Reliance Deep Woods is two race days of mountain climbing in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest — no course markings, just you, your GPS, and the woods.
The gravel runs to eroded roadbeds and embedded rock, the climbs are long forest grades, and Sunday’s stage starts on legs that raced Saturday. This is a twelve-week plan for racing it, built around the higher volume racing takes: climbing you can repeat at race effort, strength for descending rough roads on tired legs, and the two-day durability a stage weekend is really decided by — because the result is written as much on Sunday’s climbs as Saturday’s.
70 MI · 8,100 FT CLIMBING · UNMARKED FOREST GRAVEL · 12 WEEKS · 9–13 HR/WK · COMPETE
WHAT'S INSIDE
- Structured rides with real graphs on your calendar
- Strength built in with video walkthroughs — late-race handling gets built off the bike too
- Weekly notes from me + the Gravel Grit mental program
- A testing week + mid-plan retest, so the hard work is measured to you
- The full Reliance Deep Woods guide — pacing, gearing, fueling, and navigating an unmarked course
WHAT YOU'LL GET
Still climbing well on Sunday — a result that reflects the training.
For the rider chasing a placing, not a finish. · plans@gravelgodcoaching.com
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