Northumberland man builds AI cycling coach to get local riders race ready

Kyle Hodgson spent two years building VeloCoach around a full-time job and raising his 11-year-old son.

The app works as a personal cycling coach. It builds a training plan around the events a rider has entered, then adjusts it every day to how they slept, how recovered they are and what they actually rode.

“Most training plans assume you have the same free hours every week,” said Kyle.

“As a single dad, I don't, and neither do shift workers or anyone with a busy life. I wanted a coach in my pocket that moves the plan when life gets in the way, so you still turn up on the start line ready.”

Riders tell VeloCoach which events they are aiming for, from a local hill climb or a 10-mile time trial to a 100-mile sportive or a crit. The app shapes the weeks of training towards them. It reads data from Apple Watch, Garmin and WHOOP, sends workouts to Garmin and Zwift, and gives each ride a written debrief on what went well and what to change next time. Riders can ask the AI coach questions at any time.

The app arrives at a busy time for racing in the region. Road racing is coming back through the new North East Road Race Series (NERRS), built by local clubs. It ran three rounds in 2026, with more planned for 2027.

Hill climbs are booming too. This year's Prospect Hill climb in Northumberland filled its 120-place limit, was granted special permission to raise it, and drew a record 160 sign-ups, with riders still turned away.

Muckle CC rider Sarah Allen, an early beta tester, trained with VeloCoach for this year's NECL crits, where she reached the podium, then switched to the hill climbs and beat her times from previous years.

“It changed my training when the season moved from crits to hill climbs, without me having to build a new plan,” she said. "Getting on the podium and then going quicker up the climbs than I ever have felt like proof it works."

"There's never been a better time to get into racing round here," said Kyle. “Autumn and winter are when next season is won. Start building now and you'll feel the difference by the first event of spring.”

VeloCoach is available on iPhone from the App Store, with a 7-day free trial, then £14.99 a month. More at velocoach-ai.com.