Heck of the North is 100 miles with about 4,500 feet of climbing, run mostly on snowmobile trails—packed dirt, roots, and rocks over narrow paths—with forest roads and short paved connectors making up the rest, so it demands real bike-handling more than smooth-gravel speed. Expect cold starts around 40–45°F warming into the 50s, and a fall wet season where rain is possible.
This is an eight-week plan for riders working with four to six hours a week. Most of that limited time goes toward sustained endurance and the kind of rough, low-traction riding the trails demand, because the handling and the distance are what make this course hard on a small training budget.
100 MI · 4,500 FT CLIMBING · 60% SNOWMOBILE TRAILS · 8 WEEKS · 4–6 HR/WK · TIME-CRUNCHED
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, so the plan runs on your real numbers
- The full Heck of the North 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