CbadRider

My condolences to his family.

https://encinitas.patch.com/articles/...on-highway-101

herbm

RIP Jim....
AKA: SOCALRANDO

Accordion

My condolences as well.

1am? Ugh. Terrible time to be out riding in my opinion.

Hippiebrian

My thoughts for his family. Once again, proof that our drunk driving laws still aren't strict enough.

criquette

These threads are becoming all too frequent.

My prayers, too, are with Jim's loved ones at this difficult time.

Please...to all you epic endurance athletes...when your event takes you hundreds of miles and you're in the saddle all hours of the day and night, you are inevitably going to be out there on the road, in the dark, with the drunk or drowsy drivers, and you're just not as easy to spot at night. PLEASE be extra careful out there. We all want you to get home safely.

CbadRider

He was riding a 600k. That is usually ridden over 2 days with a short rest time somewhere in the middle. The rest stop/control was in Oceanside, which is about 12 miles from where he was hit.

big john

This sucks. What a nice man Jim was and a great rider. You couldn'r help but be happier when you rode with him.

augustgarage

Though I didn't know Jim well, we'd ridden together for several hours on multiple rides, and he recently drove me back up to NoHo from a brevet in San Diego. Besides being a strong (and smart) rider, he was always encouraging, generous with advice, ambituous (wanting to better not just himself, but the clubs he rode with), jocular, and enthusiastic. I was looking forward to riding a "fast" 600K with him later this Spring.

Checking the news coverage briefly, there is speculation that this was intentional; hard to fathom.

idoru2005

Wife and I recently friended him on FB over the past few weeks. Met him through a friend of a friend. He made several nice comments on my photo albums. I never knew him personally, but on FB, he seemed like a gentleman.. Strange to meet someone randomly like this and to lose him....

MrClyde

Condolences to his family. Sad news indeed.

alicestrong

Condolences to his family and friends. Very sad...

robertkat

My thoughts exactly. Heard from a few of the guys that were riding with him that day and he was nothing but smiles. It might be nice to know that in his last moments he was surrounded by friends doing what he loved.

alicestrong

I hope that isn't true. Pure evil...

alicestrong

Nice Tribute page...

https://www.xo-1.org/2011/04/jim-swar...d-cyclist.html

ovoleg

He was really an awesome guy. We joked alot and he was a fellow Motobecane rider. We even joked about starting a Moto cycling team between him and another friend. Seriously one of the nicest people you have EVER met. He was no newb either, he followed all the laws of the road and rode very safely. He was a VERY strong rider and I never dropped him on any climb, maybe a few times on flats.

I'm still very upset about this...I hope the sh8thead that did this gets what he deserves.

Accordion

Incidentally, I hope my comment wasn't taken as insensitive. I read the gentleman's tribute and he seemed like an awesome person.

I still think it's just a terrible time to ride a bike, no matter what type of race or reason you may have.

Additionally, I don't think this is a serial bicyclist killer.

CbadRider

New information on the suspected driver:

"Investigators originally described the pickup as a blue, late model Ford F150. Monday afternoon, after further investigation, they said that the vehicle that hit Swarzman was a 2007-8 Dodge Ram 1500 or a 2007-9 Dodge Ram 2500 or 3500. The pickup that hit Swarzman will have damage to the passenger-side headlight area, investigators said."

https://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/ksw...,5715371.story

Biker395 

I think there is a natural tendency, when one hears of tragedies like this, to try to explain to ourselves and others why such a terrible thing would not happen to us. That's the source of a lot of comments that to varying degrees, could be regarded as "blaming the victim".

I rolled up shortly after Rod Armas and his son were hit on PCH a couple of years ago. That crash also resulted in a fatality, also occurred during early morning hours, and also involved a full sized pickup truck. Although there is no evidence that that was the case here, alcohol was involved in the Armas case.

I said it then and I'll say it here. It's easy, after the fact, to suggest that it is dangerous to ride a bicycle:

at night;
on city streets;
anywhere but a sidewalk

but that doesn't mean it is any more dangerous than riding in the daytime. Yes, I know that the statistics suggest as much, but they don't take into account the fact that most of those night time collisions are with cyclists who are not properly equipped for it. There are a lot of ding-dongs out there riding on dark streets without headlights or reflectors.

Riding a bicycle can be dangerous. They are not toys. We go fast enough to hurt or kill ourselves by simply falling off, and not fast enough to avoid other vehicles we share the road with.

Ask someone who is not an experienced cyclist, and they'll tell you that it is dangerous to ride a bicycle in the street, and to them, that truth is self-evident. Those of us that ride a lot of miles know that it is, in fact, far more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk.

I know from experience that whether it is more dangerous to ride a bicycle at night depends on a number of factors, including how well you are lit or reflected, how much traffic there is on the street, sightlines, and visual chaff from other light sources. Well, at least I think I know. All I DO know is that I am far more visible as a rolling Christmas tree on a dark street than I am in any clothing in broad daylight.

There are people who also don't ride at late hours, citing the danger from drunk drivers. But is it in fact any greater than riding during the day, with people distracted by cellphones and with other traffic to contend with for both space and attention? I don't know. I rather think it depends on the circumstances. I have personal knowledge of where Rod Armas was killed, and I can tell you for sure that I feel safer riding there at 2AM than I would at 2PM. Yes, each car brings a greater danger at night, but there are far fewer cars and doors to contend with.

I've read comments from people who believe it crazy dangerous to ride a bike on the street at 1AM, but don't flinch at driving at those hours. And the same people sail through green lights, not even looking to see if a drunk driver could T-bone them into eternity. Jim was killed by a truck going perhaps 60 MPH. Would it have been any better if he were killed being T-boned in his car by a drunk driver going 60 MPH?

We've had a few nasty crashes in my hood lately. One guy hit a "hump" going about 25 MPH. The first I heard about that hump was reading the news of his crash. Might I have been surprised into hitting the same thing and crashing myself? Yep.

One guy was traveling North on a quiet street that parallels a busier one without a shoulder. I take this very same street for the same reason ... to avoid traffic. And he was hit head on by a drunk teenager at 7:15 in the morning. Might that have been me? You betcha. I ride with the group he was with every couple of months or so.

Another girl was struck by an elderly driver, who was chased down after trying to drive away. Might that have been me? Yes again.

So no ... without some reasoned analysis, I am not willing to accept the notion Jim was killed doing something any more dangerous than the rest of us do. Ask not for whom the bell tolls ...

Jim was a personal friend and a great bicyclist. I know the cyclists he was with when he was hit, and they are likewise. Without asking, I am certain that they were properly outfitted, with good headlights, lots of reflective material, good tail lights, and even a slow vehicle triangle. I know that Jim and the other riders would have been riding safely, watching traffic behind them with rear view mirrors, and paying attention to what they were doing. What am I saying? Well, I guess I am saying that if it happened to him, it could well have happened to me. Or you. If not in the night time, during the daytime. Simple as that.

big john

FrenchFit 

My condolences as well.

Nothing but respect for rando riders doing 24-32 hr events; but riding after 11pm in our society...just too many drunk drivers for me to be out there..anywhere.

Sagebum

So sad. Our thougts to family and friends. We were so looking forward to meeting Jim this summer.

Nachoman

Chilling to see the photo, because it looks like any one of us.

Cassave

This is a real tragedy. I liked Jim and enjoyed many rides with him.
All the good things said about him on these and other pages are true.

cervelo4me

i played little league with this guy i knew him as jimmy i just realized this

cervelo4me

i knew him as jimmy i just found out horrible