SANTA MARIA - Those who knew Jim Hamlin say his passion was putting pedal to pavement to conquer the local natural landscape he loved on two wheels.
"Jim used to do 200 mile rides," says friend and fellow cyclist Robert Martin, "he's done probably a hundred different century rides and he always finishes them strong."
Every Saturday morning Jim Hamlin and his buddies in the Cutters Cycling Club would go for long, strenuous rides on the Central Coast.
"We'd love to climb the mountains and we push each other hard", Martin says, "and Jim was right at the front all the time."
But on Sunday morning, after church, Jim Hamlin would typically ride on his own.
This past Sunday he chose Highway One toward Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Lompoc Valley.
Sunday afternoon the CHP says an 84 year old Lompoc man failed to negotiate a curve in his Mercedes and hit Hamlin who was riding southbound in the shoulder.
"He was riding on the shoulder where he was supposed to be", says CHP Officer Rob Wallace, "for reasons that are still under investigation the driver of the Mercedes allowed his vehicle to leave the roadway and enter the shoulder."
Hamlin died from the impact.
Friends say Hamlin was a stickler for safety when pounding the pavement.
"Jim was adamant about this", Martin says, "we followed the traffic laws, we stop at the stop signs, we stop at the stop lights and we asked that drivers give us a little room and give us a little bit of respect."
Martin says Hamlin loved his sport so much he would try to stay up with Lance Armstrong and his team during their annual training in the Santa Ynez Valley.
"Jim would ride 50, 60, 70 miles with the top level pros who were training for the Tour de France", Martin says, "at some point he would say, okay, turn around and come back because he had like 30 years on those young guys and he was hanging with them."
"You try to explain things like this that we don't understand", Martin says, "at least Jim was doing what he loved when he went to heaven."
The CHP says its still investigating to see if any charges will be filed against the driver of the Mercedes who was not arrested.
Jim Hamlin was a lifelong bachelor and leaves behind his mother, a brother, other family members and his cycling family that's planning a memorial tribute ride to him as early as this weekend.
