ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 9/03/07
TARA LLANES' BAD CRASH
She's probably the toughest chick in mountain bike racing; a downhiller and BMX champ, but Tara Llanes' biggest challenge started September 1, when she crashed in the Jeep King of the Mountain race in Vail, Colorado. She was airlifted to a trauma hospital.
It took seven hours of surgery to repair the spinal damage, which doctors describe as "massive trauma of the lower back."
Tara currently has no feeling below her waist; but there's no way to tell how permanent this paralysis may be until there has been some time for healing process. No word on the state of her spinal cord.
She is out of the ICU and in a private room, breathing without a ventilator and able to give a thumbs-up to a photographer friend.
In the recent JKOM BMX race at The Canyons, Tara also crashed badly, falling off a high berm some 15 feet down onto rocks below. She still came back for the final elimination round, wincing in pain.
It's the latest blow for the 2006 national mountain bike champion, who has medaled in the last seven World Championships, and won a gold, silver and two bronze medals in the X-Games, but has kept injuring herself in races.
It's also another blow for BMX. Another top rider, Stephen Murray, was paralyzed from the shoulders down after crashing in the first stop of the AST Dew Tour on June 22 in Baltimore and breaking three vertabrae in his neck. Many of the riders in the Dew (which comes to Salt Lake Sept 20-21) have helped hold benefits for Murray since his accident.
We will be updating Tara's condition next week. You can send a message to her at tara@tarallanesracing.com. She is sedated for pain, but conscious and reading all her messages.
SKELLIE PILOT SUES FOR A MILLION BUCKS
Noelle Pikus-Pace: know the name? No? Maybe that's why she's suing the U. S. Bobsled and Skeleton Association, the Calgary Olympic Development Association, a couple of their employees and some bobsledders.
Pikus-Pace was the top U. S. woman in skeleton, ready for the 2006 Olympics and certain stardom until the day she was standing with teammates at the finish of the Calgary Olympic Park bobsled track and an inexpert bobsled driver forgot to brake. His sled ran off the end of the track. The rest of the team scattered, but Pikus-Pace was slammed by the heavy sled, suffering a compound fracture so bad, her leg had to be pinned back together. She lost her chance to compete in the Games, and is still unable to return to her former skeleton rankings.
Her lawsuit is for 1.3 million dollars.
IT AIN'T DESCENTE, IT'S DA SIGN
It's actually funny, but probably not to the CEO of Descente, USA.
Bob Geiger, XTERRA athlete and honcho of Descente, the company that makes pricey ski wear and race suits, is being called a criminal by a candidate for mayor of Ogden.
Geiger's heinous crime? Switching a campaign sign.
Seems that Geiger, supporter of Ogden's popular mayor Matthew Godfrey, had permission from the real estate agent for a vacant house to put up a sign for Godfrey. He did so, taking down a sign for another Ogden mayoral candidate, Neil Hansen. He stashed Hansen's sign behind the house, not even bending a corner.
But Hansen had permission to put up his sign from the owner of the house, who is selling it through the real estate agent. Now he is claiming that Geiger is part of a campaign to intimidate business owners who don't support Godfrey. The latest move in this tidal wave in a teapot is Hansen trying to get trespassing and vandalism charges filed against Geiger.
Gee, ain't Ogden politics fun?
ULTIMATE SKATEBOARDER COOL
During the AST Tour that hit the Ogio training facility last week, skateboarder Tyson Browerbank showed his cool when his shoelace came untied during his run. As he rolled up the ramp to the halfpipe, he bent down and tied it, without missing a beat, then took the pipe and spine for part of the points that put in second place overall---at the age of 12.
Hey, Tyson, a double knot will keep those laces tied! Or...maybe tying them while riding can be a signature trick.
NON SPORTING THOUGHT...
Buying a small electronic do-dad from Circuit City, like an MP3 player? Gonna pay the $25 for a replacement? Maybe you should think about it first.
Unfortunately, it's not as simple as taking the broken item back and getting a new one. Nope, you have to wait while the corporate system sends you a form. Yes, a form (which you can also download). Then you send the item back, and wait while they send you a certificate. The certificate is not for a replacement, it is only good for the amount you paid for the item. So if you got an MP3 player on sale, you won't get money to buy another---unless it's on sale.
Meanwhile, you have the inconvenience of going without your tunes or your camera or whatever, while the Circuit City corporation gets around to getting that certificate to you.