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 a six-week plan for when the entry is paid and the weeks are short. Six weeks won’t build the fitness that months would, but the work focuses on the repeated climbing and the sustained hundred-mile distance so you get to the start with a plan for both.
100 MI · 7,671 FT CLIMBING · GRAVEL ROADS THROUGH RANCH COUNTRY WITH BIGHORN MOUNTAINS · 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 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