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 for riders working with four to six hours a week. Most of the training goes toward the repeated climbing and the endurance a hundred miles asks for, because those hours are limited and the demand is real.
100 MI · 7,671 FT CLIMBING · GRAVEL ROADS THROUGH RANCH COUNTRY WITH BIGHORN MOUNTAINS · 8 WEEKS · 4–6 HR/WK · TIME-CRUNCHED
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