Surprise Bike Race To Head Through Dumptrucks, Road Closure

Malibu has been served up with surprise notice … that a bike race will be moving through the city on Friday and Saturday.

And no one has taken out a permit … or even told the city of Malibu about it … until yesterday.

And this one … the Malibu Grand Fondo … will have a sheriff’s escort to block traffic …. Friday and Saturday,. The bike race plans to use P C H and Latigo Canyon Road … which is interesting … because Latigo Canyon Road is closed to all traffic on part of the race route.

This one is at least the fourth profit-making company to pull a state or city permit to use Malibu’s only main street for an event.

Not much is known about the race … or the company that has suddenly emerged as a CHP-sanctioned lane closure.

Bike racers will apparently come down from Ventura at some point Friday or Saturday morning.

They will traverse western Malibu … then head up Latigo Canyon Road.

Another heat of the race will come down Topanga Canyon Boulevard … head west on PCH … and wind thru the Malibu Civic Center on Webb Way and other streets .. before heading north on Malibu Canyon Road.

No exact times … the C H P has not explained if lanes will be closed other than to say they will control traffic. 

City manager Reva Feldman says Caltrans told her it was the CHP that set this up… not the city.

The CHP was not available for comment.

The Grand Fondo Malibu race team is not answering their phone.

Malibu has a city ordinance that allows only 2 road closures for races a year. 

This is race number three … but the city seems powerless to regulate its own main street.

One problem for the race … the route goes over Latigo Canyon Road above Malibu.

That road is still closed due to Woolsey Fire damage.

Plus … the road is used by hundreds of dump trucks daily for fire debris removal.

Now word form the CHP on how it is going to handle a bike race on a narrow winding mountain road… through a road closure and amidst the active fire cleanup scene …