Le Grand du Nord is 110 miles on mostly gravel and dirt forest roads, about 5,000 feet of climbing spread across constant rolling terrain, with a stretch of technical doubletrack. Temperatures stay cool near Lake Superior, and in the spring wet season rain is possible.
This is a twelve-week plan for riders over fifty, built with more recovery between the harder days, because the body recovers slower than it used to and arriving fit and uninjured is the harder half after fifty. Most of the work goes toward the repeated climbing and the sustained hours the distance asks for.
110 MI · 5,000 FT CLIMBING · 70% GRAVEL/DIRT FOREST ROADS, 20% PAVED, 10% TECHNICAL · 12 WEEKS · 7–11 HR/WK · MASTERS 50+
WHAT'S INSIDE
- Structured workouts on your calendar, with real power and heart-rate graphs
- Strength work built in, with video walkthroughs
- Weekly notes from me, plus the Gravel Grit mental program
- A testing week and a mid-plan retest, so the plan runs on your real numbers
- The full Le Grand du Nord guide — terrain, gearing, fueling
Hey, I'm Matti. I spent 11 years at TrainingPeaks, where they trusted me to teach coaches how to coach at TrainingPeaks University. I raced Amateur Elite with Rio Grande Cycling Team and podiumed my age group at Unbound 200 in 2026. I have a degree in biology and exercise physiology from St. Olaf. I'm also a middle-aged dad of three, so I know training doesn't happen in a vacuum. I help gravel riders get stupidly fast without becoming the person who brings a food scale to a party