I cycled consistently in 2023, but in great pain and found that I hand a large tumor in my tibial nerve. I had surgery the day after Thanksgiving and have slowly been getting back on the bike. My goal for 2024 is 5000 + miles including several long gravel races. At age 67 with one leg I want to push myself to achieve this goal for myself and to encourage other physically challenged people to realize they have far more than they have lost.
I live in a very snowy area in the States, and this is my first season with Zwift (or any indoor trainer for that matter). My goal is to take advantage of it all and ride as often as possible, maybe try out a race at the end of each month. My heart and body will appreciate that I won’t have to start over like I usually did in the springtime for years.
Makes an enormous difference- just to arrive at the better weather with a base behind you, and you feel you can really make the most of that good weather 👍
Incredibly inspirational for sure. It was really interesting too. Great achievement by Andrew, I think that all he needs to is learn racing skills. The numbers suggest that he might well have been top three or better. His fitness and ability are all there. Cillian is a true warrior and has shown the value of training and the value of the Zwift academy. Very impressive result too.
Props to both Andrew and Cillian!!! Great job to both of you! I'm training for the 2024 L'Etape San Antonio 100 mile. Last year I managed to come in top 10 for my age group. This year, I'm hoping to move that up to top 10 overall. Training hard. Wish me luck!
In my experience, at 61 YO, I just keep on riding/zwifting for at least 4 times a week (weekends will be longer rides) for a total of 100++ kms. a week. I always feel good on my day-to-day activities and I can do longer solo outdoor rides. IMO, zwifting or indoor riding will help a lot in building anyone's riding stamina.
The Academy was so fun this year. It was my first time doing it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The workouts were absolutely killer, but each was more rewarding than the last. Just like Cillian, the workouts have given new life to my love of cycling (not that I ever lost it prior to the Acadmey) but it’s not usual for me to be riding at this time of the year, and thanks to the Academy, I’m clocking 150km a week
I am in the middle of Chicagoland winter and while not on Zwift do get inspiration from this kind of programming. I will be attempting the GCN 3 climb challenge on ROUVY as I prep for the Cape Town Cycle Tour in March 2024.
2016 was the first and "hardest" Academy to date. This year was fantastic and challenging. Those repeat max efforts were so tough. I didn't see Feather in any race results on Zwift Power?
Here's the question I have, and it's never been addressed: If most experts agree that the 80-20 model of training works best, why are there NO workout plans that follow that? Every plan I see is all sweet spot and tempo work, or sweet spot with intervals, or just intervals. If I'm going to ride 5 times per week, where are the plans that call for 3 or 4 rides at endurance pace the whole time, with 1 or 2 workouts per week calling for intervals? Polarized training says that less than 5% of your riding should be at sweet spot, yet the whole training app industry pushes pretty much nothing but these kinds of plans. It makes no sense. Even Zwift, who used to have a plan called My First Century that had nothing but endurance based rides...has SCRAPPED the plan altogether! I was just going to start that plan again and it's not there! What is happening??
King Cillian rocks! 🤘Well done mate you smashed it! Andrew Feather he's a solicitor he should know the law doesn't accept poor excuses yet he still managed to crack out some really really bad ones! "my phone died on me!" 😂😂😂 He's still the king of the hills though, just as long as he starts his ride at the bottom and finishes it after appx 1.5km at the top! 😂😂😂
1st time Zwift graduate, the races were really full on, in cat C we had around 200 riders! in the races on the weekends really popular, I know what Cillian means yo-yo'ing back and forth at the front, till I got dropped on the first big climb 😅. Makes we wonder how do selectors choose the riders for the finals, especially if there's some less than honest about their weight?
Based on Andrew's total watts and his watt/kg, he definitely could have won that. A little more racing experience would have paid off. I didn't look like you were making good use of powerups either. Good job Cillian! Good luck on the Tron bike, just got mine. I am no where near the 25 climbs as I usually do Alp on a workout and normally make it up only about 500 - 700 by the end of the workout with not much motivation to get to the top.
Someone needs to give Andrew a bike fit. The man is standing up because he doesn’t like to sit down. Zwift seems perfect for him since you are not penalized aero-wise from standing up
Andrew should have used that boost in the first climb/lap, because he would get more anyways. I think that is one of the reasons why he averaged a 4.9w/kg and lost for people with way less. Anyways, Andrew is a monster rider!!!
I would love to see some real world cycling stuff and tips for heavy but active riders. Like what super light stuff may break what to consider for tire pressures. Some people do cycle and weigh well over 100KG
Count me in this group. I'm at 110 kg, and rode over 10,000 miles this past year. Obviously hills can be a real challenge at my weight, so any tips/help would sure be nice.
Before it was 180. I didn’t get any notification to tell me it had changed. But even when I was quite fit in the summer of 2022 when training for the Étape for months, my ftp did t really go up that much. I think it went from 188 to 196.
Something isn't quite right with a couple of the top 10 riders in Andrews race. There's no way someone with a 265 watt ftp would beat someone like Andrew with his 340 watt ftp, even if they are only 55kg.
Very impressive by Andrew and Cillian. But please give Cillian a proper bike fit if he keeps on riding. For Andrew a fit it probably too late ;) he knows his position he wants to ride haha.
It reminds me of "black mirror" episode, where people pedal to get points. Pedaling inside is not fun, It looks cool, but no, thank you. Except velodromes.
sad to see just how much Cillian let himself go - the only time he shines is when the spotlight is on - that does not bode well for his fitness long term - MANY rides have been done at 4:30 AM when NO one is watching and it sucks to get out of bed - the thought that the ONLY time I can ride is when there is an AUDIENCE watching me - tells me Cillian is riding for the WRONG reasons - and does not enjoy riding per se but only the attention he gets - that seems to follow his BOOM BUST fitness trend - dude you MUST find it in yourself to ride for the sake of riding - NOT for how much people cheer you on and how many "fans" are on the road side
How did you get on with the 2024 Zwift academy? 🥵
I wouldn't know, there's no way to check your results, power numbers and not even a completion e-mail 🤷♂
Tadey is having a baby. @@KlemenSuligojTri
It didn't co-incide with my schedule but it did inspire me to zwift more later in the season to up my total mileage for the year so....next year.
Where's my refund? You said their would be a refund... Did you lie?
Dunno - didn't bother!
I cycled consistently in 2023, but in great pain and found that I hand a large tumor in my tibial nerve. I had surgery the day after Thanksgiving and have slowly been getting back on the bike. My goal for 2024 is 5000 + miles including several long gravel races. At age 67 with one leg I want to push myself to achieve this goal for myself and to encourage other physically challenged people to realize they have far more than they have lost.
Wishing you the best with your recovery!
You can do it
Get well soon! Keep us updated on your progress!🫶
I had cancer 6 years ago. Cycling was one of the most important aspects of my recovery. Best wishes to you.
Speedy recovery and all the best to your 2024 goal!
Well done Andrew for not prioritising it over your family. Great job on the race both of you 👍
Conner really is like a puppy with his excitement, a 700 foot giant puppy. I love it.
Conor the big puppy! We're sure they made a film about him👀
Great dane mixed with 4 cans of redbull :) Scooby doo comes to mind. Genuine joy to watch him this excited.
Yes it’s his inner Clifford the big red dog 😅
I see you Cillian. Slogging away alone in your attic while Andrew gets the megabase and fulltime coaching. Well done both of you!
Haha! I know right? Might complain to HR…
I live in a very snowy area in the States, and this is my first season with Zwift (or any indoor trainer for that matter). My goal is to take advantage of it all and ride as often as possible, maybe try out a race at the end of each month. My heart and body will appreciate that I won’t have to start over like I usually did in the springtime for years.
Makes an enormous difference- just to arrive at the better weather with a base behind you, and you feel you can really make the most of that good weather 👍
Incredibly inspirational for sure. It was really interesting too.
Great achievement by Andrew, I think that all he needs to is learn racing skills. The numbers suggest that he might well have been top three or better. His fitness and ability are all there.
Cillian is a true warrior and has shown the value of training and the value of the Zwift academy. Very impressive result too.
Thanks a lot Mick! Glad you enjoyed it!
Andrew's home Zwift setup is simple yet brilliant... Just open the patio doors and you're riding "outside" with a gorgeous view!
Props to both Andrew and Cillian!!! Great job to both of you! I'm training for the 2024 L'Etape San Antonio 100 mile. Last year I managed to come in top 10 for my age group. This year, I'm hoping to move that up to top 10 overall. Training hard. Wish me luck!
Fantastic. The very best of luck with it!
In my experience, at 61 YO, I just keep on riding/zwifting for at least 4 times a week (weekends will be longer rides) for a total of 100++ kms. a week. I always feel good on my day-to-day activities and I can do longer solo outdoor rides. IMO, zwifting or indoor riding will help a lot in building anyone's riding stamina.
The Academy was so fun this year. It was my first time doing it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The workouts were absolutely killer, but each was more rewarding than the last. Just like Cillian, the workouts have given new life to my love of cycling (not that I ever lost it prior to the Acadmey) but it’s not usual for me to be riding at this time of the year, and thanks to the Academy, I’m clocking 150km a week
Awesome work! Will you be continuing on Zwift through the new year?
@@gcn yes for sure 👍
Congratulations to both of the heroes, specially Cillian. Big effort going from zero to hero. Never forget.
I'm with Cillian...at my age all i want to do is stay active and train then ride outdoors. Also graduated ZA
Congrats on completing Zwift Academy! Did you enjoy it?
I am in the middle of Chicagoland winter and while not on Zwift do get inspiration from this kind of programming. I will be attempting the GCN 3 climb challenge on ROUVY as I prep for the Cape Town Cycle Tour in March 2024.
Provide Feather with the ideal support so he can focus and work towards Zwift Academy! We want to see him on the training-camp in Spain!
Get outside guys, only 40 mph winds and constant rain yesterday. Cannot beat the open road
2016 was the first and "hardest" Academy to date.
This year was fantastic and challenging. Those repeat max efforts were so tough.
I didn't see Feather in any race results on Zwift Power?
I love watch Cillian. Definitely every man’s hero! Great job!
Andrew Feather be like they named a special power after me!!!
Very well done to you both guys.
I'm preparing for a ride from Glasgow (Scotland) to Warsaw (Poland) at the beginning of May.
The long workouts this year were insanely tough. Especially number 3 killed me. For numbers 5 and 6 I also only managed to do the shorter ones.
Delighted to hear this. Vindicates my decision to bail out of the long ones before Workout 3! Bloody hard though eh?
Excellent video lads. Huge results. Well done
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 @7:00 Cool setup I see you got the fan for the tail wind and the door open for a good draft
This was my fourth year doing the Academy. Didn’t enjoy it as much this year. Personally, I preferred the segment rides used in the previous years!
Way to go guys. Strong finish
Great job guys! Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas to you!🎄🎅
Here's the question I have, and it's never been addressed: If most experts agree that the 80-20 model of training works best, why are there NO workout plans that follow that? Every plan I see is all sweet spot and tempo work, or sweet spot with intervals, or just intervals. If I'm going to ride 5 times per week, where are the plans that call for 3 or 4 rides at endurance pace the whole time, with 1 or 2 workouts per week calling for intervals? Polarized training says that less than 5% of your riding should be at sweet spot, yet the whole training app industry pushes pretty much nothing but these kinds of plans. It makes no sense. Even Zwift, who used to have a plan called My First Century that had nothing but endurance based rides...has SCRAPPED the plan altogether! I was just going to start that plan again and it's not there! What is happening??
King Cillian rocks! 🤘Well done mate you smashed it! Andrew Feather he's a solicitor he should know the law doesn't accept poor excuses yet he still managed to crack out some really really bad ones! "my phone died on me!" 😂😂😂 He's still the king of the hills though, just as long as he starts his ride at the bottom and finishes it after appx 1.5km at the top! 😂😂😂
Thanks Ian! Glad you enjoyed it!
@@cilliankelly1 looking forward to what you've got planned next mate. 👍
@@iansingleton 🇧🇪
@@cilliankelly1 ooooooh interesting 😁👍 can't wait! That's gonna be savage!
My goal for next year is the STP (Seattle to Portland) in 1 day. Just over 200 miles
1st time Zwift graduate, the races were really full on, in cat C we had around 200 riders! in the races on the weekends really popular, I know what Cillian means yo-yo'ing back and forth at the front, till I got dropped on the first big climb 😅. Makes we wonder how do selectors choose the riders for the finals, especially if there's some less than honest about their weight?
I’m 110kg cat D
Looking at 70kg Andrew like WOW he calls himself “heavy” lol
Love cillians post swift hype on riding bike!
Don’t forget to use the feather, Feather!!
The perfect power-up for him!🪶
Based on Andrew's total watts and his watt/kg, he definitely could have won that. A little more racing experience would have paid off. I didn't look like you were making good use of powerups either. Good job Cillian! Good luck on the Tron bike, just got mine. I am no where near the 25 climbs as I usually do Alp on a workout and normally make it up only about 500 - 700 by the end of the workout with not much motivation to get to the top.
Someone needs to give Andrew a bike fit. The man is standing up because he doesn’t like to sit down. Zwift seems perfect for him since you are not penalized aero-wise from standing up
Imagine you just dropped Andrew Feather. Insane
Andrew should have used that boost in the first climb/lap, because he would get more anyways. I think that is one of the reasons why he averaged a 4.9w/kg and lost for people with way less. Anyways, Andrew is a monster rider!!!
I would love to see some real world cycling stuff and tips for heavy but active riders. Like what super light stuff may break what to consider for tire pressures. Some people do cycle and weigh well over 100KG
Count me in this group. I'm at 110 kg, and rode over 10,000 miles this past year. Obviously hills can be a real challenge at my weight, so any tips/help would sure be nice.
Love these 3
We need an Everyman Special series where Cilian takes on Cameraman Jack from GMBN in various cycling discipline challenges!
Is he as generally unfit as me?
What was Cillian's FTP before and after.... thanks in advance....
Before it was 180. I didn’t get any notification to tell me it had changed.
But even when I was quite fit in the summer of 2022 when training for the Étape for months, my ftp did t really go up that much. I think it went from 188 to 196.
Something isn't quite right with a couple of the top 10 riders in Andrews race. There's no way someone with a 265 watt ftp would beat someone like Andrew with his 340 watt ftp, even if they are only 55kg.
both Cillian and Andrew are real peeps, pushing the best they can...loved this, and Connor's enthusiasm is just so much fun,
Couldn't agree more! 🙌 Cillian and Andrew are killing it, and Connor's enthusiasm is pure joy.
How am I the only one commenting about Andrew’s strange position on the bike and also strange hood placement
Very impressive by Andrew and Cillian. But please give Cillian a proper bike fit if he keeps on riding. For Andrew a fit it probably too late ;) he knows his position he wants to ride haha.
Absolutely gutted Feather couldn't fit in all the rides, was so interested to see how he did
Andrew was "feeling a bit nervous" before race while having HR 76 BPM...
Love the video! Doing this with a family is TOUGH
Nice try,boys! Well done on getting in shape,Cillian!
Now the trick is staying there!
Wonder how many people use their ebikes for swift racing?
Cheers all!
Andrew, we all feel your pain working out inside; it's not that fun...
Idk I did none of the workouts and still won the first race.
You could've gone pro if you had done the workouts!👀
Why did i pay for GCN+ if O’s going to shut down!?
Makes me wonder how many people are cheating in zwift, online gaming in genral is pretty swamped with cheats
It reminds me of "black mirror" episode, where people pedal to get points. Pedaling inside is not fun, It looks cool, but no, thank you. Except velodromes.
I was charged for CGN+ just over a month ago and now it’s gone. Where’s my refund!?!
hi, please get in touch with us at support@globalcyclingnetwork.com and we can help out! thanks
“Our climbing superstar and Cillian.” What are you implying?
Should've been "Our climbing superstar Cillian"😂
But end of day turbo not a substitute for real thing. We all know in the real world Feather would win.
Could fall off or get a puncture
Where is a fans? This is overheating and hearth attack!
Zwift has so many cheats! They have to do something about that ASAP.
This guy’s performance fluctuation is weird! -compared to his hill climb level a month, or so ago ..
Do Alpe du Zwift 😊
Cillian has done it nearly 25 times, think we need to get him to race against Feather up the climb👀
@@gcnI raced Conor up it before and that’s still my PB
Very suspicious result from j rod. Weighing only 120lbs or 54kg 😂😂😂
So many lightweights on Zwift apparently
Amazing job both, extra points for mr. Kelly!
Fix the sound
Where's my refund?
AF don't need a seat 😅 ,
Stiffffffffff
😂😂 he’s not elite, elite is a pro rider in tour not some guy going round his local hills 😂😂
National hill climb champion is rather elite no?
@@cilliankelly1 no let’s see him in a tour for 2 weeks then climb a hill he’d get battered
Disappointed with Feather not taking his commitment serious and failing to complete the Zwift academy. Thought he was more focused than that.
That’s half the battle though. Fitting all this stuff in around work and family. It ain’t easy.
@@cilliankelly1 agreed. Don't take it on if you can't handle it!
First
You get one of these ... 🥇
@@gcn only medal I'll ever win in the cycling hobby 😭😭😭
Every excuse in the book coming out for feather there. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One trick pony!
sad to see just how much Cillian let himself go - the only time he shines is when the spotlight is on - that does not bode well for his fitness long term - MANY rides have been done at 4:30 AM when NO one is watching and it sucks to get out of bed - the thought that the ONLY time I can ride is when there is an AUDIENCE watching me - tells me Cillian is riding for the WRONG reasons - and does not enjoy riding per se but only the attention he gets - that seems to follow his BOOM BUST fitness trend - dude you MUST find it in yourself to ride for the sake of riding - NOT for how much people cheer you on and how many "fans" are on the road side
I’ll have to get Conor to keep making me do challenges so. I believe he has one in store for me in Spring. So that’ll keep me going until then anyway
What a nice way to unsubscribe!
Swifts just a joke
Wow....Feather is really boring. Cillian is a legend.
Feather is a very nice guy. Lovely man.