to me…“There are many women out there that may not write letters or email, but who you give inspiration to. And never forget that.” I just shook my head and didn’t know what to say other than thank you. At that very moment I felt so moved. I just couldn’t believe that my racing had made such an impact on someone so much that would they would say those wonderful things.
That woman’s name is Andrea and she will forever be an inspiration to me.
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