Town Officials and Rasputitsa Cycling Event Organizers Abandon 2024 Road Return Efforts

Efforts by town officials and Rasputitsa cycling event organizers to return the race to local roads in 2024, following a fatality on the course this year, have come to an end.  Rasputitsa is relocating to Jay. Event founders and organizers announced on Tuesday their decision to hold the 2024 event in Jay, with Jay Peak Resort serving as host. They’re calling it a return to their roots in Orleans County as the event began in Newport. It will be the 1oth anniversary year of the first Rasputitsa. There have been eight events since, with no Rasputitsa in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. The last seven have been in Burke, with the Burke Mountain Resort serving as host.  Last year’s event ended in tragedy when a bicyclist was killed near the intersection of Carter and Brook roads in Burke. A crash investigation determined that the primary cause of the crash was the bicyclist’s own actions, but it caused everyone from race organizers, to town officials to local firefighters to take a closer look at event safety.  The relocation announcement on Tuesday came the day after the select board in Jay agreed to open the roads for the event.