endurance.biz spoke with Richard Lang founder and director at SPOK’D, a specialist coaching platform for cyclists. We spoke about a range of issues, starting with Coronavirus. The discussion also touched on the evolution of cycle coaching, as well as building a brand back up after it’s fallen flat on its face…
A summary with some of the discussion points is written up below. To hear the conversation in full, please check out the full interview via Soundcloud.
EnduranceBiz: How are things with you?
Richard Lang: Not too bad. All going well. Things are a little intense at the moment especially in today’s climate with Coronavirus. We’re just trying to do the best that we can; just keep staying positive.
Essentially, we’re a coaching platform about helping riders to achieve their goals. What’s interesting is that riders in the UK and across Europe have been working hard all winter for their summer events. And now, they come across this uncertainty and ask themselves ‘so what am I meant to do now?’
At SPOK’D it’s about how do we answer those sort of questions for the riders.
EnduranceBiz: Could you give us a bit of a background to SPOK’D?
Richard: Our journey so far has been over three years now. We’re based in Manchester. We have got a fantastic founding team and investors. [Originally] SPOK’D got built by an agency. We took that product, and released it to market. And we discovered that it fell flat on its face.
The vision itself and the idea of what we were trying to execute was well received but what we were trying to do just wasn’t meeting riders’ expectations.
EnduranceBiz: What happened?
Richard: We just couldn’t execute the product the way that we sold it.
With coaching it’s such a complex process. You have the data side, which is probably more straightforward. But the other element is the softer side: communication. How to give motivation, perspective, etc., that’s the tricky bit.
We didn’t get enough riders involved at the outset and so we learnt a lot. But, we were lucky. After we released it, and it fell flat on its face we still had a fantastic concept. We were able to take that to thestartupfactory [thestartupfactory.tech]. This set-up backs individuals and teams with fantastic ideas. They saw that we had this concept about trying to make personalized coaching on scale.
And they were able to help build the product. They support you in the dev; they support you in the UX. They supported me as a solo founder.
So, we closed it all down, got riders involved and started to build a community behind closed doors. It was about constant feedback, checking… are we on the right track? Early last year we opened it up again and the reception was a lot more positive.
Now the challenge was about marketing. It is one thing having a product, but next it’s how to get your name out there.
EnduranceBiz: In terms of the smart algorithms could you elaborate on how that works, in terms of adapting to training load, fitness and lifestyle?
Richard: To build a training plan there are four steps. You set your goal, set your first week’s availability, link your accounts and set your fitness benchmark, which you use, i.e. zones. Your plan then generates. You see what your training plan is for the week. It’s all structured. You can then either follow the plan or you can do free rides, for example, for commutes to work.
We don’t restrict that at all. It’s about being a guide. So, you get to the end of the week. Your sessions are stored, and then next week is going to be generated based on four key variables…
What was planned versus what did you actually do? How did the sessions actually feel, in terms of perceived exertion. Then, it’s sleep, in terms of sleep quality; and finally your energy levels before the ride.
So essentially that goes through a set of algorithms that affects next week’s training load based on: what is your availability, what is your goal and where you are from that goal. It takes you through a periodized training plan.
EnduranceBiz: So, can the athlete change that plan; say for example if they have work commitments, or if they are on a lockdown, so they’re only able to do, let’s say, Zwift racing or training?
Richard: Any time during the week you can change your availability.
EnduranceBiz: And in terms of logging the data?
Richard: When you build your plan you link your Strava account and your Garmin account. We pull your data from Strava. You can also pull your SPOK’D session into your Garmin device for you to follow. Or you can download your SPOK’D session and load that into Zwift, and it then appears in your workout library.
We’re also in talks with a number of software partners. For us, SPOK’D is a coach app, and it’s about how do we allow you to ride your bike sessions in other platforms.
EnduranceBiz: Can you talk a bit about the athlete mindset – how this fits with the app and the interface and that journey that the athlete goes on.
Richard: We look at what questions riders ask themselves about how they train. So, riders will probably be asking themselves three simple questions: where am I now; how am I doing, and where am I going?
We are really focused in on the simplistic side of all the data. We’re not trying to overwhelm. It’s about the key metrics you need to know.
EnduranceBiz: You mentioned that you want to keep the app open to multiple devices. I’m guessing at the moment that there is no coach input. The app itself is the coach. Is it possible that you will have any human coach intervention at some point in the future?
Richard: Absolutely. Down the road we could establish coach mentors, where SPOK’D may do more of the grunt work – but you could speak to a coach and they could give you another perspective. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to replace picking up the phone to a coach and having a fifteen minute conversation.
What SPOK’D is doing is giving another option to riders. In terms of speaking with a coach, we could never replace that… that rapport between two individuals.
Endurancebiz: Going back to the ‘C-word’, Coronavirus, it’s clear that this is having a massive economic impact. The impact is hitting the coaching industry, and alongside this sports tech brands such as yourselves. Are there any particular impacts that you foresee as this plays out?
Richard: In the short term it is the events. Everyone has been gearing up for these events. How are these going to be funded? In terms of coaches and clubs, we all have to continue supporting. It’s a tough time at the moment. I’m sure everyone economically is a little bit strapped.
We need to rally together and try to continue to think positive. So, what we’ve done is give free coaching to all youth riders. As group-based sessions and races have been cancelled, there is more time to train now – especially now with schools being closed. The key thing for us is to stop riders over training.
Endurancebiz: The link between events and coaching is a profound connection. Given that coaching is so fundamentally linked to event goals, are you seeing any shifts in behaviour with your athletes?
Richard: I think it’s about riders realigning with what they want to achieve. They could scale back and hit the reset button. Maybe they go more into a maintenance phase. The other flip side could be focusing on an element of your cycling, so for example, one minute power. You could train to those metrics; have some focus in your training and then objectively measure progression.
EnduranceBiz: For your business and the future, how do you see things progressing?
Richard: I think the industry is going to continue to grow; and I think sports tech is definitely a fascinating area to be in. People are intrigued about data; and it will be really interesting to see how other businesses use data and give more power to the riders and then help them achieve their goals more efficiently.
I think for us our growth is just to continue what we’re doing, to be transparent in the way that we build and to help riders to train smart in a simple way. And then, it’s about integration. We’re speaking to a number of partners, who we can integrate with and look to go worldwide.
