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This guide is designed to help you get started with Alpine AI Coach, understand what it can do for you, and make the most of your experience from day one.
Alpine AI Coach is a free, AI-powered cycling coaching assistant available through the Web App. It was built by Carlos, a former Spanish professional cyclist, with one clear goal: to give every serious cyclist access to the kind of structured coaching and sport science support that used to be available only to funded athletes and professional teams.
Whether you are training for your first gran fondo, working toward a podium finish, or simply trying to ride smarter and recover better, Alpine AI Coach is designed to support your journey with personalised, evidence-based guidance.
The gap between amateur and professional cyclists is rarely about talent. It is almost always about access — to structured coaching, sport science knowledge, and consistent feedback. Alpine AI Coach exists to close that gap, making professional-level coaching support available to any motivated cyclist, anywhere in the world, completely free of charge.
Alpine AI Coach provides a comprehensive set of coaching tools in the Web App:
Alpine AI Coach works through the Web App. Open it in your browser, complete onboarding, log rides, upload files, and review your coaching feedback from the same rider account.
The coach communicates with you in plain, clear language. You describe your rides, share how you felt, and Alpine AI Coach responds with coaching feedback tailored specifically to you.
Alpine AI Coach is built around the Web App, with your onboarding, ride history, weekly plan, stats, and coaching feedback in one place.
When you log a ride with Alpine AI Coach, the core information you need is simple:
That is all you need. No technology required whatsoever.
If you have a basic cycling computer, you can enrich your ride log with additional data that helps Alpine AI Coach give you even more precise and personalised feedback. Useful metrics to include are:
You do not need a GPS device or a smartphone to use Alpine AI Coach effectively. But if your computer records these numbers, sharing them makes your coaching data richer and your feedback more accurate.
A note on heart rate monitoring: A heart rate monitor is not compulsory. RPE is the foundation of how Alpine AI Coach analyses your training, and it works completely on its own. Heart rate data, when available, adds an extra layer of precision to the analysis — but it is always supplementary, never a requirement.
If you ride with a smartphone app such as Strava, Komoot, or similar, or with a Garmin device or any equivalent GPS cycling computer, you can upload your ride file directly to Alpine AI Coach.
Supported file formats are:
Simply export the file from your device or app after your ride and upload it directly in the Web App.
If your device records GPS and movement data, file uploads will import ride metrics including distance, duration, elevation, speed, cadence, and GPS route.
Heart rate data: Where heart rate is present in your file, it will be fully used by the coach, including average HR, max HR, and HR drift analysis. You can also log HR manually after any session.
Power meter data: Advanced metrics derived from power output, such as normalised power, training stress score, and intensity factor, will be available in a future update. Alpine AI Coach will continue to expand its data processing capabilities over time.
Alpine AI Coach uses RPE, which stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion, as the primary method for logging ride intensity. RPE is a 1 to 10 scale that measures how hard your ride feels. Professional coaches have used it for decades, and it works without any technology at all.
| RPE | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Very easy. Recovery spin, barely any effort. |
| 2 | Very light. Easy warm-up pace. |
| 3 | Easy. Long endurance ride, fully comfortable. |
| 4 | Moderate easy. Steady pace, breathing slightly elevated. |
| 5 | Moderate. Tempo effort, can speak in short phrases. |
| 6 | Moderate hard. Sustained effort, conversation is difficult. |
| 7 | Hard. Threshold pace, breathing heavy and controlled. |
| 8 | Very hard. Race pace or hard interval effort. |
| 9 | Extremely hard. Close to your absolute limit. |
| 10 | Maximum. Sprint finish or all-out effort only. |
How to use it: Don't rate a ride based only on how the last few minutes felt — you'll remember the ending best, but that's not the whole story. Think back over the ride in parts: how did the first section feel, how did the later section feel? A ride that was easy most of the way and only got harder near the end deserves a lower rating than one that was hard throughout, even if they finished the same. Rate the whole ride, not just the ending.
Alpine AI Coach uses your RPE data to understand your training load, monitor fatigue, and give you better guidance as your fitness evolves. Heart rate data, where available, adds depth to that picture — but RPE is always the foundation.
| What You Have | What You Can Log |
|---|---|
| Nothing except memory | Distance, duration, RPE |
| Basic cycling computer | Distance, duration, RPE, elevation, cadence |
| Basic cycling computer with HR monitor | All of the above, plus Average HR and/or Max HR entered manually |
| Smartphone or GPS device | Upload a .fit or .gpx file directly |
| GPS device with heart rate data in the file | Full file upload — heart rate data will be read and used automatically |
| Power meter | Basic metrics via file upload. Advanced power metrics coming soon. |
Follow these steps to begin your first session with Alpine AI Coach:
Start in the Web App and keep your training progress in one rider account.
You now have everything you need to get started. Log your rides, be honest with your effort, and let Alpine AI Coach do the rest.
If something does not work as expected, or if you have suggestions, please share them. Every piece of feedback is read and taken seriously.