Season wrap and local news

ROANOKE, Virginia — September 23, 2025 The North American race season is officially wrapped—just not for me. This is when planning ramps up, and I’m grateful to be firmly rooted in Roanoke, VA for a few weeks before the next travel. It’s contract season: most of our athletes are on multi-year agreements, and we’re evaluating a few meaningful industry shifts I’ll share soon. We do still have a handful of overseas starts on the calendar: Chrono des Nations (France), the U23 Road World Championships (Rwanda), and potential entries at Track National Championships in Santiago, Chile.

Autumn has arrived in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, which means cyclocross is here (more on that below). I jumped straight back into community with a visit to the beautiful Hollins University campus for an inspiring meeting with Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge and VBR Sports—thank you for the warm welcome and thoughtful conversation.

I also had the privilege of spending time at The Shenandoah Club—Virginia’s oldest continuously operating private club, established in 1893—and I’m honored to be invited as a future guest speaker for the Ladies Who Launch series. I’m looking forward to joining that conversation.

Closer to home, my neighbor Cindy (and her mini-farm—one of the neighborhood’s many charms) introduced me to the Lions Club’s work. After learning more, I attended my first meeting and will officially join the Mount Pleasant chapter soon. Service matters to me, and I’m excited to contribute. And in a simple, meaningful moment, a next-door neighbor I hadn’t met yet walked over, introduced himself, and said, “We look out for one another up here—let me know if you need anything.” He even thanked me for being here. Sometimes a kind word is all it takes to lift a day and remind you that you belong.

Thank you, Roanoke—and thanks for reading.—Nicola

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Note from Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge: We're excited to announce that direct visitor spending during the 2025 USA Cycling Endurance National Mountain Biking Championships generated $2.6 million in local economic impact! 🥳 🎉 The Visit VBR Foundation and USA Cycling raised $22,400 for local trail maintenance and development through a $10 race registration fee. Yesterday, checks for $11,200 were presented to both the City of Roanoke Parks and Recreation and Roanoke County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.🎉 Our Vice President of Sports & Sales John Oney, STS said, “One of our top priorities when planning these championships was to generate giveback for lasting outdoor infrastructure in our region. It’s very important to Visit VBR that we make this a legacy event for our locals who ride these trails every day.”🎉 We're grateful to every partner, volunteer, sponsor, staff member, and spectator who made the 2025 USA Cycling Endurance National Mountain Biking Championships an incredible regional experience! We can't wait to do it again in 2026!🎉 Learn more here- https://lnkd.in/eD-jyJKa