GRUSK climbs to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia — 82 miles of mountain gravel.
The grades are long and steady rather than steep, on forest roads that run from smooth dirt to rutted, washed-out double track — and the climbing does not end at the summit. This is a six-week plan for the weeks you have left. Six weeks is not enough to build climbing fitness from scratch — it is enough to raise your climbing where it counts, rehearse pacing for long, steady grades, and set up a day ridden within yourself.
82 MI · N/A FT CLIMBING · WV MOUNTAIN GRAVEL, RUTTED FOREST ROADS · 6 WEEKS · 5–9 HR/WK · SAVE MY RACE
WHAT'S INSIDE
- Triage — the highest-value work for the time left, on real graphs
- Strength kept to what helps, with video demos
- Weekly notes from me + the Gravel Grit mental program
- A testing week so the work fits the fitness you have now
- The full GRUSK race guide — pacing, gearing, fueling, so smart riding covers what training could not
WHAT YOU'LL GET
The best salvaged version of your race — six weeks pointed at what still helps.
For the rider who is out of runway but not out of the race · 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