Summer Success

Eneas, 3rd at Mt. Washington

Summer of 2014, (thus far,) has proved to be a regional renaissance year for owner & manager of Total Training and Endurance, Eneas Freyre.  After capturing the Overall Championship Title in the 2014 Bethel Spring Series, Eneas went on to sweep a tri-fecta of Pro victories on the roads of the Nutmeg State.

Beginning with the State Criterium Championship in June, Eneas notched a 2^nd place Overall finish, while crossing the finish as the first Connecticut resident.  He followed this up in July at the State Time-Trial Championship with an Overall victory in record time.  The third step was the collection of a the State Roadrace Title in August at the Tokeneke Classic, an 88 mile race in which Mr. Freyre finished 3^rd Overall as the first CT resident, the day after leading TTEndurance’s 100K ride.

 

Yet this isn’t half the story.  On the weekends bookending the Tokeneke Classic, Eneas participated in two grueling races.  On August 1 began the 3-day stage race:  Tour of the Catskills.  Riding hard and determined, Eneas came away with the polka-dot jersey, signifying his coronation as winner of the King of the Mountains competition, (this in edition to a 2^nd place finish in that race’s Stage 1 Time Trial.)  The honor of best climber in the Catskills was soon to be tested yet again, this time on New England’s highest peak:  New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. 

The 7.6 mile race up the autoroad to the summit of Mt. Washington averages 11% with the highest gradients near the top kicking up to 20% amid swirls of fog and clouds at an elevation well above 6,000 feet.  If it was difficult, Eneas never faltered, riding to a 3^rd place overall podium in 54:11, less than 2 minutes outside the mark recorded by Olympic Time Trial gold medalist Tyler Hamilton in 2006, whose career accomplished have since been marred by failed doping tests in 2004 & 2008 at the Olympics and Vuelta d’Espana.

 

Success through summer wasn't limited to Eneas alone.  Timothy, Tammy and Torr represented TTE's lofty standards in their respective disciplines.  Timothy kicked off summer by taking 5th place in the 1-Mile Roadrace State Championship with a personal best of 4:16.  He followed this up with a modest P.R. of 56:06 in the 10 Mile State Championship, as well as winning a local 10K in 33:08.  Tammy Kiernan embodied the fortitude of a champion with her 2nd place Age Group finish among a field of 700+ in the Mossman Sprint Triathlon, at the height of summer.  Concurrently Torr Benetta trounced his way to a 6th place finish in the Rocky Hill Grand Prix, he may have finished higher but was sidelined halfway for several minutes to repair his damaged machine.  The experience of being limited by extraneous circumstances may have fueled him the following weekend when Mr. Bennetta rallied to a podium finish at the Thomaston Hare Scramble.

Summer of 2014 will be remembered by at TTE as a summer of set precedence, a summer of excellence, and a well of inspiration that saturates our collective ambitions as we move into autumnal light and beyond.  Be a champion.