Disabled athletes take on hill during hand-cycling races

REDLANDS - Forty disabled athletes, including six war veterans and five women, braved the 1,000-foot climb up Wabash Hill during hand-cycling races Thursday -- opening day of the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Carlos Moleda, a 45-year-old former Navy SEAL paralyzed by gunshot wounds during the 1989 invasion of Panama, was one of the lucky ones. He had competed on the grueling 3½-mile course once before.

"It's a really good path for getting back into life," he said of hand-cycling. "It's the same way for the young veterans coming back from Iraq. Their lives have changed really fast and they don't know what they are going to do now. This will open a lot of doors. It shows them how much they can still do."

He persuaded five other veterans, including troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, to enter the Redlands competition.

Competitive bicyclists will race through Beaumont today for the Beaumont Circuit Race, part of the 25th annual Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Tara Llanes, 32, of Brea, whose professional mountain biking career ended 18 months ago when she landed on her head after a jump at a Vail, Colo., event, made her first appearance at the classic.

"This is a lot different than mountain biking to me," she said as she prepared for the start of the race. "Mountain biking is downhill and 30-foot jumps. This is endurance."

She hadn't had a chance to run the course before the race.

"I'd like to win, but I have no idea how long it is going to take me," she said. "I have no idea what gear to be in."

Willie Stewart had a thought for the first-timers.

"They're in for a rude awakening," he said.

Disabled in a construction accident, Stewart is program director for PossAbilities, a Loma Linda-based nonprofit group that provides recreational opportunities for the disabled and sponsors the hand-cycling races.

"I can't believe they are going to do this course blind," he said. "It's a beast for anyone. Anybody with two arms and two legs, try to ride up that hill."

He was referring to Wabash Hill, a 15 percent grade that winds above Redlands just before the finish line, testing the mettle of racers who already have covered more than two miles of the course.

"That was really hard," Llanes said at the finish. "The last part, the two steepest climbs, were the hardest. But I knew I was going to make it."

She finished second, behind Monica Dascio, 39, of Evergreen, Colo., who raced in Redlands for the first time after a skiing accident that disabled her 17 years ago.

They were only the second and third disabled women ever to complete the course.

"I did it because it's different," Dascio said. "I'm sort of a fair weather athlete. I love the climate. I love the sunshine. I love the smell of the orange trees on the uphill frontage road."

She also loved winning.

Reach Darrell R. Santschi at 951-368-9484 or dsantschi@PE.com