The Safari Gravel Race is 69 miles with about 8,200 feet of climbing on mostly unpaved ground — fast red-clay gravel, singletrack, and genuine game trails through Hell’s Gate. It runs high the whole way, starting near 6,200 feet and topping out above 7,200, with cool mornings that give way to strong equatorial midday sun.
This is a six-week plan for when the entry is paid and the weeks are short. Six weeks won’t build the fitness for 8,200 feet of climbing at altitude from scratch, but it can prioritize what matters most in the time left — the limited hours go toward getting used to sustained riding on rough ground, with the altitude and midday sun the race’s own demands, not something a plan can hand you.
69 MI · 8,202 FT CLIMBING · ~6.4K FT ALTITUDE · 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 Safari Gravel Race 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.