Ned Gravel is 66 miles with about 7,500 feet of climbing on Colorado Rockies gravel, starting above 8,000 feet and averaging around 8,800. The air stays thin the whole way, and afternoon storms and cool mountain conditions are possible.
This is an eight-week plan for finishing Ned Gravel on the hours you have, built to prepare you for its repeated climbing over 66 miles. The thin air is the race’s demand, not something a plan can hand you, so most of the work goes toward the climbing and the distance while you keep your own build practical around the rest of your week.
66 MI · 7,500 FT CLIMBING · ~8.8K FT ALTITUDE · 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 Ned Gravel 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