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 an eight-week plan for that weekend, built around your hours — and it assumes you arrive with a base, because eight weeks is enough to sharpen climbing fitness and two-day durability, not to build either from scratch. The plan spends those weeks on exactly that: long climbs, strength for rough roadbeds, and pacing rehearsed before race day.
70 MI · 8,100 FT CLIMBING · UNMARKED FOREST GRAVEL · 8 WEEKS · 7–11 HR/WK · FINISHER
WHAT'S INSIDE
- Structured rides with real graphs on your calendar
- Strength built in with video walkthroughs — climbing legs get built off the bike too
- Weekly notes from me + the Gravel Grit mental program
- A testing week so eight weeks of work fits the fitness you actually have
- The full Reliance Deep Woods guide — pacing, gearing, fueling, and navigating an unmarked course
WHAT YOU'LL GET
Climbing legs that show up on Sunday, not just Saturday.
For the rider whose goal is the finish line, done right. · 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