D2R2’s 2026 180K route is about 115 miles with 13,000 feet of climbing, roughly 60% of it unpaved. The route rises and falls through western Massachusetts, with grades reaching 20%.
This is a six-week plan for the time left before D2R2. Six weeks is not enough to build 115-mile endurance and 13,000 feet of climbing from scratch, but it can focus your current fitness on long riding and repeated climbs.
115 MI · 13,000 FT CLIMBING · ABOUT 60% UNPAVED ON MIXED-SURFACE BACK ROADS THROUGH WESTERN · 6 WEEKS · 5–9 HR/WK · SAVE MY RACE
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 D2R2 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.