Can AI Replace Your Cycling Coach

The Quest for Peak Fitness

For the past 17 years, my friend Dave Marchick has organized the Tour de Dave, a long weekend of riding in late April or early May in scenic locations throughout the East Coast. We’ve ridden past the homes of US presidents and through Civil War battlefields, over the Shenandoah Mountains, and around the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York.

It is an enjoyable weekend with friends on a bike – what could be better? But this year, I wanted to make sure I was fit enough to enjoy both the riding and the socializing. I wanted energy to spare so that I was not a zombie at the dinner table.

Turning to AI for a Training Plan

So I put my max heart rate and Zone 2 wattage into ChatGPT and asked it for a six-week training plan for a Master’s 50+ cyclist to prepare for a three-day, 180-mile ride, as well as a plan for strength and mobility work. ChatGPT produced an entirely reasonable program.

But I’m an experienced-enough cyclist and fitness nerd to worry that it was missing … something, and I did not have 100 percent confidence in the plan. Moreover, the chatbot was not going to hold me accountable and the idea of taking the time to enter the training sessions into Zwift was discouraging all on its own.

The Invaluable Human Element

So I reached out to Zach Nehr, a coach, freelance writer, and elite rider who put together a six-week riding and strength training plan, which proved to be incredibly effective. I texted with Zach from time to time with questions and updates – fortunately, his plan did not need to be tweaked because I responded so well to it – and the $300 fee was enough to keep me on track.

AI vs Human Coach The Future of Training

ChatGPT delivered a reasonable training program, I think. While Nehr’s plan was almost certainly better, it was more expensive, and a higher tiered plan – a structure most coaches offer – would have allowed for even more communication.

As artificial intelligence percolates through cycling and the platforms and services athletes use for coaching, training, recovery, and nutrition, I began to wonder whether we’ll still need human coaches in an AI world?