LLANES Tara

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (tarallanesindustries.com, 01 Jan 2017)

Impairment Details
In September 2007 she crashed during a mountain bike race in Vail, CO, United States of America. She landed on her head, breaking the C7 vertebra in her neck and T12 vertebra in her lower back. (tarallanesindustries.com, 01 Jan 2017)

General
BUSINESS OWNER
She owns Tara Llanes Industries, which sells adaptive mountain bikes. "When I got hurt, some friends got this adapted mountain bike that had full suspension and it just looked like it could do things that I wanted to do. I was out on the trails and people would see me and say 'I know someone who would love that bike or I've got a friend in a wheelchair'. I literally had no idea how to run a business. None. At all. But [partner] Elladee runs her own sales agency and she showed me the ropes of running a sales business. There was a lot of trial and error. There was a lot of error! It's how I learned and I'm still learning so much but I've come a long way." (Facebook page, 04 Feb 2020; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 20 Jul 2020)

ADAPTIVE TRAILS
In 2021 her adaptive mountain bike company Tara Llanes Industries combined with Trail Holistics to release their own guidelines on how they believe mountain bike trails should be constructed to accommodate adaptive riders. "Canada is full of selfless, wonderful, nature loving people and by continuing the open-door policy of acceptance and inclusiveness for adaptive riders, this just adds to the amazingness of this beautiful country. With these guidelines, we're ensuring that we are ahead of the game with adaptive mountain biking in British Colombia and continuing the growth of mountain biking for all in this super natural province." (pinkbike.com, 24 Mar 2021; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 20 Jul 2020)