print page | send as email | email editor

Jill Dammon gets support from her husband, Andy, during the Race Across Oregon on July 19. Dammon finished sixth overall among solo riders. PHOTO COURTESY ANDY DAMMON

View our entire photo gallery >>

Sometimes risk-taking athletes discover they are physically and psychologically suited for an event most would find unbearable.

Jackson resident Jill Damman is one of those athletes.

On July 20, Damman crossed the finish line as the sixth-fastest solo competitor in the Race Across Oregon, a 534-mile road cycling race that features more than 40,000 feet of climbing. Pedaling through the night and dismounting only for bathroom breaks, Damman finished in 43 hours, 27 minutes, the fastest rookie among 19 solo riders entered and the only woman in the field to finish. She even managed to overtake two riders in the final 50 miles of the race.

“I’d never been to Oregon and I didn’t want to know the terrain, the temperature, what time it was,” Damman said. “I just wanted to ride and keep going forward. I was determined.”

Damman’s road to the starting line of one of the country’s most demanding ultra-endurance cycling races began when she moved to the valley from Colorado with her husband, Andy, in 2003. After taking up road cycling a year later, Damman began testing herself by entering local and regional road and mountain bike races, including the 210-mile Logan to Jackson road race.

In September 2007, Damman underwent knee surgery to repair wear and tear injuries that had accumulated since her knee was first reconstructed when she was 18. At the time, she told her husband that once she recovered, she wanted to tackle a big race.

“After my other races, I’d always felt I could have pushed myself for longer,” Damman said. “I wanted to do something that felt like I’d accomplished something.”

After doing some online research, Damman learned of the Race Across Oregon and thought it would be an appropriate test of fitness and stamina. The race debuted in 1999 and features a brutal course that begins in the city of Portland and loops through numerous small towns along secondary roads in rural parts of the state before finishing at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. The final 20 miles of the race feature 10,000 feet of climbing on Forest Service roads as steep as Teton Pass.


Support crew ‘rocked’

To train for the race, Damman skied regularly in the backcountry and logged saddle time on her a specially designed snow mountain bike before spring arrived. Among the logistical challenges was fulfilling a requirement for a minimum two-person support crew that would follow her in a vehicle and remain awake throughout the two-day race. Her husband and a friend, Erik Antink, were critical in helping her to the finish line, handling navigational duties, monitoring her nutrition during the race and ringing cowbells constantly to encourage her to pedal harder.

“Those guys rocked,” Damman said. “Andy knows me so well in terms of my nutrition and personality and Erik is also a racer and knows what it takes to keep someone motivated. They were sleep deprived, as well.”

Though she was frustrated by a navigational mistake made early in the first day of the race, Damman said thoughts of dropping out never crossed her mind, though she had no experience with sleep deprivation and had never pedaled through the night. As the moon rose Saturday evening, she maintained her focus by fixing her gaze on a bright star that reminded her of her mother, who had died two months earlier after a long battle with cancer.

“My mom had gone through so many trials that I thought of this as temporary pain – I’m going to get through it and finish and she’s there with me,” Damman said. “That kept me motivated through the night.”

On Sunday morning, Damman’s support crew nearly ran out of gas after driving 16 hours straight. The pair resorted to putting their car in neutral and coasting on the downhills, turning off the engine and waiting for Damman to rejoin them. Eventually, another team’s support vehicle appeared and offered Damman’s crew an extra gas can.

By Sunday afternoon, temperatures had reached 100 degrees and Damman’s crew began pouring sponges full of water over her head and kept her in fresh jerseys, which had been stored in Ziploc bags on ice in a cooler. The crew went through seven gallons of water that was consumed or poured over Damman’s head during a five-hour stretch as she soldiered on.

“The last 50 miles I was passing guys and I was still feeling great at mile 475 and 500,” Damman said. “The last 20 miles were brutal though. All I kept thinking was that I was already at the finish. It was just part of the motion.”


Ready for more

On the grueling six-mile climb to the finish line, another racer caught up to Damman and the pair were descending side-by-side in the dark when her competitor hit a pothole and crashed. Without thinking, Damman stopped to check on the other rider while her crew helped change her opponent’s wheelset. When she finally crossed the finish line, she collapsed, physically and mentally exhausted.

“It’s cool to know I have this talent, that I can do endurance races and my body is liking this,” Damman said.

For eight days after the race ended, she suffered from tendonitis in her knee and saddle sores for about a week. Normally a bicycle commuter, Damman hopped on her bicycle to ride to work three days after the race ended but was so sore she didn’t make it out of her driveway. She turned around and walked to work. Despite the soreness, Damman said she looks forward to entering a similar event in the future.

“I love endurance and it’s definitely a niche for me,” Damman said. “It’s fun and challenging, and after this race I definitely want to do more.”