The Mid South’s current main route is 106.9 miles with 6,506 feet of climbing on Oklahoma red-clay roads, rolling prairie, and a rough private doubletrack sector. Dry conditions can make it fast and tactical; rain can turn the clay into wheel-stopping mud.
This is a twelve-week plan for that day, built around your fitness and the hours you actually have. The work develops endurance for the distance, repeatable power for the rollers, and practical preparation for fueling, layers, tires, and mud clearance.
106.9 MI · 6,506 FT CLIMBING · RED CLAY + 6,506 FT OF ROLLERS · 12 WEEKS · 7–11 HR/WK · FINISHER
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 and a mid-plan retest, so the plan runs on your real numbers
- The full Mid South 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