I saw a rider down at the mouth of the tunnel heading out to PCH, but surely that wasn't the one you heard rumor about.

I heard about it online after I got home but didn't see anything going on at the race, weird.

From KVTA:

Updated--The CHP says Pacific Coast Highway near the Ventura/Los Angeles County line was shut down for about a half hour Saturday morning when one of the bicyclists involved in a triathlon event in Malibu was injured.

The bicyclist suffered a broken arm and was in and out of consciousness.

The Ventura County Sheriff's helicopter along with Ventura and LA County fire responded to the incident.

The sheriff's helicopter landed on PCH and assessed the patient but it was decided to transport the patient via ground ambulance so the copter lifted off and returned to base.

Once the patient was transported, the roadway was reopened, around 9:25 AM.

Wow, I didn't see any crashes or a helicopter. I hope that person is OK.

One of the guys involved in one of crashes posted on FB. He seems to be ok but was railing against the organizers.

I was racing the Sunday race and the cops were posted along the entire stretch of the PCH used for the race - and they were all over anyone trying to make a u-turn. A big improvement from the last year when people would flip a u right in front of the upcoming bikes.

Generally, the most dangerous part of Nautica Malibu is the stupid parking lot section with the speed bumps that the organizers refuse to cover. This leaves narrow spaces between the bumps and the curb that everyone is trying to squeeze into.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

My buddy's brother had a car pull out in front of him on Saturday during the race. He went flying over the hood but is fine. FYI - he's not the broken arm guy.

I did the bike section a few years back for a relay and didn't seem to have a problem with anything but Saturday sounded like a cluster fuck.

Is his name Peter Filsinger? That's the name of the FB poster saying that he was involved in a crash but was not airlifted.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Yep

I crashed my bike at the Malibu Triathalon International distance on Saturday, September 13, 2014. This was the first time I did this race. I have done several 70.3's, three in the last year and was training for an ironman in 2015. I was the cyclist who broke his arm.

This is a very dangerous race that has little regulation on the narrow bike path. PCH is not blocked off and there are cars running in between the nortbound and southbound bike paths. There are ~2000 entrants forced to race on the PCH bike lanes with cars running in between. Cyclists are passing others outside to inside of of the border cones (which are adult knee length). I found it chaotic and dangerous.

I have written to the USAT sanction to evaluate the course and enact changes so that the race be made safer.

I know Pete Filsinger, he WAS hit by a car.

If I had known that the PCH was not closed off, I never would have done this race.To make matters worse, No one from the race contacted my wife, at any time, to tell her I had been injured. I had her called when I regained consciousness in the Emergency Room. Please be safe, I suffered a compound open fracture of my left arm.

I also did the Malibu Olympic Tri last Saturday. I think I rode by you just after your crash. It looked you were being attended to. Sorry about your injury.

I agree that this event is unsafe. Most of the field were riding on road bikes like it was a road race, passing on the inside, blocking, etc. And there were a lot of impatient drivers cutting into the bike lane. I saw some knucklehead riding his bike down the middle of the car lane, which probably only served to aggravate the drivers. Then random signs were place in the bike lane. I almost plowed into a couple of the signs. Oh, yeah don't forget the speed bumps with no signs or anyone warning you. I had to bunny hop over the first one at about 20MPH because it came up so fast. I can only imagine what a zoo the sprint distance is.

I don't think I'll do this race again until they make changes to the bike course.

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

First off, I hope that everyone that got hit along the race is OK.

My frustration was minor in comparison. I had my bike tuned up by the nice sponsors at Cannondale. I was led to believe that my bike was safe to leave over night and would be ready to roll. When I got on my bike the front tire was flat???? I just kept going because the guys at Cannondale said they were going to be out along the race to assist. I
stopped and tried to pump air in my tire and the policeman tried to help. As this was happening, cars were trying to do u-turns and someone got hit! I was thinking, I just have a flat...someone got hit!! I just kept going thinking there would be some kind of tire fix or first aid station. There was no support for the participants. There was only police directing cars that had no respect that there was a triathlon. I ended up riding the 16 miles on one tire. Then I thought to myself what about the person that got hit. People come from all over and train to do this race and expect to be safe and supported. I never felt more helpless and frustrated. I am voicing this experience only to see a change of how this race is conducted. First off, no cars for 4 hours 2 days of the year? Again, I feel bad for those that were hit and just wish that the support along the ride was about the participants and not the cars. I don't know who can make a difference with this triathlon but I hope that it will change because it is a great race for a great cause and everyone involved should feel safe and have a great experience!

"I had my bike tuned up by the nice sponsors at Cannondale. I was led to believe that my bike was safe to leave over night and would be ready to roll. When I got on my bike the front tire was flat????"

how come you didn't change your flat tire in the transition area, the morning of the race, before the swim?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I'm very, very sorry that you had such a terrible experience and I hope you heal quickly and give the race another chance.

It's really a wonderful race and there usually aren't problems like that. The locals know about the race and stay home - many of them sitting on the side of the road in lawn chairs, cheering as the cyclists go by.

I think the problem was the record-breaking heat that day - everyone and their uncle Bob decided to go to the beach and you had a lot of folks who didn't know about the race on the road, getting impatient and driving aggressively.

I will say that although I think the Oly is a great race, I won't do the sprint as it's even more crowded and there's massive amounts of jackassery on the bike course from the participants, many of whom have no clue about the rules of the road.

Again, hope you heal up quickly!

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http://aclockworkmango.com

I am sorry for those that were injured. I hope you have a speedy recovery. I live locally and have never had a desire to do this race. I know PCH is going to be dangerous with 2000 athletes. I know that this race draws many first timers, corporate people doing fund raisers, and a ton of poor swimmers and poor bike handlers.
Most people had a safe race. I have seen bad accidents from cars on so called closed courses.
I do not condemn the event. It is exactly what most people that do it want. It is to some degree a Hollywood race. "Let's go do it and see some movie stars. Just not what I want.
I heard rumor that USAT was not part of it. My friends say they did not pay the one day license. Any truth to that?
Yes, you responsible for your own bike-always!

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Team Zoot So Cal

I was hit by a car during the bike of the Saturday Olympic distance Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I was mislead to believe this was safe. A car pulled out onto the coned off course right in front of me and hit me and I flipped over its hood, ripping my arm open to the bone. No ambulance EVER came! I guess they were too busy with the other person who was being airlifted to the hospital. The EMTs that showed up were good guys and they too were surprised that no ambulance ever arrived; after 25 minutes they canceled the ambulance and took me with their own car.
A lot of my friends and I have LOVED this race, but I have to ask - Nautica Malibu Triathlon, what can you do differently? Participants being hit by cars is unacceptable. I want us all to be safe when we participate in your events.

Hi there. I was one of the guys working with the event planners in the transition area. I can't speak on the company's behalf, but I want to apologies for the, in my opinion, a terribly put together event. Athlete safety should be #1 and it literally BLEW MY MIND, that cars were on PCH. If I do work the event next year, I will speak to the man who calls all the shots and show him this thread if he hasn't already.

I did the classic distance event on Sunday and I was also impressed by how poorly the event was put on. I left a survey comment to that effect on the survey they sent out. I had two problems with the bike course, the turn around point was a little bit perilous (although they do post a speed limit) and with the sheer numbers of inexperienced triathletes/cyclists on the road made it hazardous. I almost collided with someone descending the last roller, the other cyclist was simply inexperienced and didn't pay attention to the fact that he was drifting and didn't react appropriately when I shouted at him. Fortunately I was able to dodge around a sign and a cone to avoid him. My other gripes were that the swim and run were long, and finishing on the sandy beach sounds like a good idea but when you are finishing a race the last surface you want to be on is soft sand. I would do it again next year (it was for a good cause and since I was on a corporate team I got a huge transition area) but if you want to go fast on the bike you better treat it like a busy training ride and be very cognizant for cars and other cyclists.

Look guys, I'm relatively new here, but Malibu seems to be a spectacle race. It's hard to get into, expensive and honestly the course isn't all that great. I'm not going to go race bashing, but look if you're running a race for this long, the basics needs to be covered. I'd like to not worry about getting hit on the bike course and everyone, I mean everyone should get a course briefing because there are a lot of new triathletes and first timers at this race.

If there's any important points its controlling the bike course and NOT routing bike out and in through a skinny little road with huge bumps. They do warn you about those, and I saw some people cyclocross jump them. However it can become dangerous very fast as well...I was in one of the first waves so I was out of traffic pretty quick.

I also did the Classic distance in Sunday. Honestly, I though it was pretty well run for the number of people racing. I never like hearing about people getting hurt on the bike especially involving cars.

The bike mount area was a little narrow, but it opened up. I rode the course before so I knew what the speed bumps felt like if I had to go over them. They are big, but were easy to go around. Being in the fourth or fifth wave, there was a good number of people on the bike course. It's true some should have stayed more to the right to leave some passing room, but the lane was pretty wide. Perhaps the Sunday racers benefited from some of the unfortunate accidents on Sunday. I saw cops holding cars back at that first signal you come up on. I've been on worse bike courses albeit at smaller events.

The run was ok. Again, I think it had to more with some of the participates than the course itself.

I planned to do the international distance next year, but wonder if there is less logistical support due to the few entries on that day. I hope everyone is OK.

This event attracts people who are new to the sport, primarily funneled in by the corporate teams. I'd be willing to bet that maybe 1 out 4 participants in this event can actually fix a flat.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I seem to catch it every year when I surf and I think this is the first year I've seen such a big line of cars for the crash at the u-turn. I don't see how they could make the bike leg safer without making it harder and adding some climbing in the hills. Although, this could be the start of a bike leg bridge idea!

On my way home, I came to an intersection because I saw someone trying to turn into a neighborhood or make a u-turn and the officer didn't let them go. I slowed to a crawl because it looked like it it might turn into something crazy. Driver kept jerking forward (maybe did this 3 times) and kind of turning into the officer. After that, she punched the gas, went 50 yards and did a u-turn, in front of a no u-turn sign. This pissed off the officer and he got into his cruiser. So, it's me, the crazy driver and the officer. Crazy driver is on her phone and not pulling over to the officer's lights... I'm driving 30mph and my buddy is recording with his phone. I can see the officer's face turning red and he starts speeding up pulling up next to her. Not really a smart move by the officer since the middle lane, for making turns, shrinks to just two double yellow lines and there are cars coming in the opposite direction. The officer was able to drive next to her for a while but crazy driver still doesn't pull over! Finally, the officer starts to make aggressive movements, almost ramming the side of the the crazy driver's car, and eventually ends up in front of her, stops and jumps out. I didn't stick around to see the aftermath... kind of wish I did.

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If my body isn't strong enough... I hope my wallet will be.

On my team two people were riding on Cannondale rentals with plain old platform pedals, fixing a flat is out of the question for those guys. The bike course wasn't that bad. You just have to be aware of what is going on around you, like you should be anyway, and rely a little less on the course marshalling and the competence of other riders than you would at an ironman event. The speed bumps were a non-issue, we were warned and if you were a little more at the front of the spear you could easily ride around them with minimal bike handling skills. I am not sure the bike course is intrinsically dangerous, I have been on much worse and like someone mentioned, the lane was really very wide most of the time. Almost every event I have done there has been some sort of bike crash, I never like to see it but it is a reality of the sport. I wouldn't want people to not do this triathlon because of a few negative aspects we pointed out, it was fine and the proceeds went to a good cause. Ignoring some issues on the bike it was a sufficiently challenging course and for someone who rides primarily in the Denver/Boulder area, it was great to ride on the PCH next to the ocean. Same with the swim, Sunday of race day was the first I have ever swum through a break and also my first ocean swim. I saw a couple of people get plucked out of the water (more than I would expect for the distance) but I won't say that the swim was any more dangerous than any other swim that I have done, just more challenging with more inexperienced swimmers. My main gripe with the event is that according to my Garmin the swim was 1/10th of a mile long and the run was 1/4 mile long and in a race of that distance that makes a big difference in your split times. And it was hotter than I was used too, but that can't be blamed on the race organizers.

"This event attracts people who are new to the sport, primarily funneled in by the corporate teams. I'd be willing to bet that maybe 1 out 4 participants in this event can actually fix a flat.

i live in the L.A. area. i'm familiar with the event. and what you said is exactly true. i'm a big booster of events that attract newcomers. nevertheless, a newcomer cannot always remain a newcomer, naive to the responsibilities one has to oneself as an athlete (if one decides to continue on as a multisporter). my intent isn't to berate anyone who isn't wise to the nuances of triathlon, but, neither is it appropriate to leave this new entrant with the view that it's someone else's responsibility to fix the flat when the tire is flat the morning of the race.

all of us were newcomers once. all of us knew pretty early on that you get to the race an hour and a half early, to make sure that, among other things, your equipment is ready. had you or i had the transition space next to this entrant, my guess is that either of us would have fixed the flat if asked.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I've raced at Malibu three times but not in the last couple of years so I definitely can't speak to the organization for this year's race. If I remember correctly the years I raced there was traffic allowed in the inner two lanes of PCH with the remainder coned off for the race. Also we were warned ad nauseum about the speed bumps (I bunny hopped them all anyway).

It's never fun for someone to be hurt, but I never felt unsafe at the race. In fact, I've never participated in a triathlon where the road was completely closed to cars.