The organizer confirms Ukiah Mendo Gravel Epic for Sunday, May 23, 2027. Its current flagship covers 76 miles and 8,420 feet over a 32-percent paved and 68-percent dirt mix, opening with roughly 1,900 feet of climbing into private redwood-company roads.
This eight-week Time-Crunched plan narrows the work to repeatable race efforts, one purposeful endurance ride, and sustained-climb restraint and mixed-surface descending control. The compressed runway protects recovery while still proving food, fluid, tire, repair, and pacing decisions before race week.
76 MI · 8,420 FT CLIMBING · 68% DIRT + 8,420 FT CLIMBING · 8 WEEKS · 4–6 HR/WK · TIME-CRUNCHED
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 Ukiah Mendo Gravel Epic 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