One of the Western USA’s longest running and largest cycling events, Tour des Chutes in the State of Oregon, hastily announced this week it will not return in 2022 and cease all future operations.

After 17 years hosting over 1000 amateur cyclists each July, the long term negative impacts of the COVID pandemic have decimated the pool of volunteers required to hold the event.

Tour des Chutes board member Kym Garrett said the board cannot find the 150 volunteers required on race day. “We just lost a significant number of volunteers, and volunteer rectruitment has been really difficult. A lot of our longtime volunteers resigned and weren’t coming back. And this all happened pretty recently.”

The full Tour des Chutes has not been held since 2019, but hoped to return 9 July in the High Desert of eastern Oregon with over 1500 cyclists participating.

Garrett said she was holding out hope that others might step up to fill the void left by the cancelled event, “The Tour des Chutes has had a beautiful season, and now it’s time for something new and different. Hopefully there will be other people who will step in.”

The Tour des Chutes offered rides from 25 to 100 miles in distance, including the beautiful Sisters-Smith Rock State Scenic Bikeway, and raised over $1.25 million in charity funds to help children and adults with cancer.

Photos: Tour des Chutes