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 a twelve-week plan for riders chasing a result, built around the higher weekly hours that racing takes rather than just covering the distance. The volume is higher and the hard days more specific, because a result here comes from holding the pace through the early rollers and still having the legs for the repeated climbing and the 12% kick late in the race.
67 MI · 4,850 FT CLIMBING · 95% GRAVEL—CHUNKY, LOOSE, AND SHARP · 12 WEEKS · 9–13 HR/WK · COMPETE
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 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.