Activist Seeks to Bring Amgen Tour Back to Conejo Valley

A local open spaces activist wants to bring the back to the Thousand Oaks, claiming the race could boost local tourism and help to save remaining wilderness in the Santa Monica Mountains, according to a report in the Acorn.

At last week's City Council meeting, Mary Wiesbrock, Chair of Save Open Space (SOS), an organization dedicated to the conservation of open spaces in the Santa Monica Mountains, suggested that the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Westlake and Malibu all work together to help Thousand Oaks bring the world-class professional cycling event back to Amgen’s home town, said the newspaper.

AEG Sports, based in L.A., owns and operates what’s become the country’s premier annual cycling event, said the report.

The deadline for cities to submit a bid to AEG for the 2013 race is Aug. 17, said the Acorn.

According to the report, the first race in 2006 finished on Amgen's Thousand Oaks biotech campus, but because of the expense and commitment of man-power involved, the city bowed out of the tour for the next three years.

The race next returned to T.O. in 2010, when the city teamed up with Westlake Village and Agoura Hills to stage the final leg of the race, said the newspaper. After two successful years as a host city, T.O. took another break in 2012, said the report.

“But if they can get help with that, maybe we can get them to support the bike tour in 2014,” said Wiesbrock who proposes the local bike race could start at Channel Island University, according to the story.

“I’d be happy to work with you on this,” Councilmember Illece Buckley Weber said at the council meeting, reports the Acorn.

But Andrew Powers, spokesperson for Thousand Oaks, told the Acorn that his city does not intend to host the bike race in 2013, said the report.

“It’s a fantastic event. It brings in great exposure to local communities but it also requires a great deal of work to put on and a lot of fund raising to offset costs associated with the race,” Powers said in the report.

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