The origin story
Vibe Coach didn't start as a product. It started as a question: what if an AI could coach me the way a human coach would, adapting week by week, ride by ride, based on what I actually did?
Where it all starts
“PRACTICE DOESN'T MAKE PERFECT.
PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT.”
A coach said this to me early in my athletic life. I've carried it ever since, taught it to my son, built it into the way I train, and eventually built it into this product.
Most training apps chase the destination. They sell you a peak. Vibe Coach is built around a different idea: the athletes who show up consistently, not perfectly, just consistently, are the ones who arrive at mile 25 with something left. The process doesn't just improve your fitness. It rewires you. That's what permanent means.
Barry Roubaix 2026
In early 2026, I started a coaching conversation with AI. Not because I was trying to build a product. I had a race on the calendar, Barry Roubaix, 36 miles through the scenic roads of Barry County, Michigan, and I wanted to show up prepared instead of just hoping my general fitness would carry me through.
Over the next eight weeks, something clicked.
The plan did not just sit there like a static training PDF. It adjusted when my HRV was low. It backed me off when recovery mattered. It pushed me when I was clearly sandbagging. It reminded me to fuel better. It even helped me see when my aerobic efficiency was moving in the wrong direction.
For the first time, it felt less like I was following a spreadsheet and more like I had a coach paying attention.
Race day was wet, sloppy, and slow. The gravel felt like riding through peanut butter. But I finished strong, felt surprisingly good considering the conditions, and still had something left in the tank.
That was the moment it really clicked. The value was not just the result. It was how prepared I felt.
That conversation eventually became this product. The idea was simple: if adaptive AI coaching could help me train smarter, listen to my body, and show up ready, then it could help other self-coached athletes do the same.
Especially the ones training alone, without a human coach in their corner.
What the coaching focused on
Aerobic efficiency: lowering HR at race pace over 8 weeks
Recovery signals: adjusting load based on HRV and readiness
Fueling rehearsal: practicing race nutrition on every long ride
Terrain specificity: gravel torque work, not just power numbers
The result
His strongest Barry Roubaix finish in four attempts — on a soaking wet day where the gravel felt like riding through peanut butter. Not because he trained harder. Because he trained smarter. A process that felt controlled, informed, and worth repeating.
Why it's different
01
It listens
Strava syncs, screenshots analyzed, stats pasted. The coach reads what you actually did, not what the plan assumed you would do.
02
It adapts
Low HRV day? The plan adjusts. Missed workouts? Accounted for. Great long ride? The next week gets nudged accordingly. That's what coaches do.
03
It makes it stick
Every consistent week is a deposit. The fitness isn't just physical. The process becomes part of how you train. That's the permanent part.
Who built it
I'm a product manager, gravel cyclist, and father based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've ridden Barry Roubaix four times, train on a mix of Zwift, Peloton, and outdoor rides whenever the Michigan weather cooperates, and track everything obsessively on Strava.
Patagonia shorts over bibs. Widespread Panic before a ride. Beats to their own drum. Built to endure. Not a traditional cyclist — an adventurer who happens to ride. Training consistently not because it's required, but because it's who I am. Constantly smiling, taking it all in, body flowing. That's what every good ride feels like. That's what this app is built to enable.
I built Vibe Coach because I wanted a coaching experience that matched how I actually train. Data-driven but not rigid, adaptive but not chaotic, serious but not joyless. The kind of coaching that makes the work feel like it's building toward something.
Vibe Coach is built and operated by Third Coast Labs LLC, a Michigan-based software company. Version 0.8 Beta. Still early, getting better every week.
What this product believes in
Consistency over heroics
The athlete who shows up every week beats the one who trains heroically and burns out. Every time.
Adaptation over rigidity
A plan that doesn't respond to your actual life isn't a coach. It's a spreadsheet.
Data in service of feel
The numbers don't make the decision. They inform it. Your coach translates the gap.
Adventure as the goal
Training isn't the point. The point is being ready for whatever comes next. The race, the trail, the spontaneous epic.
Ready to start
Join the early access list. When the next wave opens, you'll be first in.