Upon hearing that Saturday's 26th Holualoa Companies Tour of the Tucson Mountains would be the final one, cyclist Emily Francone and her husband, Jeff, signed up for the race.
A combination of the "fun, fast" course and saying goodbye to her favorite race helped Francone to victory in the women's race. She won her first TTM and covered the 73 miles in 2 hours 54 minutes and 44 seconds.
Francone, 36, is a member of Team Colleen, which she said helped her to Saturday's win along with her husband. The group carries on the memory of Colleen Whealdon-Haught, a Tucson lawyer and accomplished cyclist who died of breast cancer in 2009 at age 31.
Francone and Whealdon-Haught met in 2009 at the Tour of the Tucson Mountains and Francone said she was inspired to join the team this past year.
"I just feel very privileged I got to be part of this today knowing it's going to be the last time," she said.
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The year's event drew fewer than 900 people and is estimated to have lost $30,000, Perimeter Bicycling Association of America president and founder Richard DeBernardis said.
The final TTM was punctuated by Mesa native Brian Forbes' overall win. But there was a downside to finishing more than a minute ahead of anyone else.
The 40-year-old was alone for most of the race and finished in 2:51:49.
"The group stayed together for the first seven or eight miles and I just did a little attack and no one came with me," Forbes said. "I was out probably 65 miles by myself.
"I've got a couple of friends here who are pretty strong and I was thinking they would come with but no one wanted to come," he added. "I just kept riding."
Forbes said this was his second time riding the TTM. Last year he finished sixth. He's also ridden in El Tour de Tucson and El Tour de Mesa and said it's his goal to win all the Perimeter events this year.
"It's always fun to support the local events," Forbes said. "All the PBA events are well put on. This one will be missed."
Marana resident Mike Ciasca, was second in 2:53:03 and said he got lucky at the end.
The chase pack decided to stay back to be safe, he said.
Forbes "just kept pulling away and pulling away so we just decided to ride our ride and do our race," Ciasca said. "It was an exciting race."
The 73-mile loop course started and finished at Marana Town Hall.
Ciasca was very happy with the outcome because he was recovering from an accident late last year and this race had been his "kryptonite."
"Personally, I wanted to get out here and be a part of the last one," Ciasca said, adding he hopes the race will be replaced with something different.
