Dead Swede Gravel is 100 miles with about 7,700 feet of climbing on ranch-country gravel roads beneath the Bighorn Mountains. Expect open terrain and high-plains conditions, where wind is a variable to plan around.
This is an eight-week plan built around the hours you already have, with most of the work aimed at riding this kind of distance and repeated climbing on tired legs. The open, exposed terrain means long steady efforts and time in the wind are part of the training, because a hundred miles of ranch-country gravel asks for endurance you’ve built rather than borrowed.
100 MI · 7,671 FT CLIMBING · GRAVEL ROADS THROUGH RANCH COUNTRY WITH BIGHORN MOUNTAINS · 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 Dead Swede 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