Alfred Plaisted Swain
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Alfred Plaisted Swain 1870/11/01 - 1944/06/08
The San Francisco Call 05 Dec 1896, Sat
Club
MANY MILES ON WHEEL
An Acme Man Makes a Trip to San Diego.
A. P. Swain, a prominent member of the Acme Club, has just made a run to San Diego on his wheel. He has sent The Tribune an account of his trip, as follows:
"I made a start from the Acme Club at at 4:30 o'clock on Saturday, April 15th, and rode to San Jose, where supper was had, and a very enjoyable evening was spent with the Garden City Cyclers. On Sunday morning a start was mad bright and early, and after an easy day's ride, passing though Gilroy and several smaller towns, I reached Chular, where a stop was made for the night.
"Monday morning I left Chular at 9 o'clock, passed through the towns of Gonzales, Soledad, and had lunch at a ranch. Then I pushed on through Cholone, arriving at the little town of Jolon at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The roads were very fine on this day's run, and the seven-mile coast into Jolon will be long remembered.
"Tuesday I started late, and took it easy to San Miguel, and the next day passed on to Paso Robles, in the morning, where a atop was made during the heat of the day. I started at 4 o'clock for Santa Marguerita, a distance of thirty miles, arriving in time to get a cold supper. The roads were very heavy with sand and dust.
"After a short rest and supper, a start was made for San Luis Obispo by moonlight. The distance is sixteen miles with quite a heavy grade to climb on the start. After the summit is reached it is all down hill into the town of San Luis Obispo, which was reached at about 10:30 o'clock in the evening.
"Thursday I rode from San Luis Obispo to Los Olivos, going over the heaviest roads of the trip. One grade was over a mountain which seemed entirely of sand and had to be walked both up and down. Then just before reaching Santa Maria, a pretty little town, there was almost four miles of soft sand that had to be tramped through. This sand is so soft that when you stop to rest the wheel stands without any support whatever, except the sand. Los Olivos was made quite late in the evening.
"Friday morning after an excellent breakfast including mountain trout, etc., a start was made for Santa Barbara, which place was reached at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The road goes over the mountains and there is a very heavy grade before reaching the top, after which there is almost seventeen miles of down grade into Santa Barbara. A days stop was made here, and the old mission "Santa Barbara" was visited. It is in a fine state of preservation, and is one of the most interesting of California missions.
"Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock I started for Ventura. The tide was out and I took the ocean beach. This would be a paradise for Oakland sidewalk riders, as there is thirty miles of sand packed as hard almost as a cement walk and no policeman to be afraid of. Ventura was reached between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening. Sunday morning early it rained quite hard, and the riding was not easy til the sun came out and dried the roads. The distance from Ventura to Los Angeles is eighty-five miles, which was ridden in a little over seven hours. The roads were very good, except for an occasional sandy spot.
"Los Angeles is the great bicycling city of the south. There are a great many wheels and lots of interest in wheeling. The boys are already training for the May 30th races to be held at San Diego, and will no doubt give a good account of themselves there, as there are some very fast men, comprising Fox, Cowan, Brothers, Kitchen, Ulbrecht, Jenkins, Williams, and many others.
"I left Los Angeles Tuesday morning for San Diego. This day's ride went through the beautiful country comprising the towns of Puerto, [I think he meant La Puente. - MF] Pomona, South Riverside, and Perris. A stop was made at Perris for the night, and the next day I started for San Diego, going through Temecula canyon, Fall Brook, and some heavy roads and hilly country, reaching San Diego late on Wednesday evening. The next morning a short trip was made over to Tia Juana and across the line into Mexico. The distance is only ten or twelve miles, and the roads were good. This completes my trip.
"Yours truly, "A. P. Swain"
MANY MILES ON WHEEL - WHEEL WHIRLS - ACME ATHLETES - Oakland Tribune 02 May 1894, Wed Page 8
