The Highlands Gravel Classic is 67 miles with about 4,850 feet of climbing on 95% gravel that runs chunky, loose, and sharp. The rollers push the pace early, the wooded descents are fast and loose with limited visibility, and a steep 12% kick comes near mile 51 with more climbing still to the finish. Late April in the Ozarks is unpredictable — anywhere from 80°F and humid to 40°F and raining, with rain making the loose corners slick.
This is an eight-week plan for riders who can already handle long days but want to build toward this course specifically, and it works around the seven to eleven hours a week you have. Most of the work goes toward riding the rollers and the loose, chunky gravel on tired legs and handling the fast wooded descents, because a hard 12% grade near mile 51 comes when there is still climbing left to the finish.
67 MI · 4,850 FT CLIMBING · 95% GRAVEL—CHUNKY, LOOSE, AND SHARP · 8 WEEKS · 7–11 HR/WK · FINISHER
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 Highlands Gravel Classic guide — terrain, gearing, fueling
Hey! I'm Matti - also known as the Gravel God himself!
If you're into gravel racing and want to be as fast as possible, you had better choose me!
Why?
Because I'm the fastest, least talented person to ever ride a bike. I've made every mistake in the book so you don't have to and I'm here to save you years of failure and struggle.
When I'm not helping my athletes get faster on a bike I write obvious, overlooked training content that makes cycling training easy to understand.