2011 San Luis Obispo Wine & Waves 400km – Remembering Jim

I wish it was better circumstances that prompted me to finally get around to composing this post, but sadly it is a senseless tragedy that has finally prompted me to write up my story about the PCH Randonneurs San Luis Obispo Wine & Waves 400km brevet that Mike and I did on March 12th. It was on this ride that we got to know Jim Swarzman better. Sadly he was killed early this morning by a hit and run driver while participating in the San Diego 600km brevet. As such, I’ve been thinking about that SLO 400km brevet a lot today.

We actually heard about the SLO 400km at the SFR 200km brevet when we were hanging out chatting with friends at the finish. Phil, who we met back in 2008 when we did the LA Grand Tour Triple Century and he tagged along with us for the last 80+ miles and who we see at pretty much every double century or brevet that we do, told us about the event and said he was planning to do it. He said he’d heard the course was pretty scenic, and that it combined aspects of the Central Coast Double with the Solvang Spring Double. We mentioned it to Jason, and before we knew it he’d convinced a big group of local randonneurs to sign up. At first I didn’t think we’d be able to do the event because we had tickets to the Banff Mountain Film Festival that weekend in Los Altos, plus I was on-call for work, but I managed to swap coverage weekends with a co-worker and we went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Berkeley the weekend before and sold our tickets to the Los Altos shows so that we could sign up for the SLO 400km with all the cool kids!

We headed down to San Luis Obispo on Friday evening as soon as I could get away from work. Unfortunately that wasn’t until about 8pm, but at least we didn’t hit a lot of traffic on the way down so I think we rolled into SLO around 11:30pm. We got up shortly after 5am to get ready for the start at 6am. The nice thing about this course was that you did an initial 175 mile loop that brought you back to the Motel 6 start/finish before heading out for the final 74 miles. So this meant having an opportunity to change clothes and gather extra supplies for the night loop, so not having to carry quite as much during the day.

There were lots of friends and familiar faces at the start as there was a very large NorCal contingent – Jason, Bryan, Michael, Kitty, Becky, Ken, Phil, Michele, Clyde, Roland, plus probably others who I’m forgetting. And then there were familiar SoCal faces as well – Josh, Kerin, and of course Jim & Nicole. We all rolled out together as a group at 6am and worked our way through the streets of SLO before getting on Highway 101 to head north out of town. The climb up Cuesta Grade on Highway 101 came fairly early in the ride, and although it pitched up in a few places and there was a headwind, it wasn’t too bad. From there we got off 101 and we meandered our way north through Santa Margarita, Atascadero, and Templeton towards Paso Robles, and then continuing north to San Miguel, the first control 45 miles into the ride. Since this was the first control there were still a lot of riders fairly close together, so the store was rather packed with cyclists and the locals were probably wondering what the heck happened to their quiet, sleepy little town! I grabbed an oatmeal raisin cookie at this control which was quite yummy, and we chatted briefly with Michele before she headed out with Jim and Nicole.

From San Miguel we looped back south a bit along 101 before heading west into wine country around Paso Robles. It was a beautiful sunny spring day and the hills and fields were lush and green. We checked in at the secret control along this section, and then we eventually popped out on Highway 46 which we then took all the way out to Highway 1 along the coast. On the climb up Highway 46 we caught up to and passed Jim and Nicole, and I rode with Michele and chatted with her about how my RAW training was coming along. At the top of the climb up Highway 46 there was a support vehicle with some sodas, V8, and water – wow, I totally wasn’t expecting to be pampered like this on a brevet!! Brevets are for the most part self-sufficient, so this was a nice treat! I had a V8 while I waited for Mike to catch up. Jim and Nicole crested the climb close to when Mike did and then continued on down while Mike stopped and grabbed a soda. Then we started the long descent towards Highway 1. The views up here were absolutely spectacular – you could see all the green hill sides, plus the ocean and Morro Bay in the distance. It’s moments like these that you live for on your bike! Part way down the descent I saw Jim pulled over taking some pictures of the scenery – just a typical Jim moment – capturing the moment. It was fairly windy on the descent, and we were just hoping the wind along the coast wasn’t going to be too bad. The wind is typically out of the north, and we knew we had to go all the way up the coast to Ragged Point, so we were expecting head winds on this section – and there were no surprises, there was a head wind.

First though we got to stop in Cambria at the second control. It was now early afternoon, and 94 miles into the ride, so a bit of lunch was in order. I bought a tuna salad sandwich and a Mountain Dew, which hit the spot and revitalized me for the next section. I also took some time to stretch out my back here since it had tightened up a bit during the morning, and particularly on the last section. A large group headed out just in front of us – they were planning to ride together and draft so as to battle the headwinds in a team effort. I however didn’t want to draft since I try not to draft in events like this since they’re training events for ultras where there is no drafting allowed – so I might as well get used to fighting the wind on my own. So Mike and I headed out just behind the large group – and they actually weren’t getting that much further in front of us until after we passed the Hearst Castle turn off.

It was about 22 miles north to Ragged Point from Cambria, pretty much entirely into a headwind. Mike started to struggle a bit on this section – he hadn’t been doing as much cycling training since he’s also been training for a 50 mile run in April and then UltraMan Canada in July, so it’s understandable that he was suffering a bit more than the rest of us at this point. Anyway, we eventually did make it to Ragged Point, the next control, and after refueling we got to head south with a pretty nice tail wind. We took Highway 1 all the way back down the coast to just past Morro Bay where we then took a back road through Los Osos and back into San Luis Obispo. The sun set on the stretch after Morro Bay, but it wasn’t long before we were back at the Motel 6 grabbing some hot food and preparing for the last 75 mile loop. The PCH Randonneurs had some great support – they had hot food for us including soup, macaroni and cheese, chili, and meat balls, plus all kinds of other goodies! It was great to be able to fuel up like this before heading out for the last stretch! I’d asked the volunteer for some chili and macaroni & cheese, and she put them in the same bowl – wow was this good! It may sound weird to mix chili with mac’n'cheese, but boy oh boy did it hit the spot just then! I also had some coffee and soda since I’d been a bit sleepy on the last segment into SLO.

When we finally did depart sometime not too long after 8pm if I recall correctly, it wasn’t very long before we saw the first inbound finisher – at this point they were 75 miles ahead of us – wow!! We headed out from San Luis Obispo and paralleled Highway 101 through Pismo Beach and Shell Beach. We then worked our way towards Guadalupe on Highway 1. Along here a SAG vehicle was stopped and asked if we needed anything – again, it was wonderfully reassuring to know that there was a SAG out there even though we were doing a brevet. I grabbed a rice crispy square treat and I think Mike did the same. We continued through Guadalupe before turning East towards Santa Maria. This was when I started getting really drowsy – I just couldn’t keep my eyes open!! Finally we got to Santa Maria and the control at the 24hr 7-11. We were now 210 miles into the ride. As we pulled up who was there to greet us but Jim. He was his usual cheery self and commented that we were doing great and making up time on them. I believe it was he, Nicole, and Kitty who were there just getting ready to leave. They continued on their way while we restocked. I bought some soda and a coffee to try and wake myself up, as well as some honey roasted peanuts to munch on. And if I recall correctly I think we had a doughnut with our coffee. Before heading out I had to change my light battery since it had started doing it’s disco thing and flashing rapidly (although I hadn’t even noticed it at first in my sleepy state of consciousness).

Finally we hit the road again for the final 39 miles back to SLO. A recumbent rider joined us since his map reading light wasn’t functioning so he had no way to easily read the route sheet. We got to the last info control at mile 236 at 1:35am. Only 13 miles to go! Finally at 2:30am we pulled in to the Motel 6 and the finish, having completed the 249 mile course in 20.5 hours elapsed time. My ride time was 17:20, so we had just over 3hrs off the bike – more than I would have liked, but not too bad considering the long waits at some of the controls, as well as the fact that we stopped and changed clothes and ate before heading out on the final 70 mile route which probably took close to an hour.

There was still plenty of food at the finish, and Jim, Nicole, and Kitty were there – they had just finished not too long before we did. The 5 of us chatted and swapped stories about various events. Jim was full of energy and enthusiasm despite having just ridden 249 miles. We reminisced about the 508 last year when he and I were riding in close proximity for much of the first 2 stages. There was also discussion about PBP which he and Nicole were planning on doing this year. This was the most I’d interacted with Jim, but even in this short time it was enough to leave a huge impression. Jim’s love of life and love of cycling shone through. Every time I’d seen him on the ride he’d had a smile on his face and something positive to say. His presence on Facebook also exuded his cheery personality – on several occasions he’d been very encouraging with regard to some of the events and training that I was doing. I’m deeply saddened that I won’t get the opportunity to ride with Jim again, and I’m angered at the senselessness of his death.

Anyway, the next morning I set out to do at least another 51 miles so that I’d have 300 miles for the weekend. I headed north from SLO on Highway 1, and of course it was a headwind all the way to Cambria. Then I decided to head over Highway 46 to Paso Robles. The views were absolutely stunning during the climb, and it was nice to be out of the wind. Like Jim the day before, I stopped a few times to take some pictures of the view. Pictures can’t do it justice, as there’s something truly exhilarating about achieving these vistas by way of pedaling a bicycle. By the time I dropped down into Paso Robles I’d ridden 63 miles, which made 312 miles for the weekend. While I was riding Mike took the opportunity to find some tasty treats in Cambria – he got an Olallieberry pie at Linn’s, and some really good cookies at the Red Moose Cookie Company. We were able to savor these the whole rest of the week, and they reminded us of the great weekend we’d had riding with friends.

I will always remember Jim when I think of the SLO 400km weekend. I’m sure he’s out riding the endless skies now, and probably stopping to take pictures along the way, and smiling and providing words of cheer and encouragement to those he encounters. That’s just the kind of person that Jim was. Rest in peace Jim – you’ll be missed by many.

View from Highway 46 between Cambria and Paso Robles

View from Highway 46 looking towards Morro Bay