Thinking of Tara...

My good buddy Dave had Tara sign this picture for me at Interbike '02. Now, Tara's fighting the toughest battle of her life. I sure hope she wins it.

Mountain bike champion Tara Llanes was severely injured Saturday, September 1 at the Jeep King of the Rockies race in Vail, Colorado. Unfortunately, the spinal cord injury she suffered may prevent her from ever walking again. I pray that's not the case.

Tara's MySpace page has details of the accident, along with updates on Tara's recovery. If you've got a MySpace account (which I don't), you can even post notes of encouragement for her, and I noticed that she was logged in as recently as earlier today. On the site, there are also details of a recovery fund that's been set up to help cover what will undoubtedly be immense medical bills in the end.

I don't know Tara Llanes personally, but I do know that she's a fighter, and I'm pulling for her to prove the doctors wrong and walk again.