Congratulations! You sent your postcard in for the Miesville 56, so you are all signed up for your first real gravel event. Of course you haven't ridden all winter, and and your gravel skills are - wait - what gravel skills? The closest you have to gravel skills are riding on the Luce Line trail. Which is pretty much enough!
If you've ever ridden a metric century ride, or even a 40 mile ride, you can step up to riding 56 miles of gravel in just 4 short weeks. We do need to make some assumptions - you haven't been completely idle this winter - some time on the trainer, or maybe you've been skiing or running all winter. Just basic fitness. And we aren't talking about racing - we're planning to finish this ride at a respectable touring pace - around 10.5-11 mph average, which means you are probably riding 15 mph on the flats.
For starters, make sure your bike is all tuned up, and that you have good tires for riding on gritty roads. I'm partial to either gravel tires like the Challenge Gravel Grinder, Clement MSO or maybe a cyclocross tire intended for hard pack. Make sure you have clothing that fits your riding style and the weather - booties, long fingered gloves, multiple layers, tights, and a jacket. And try to pick the weather. Riding your first ride or two in the rain is a lousy way to start the season!
The goal of this program, like any training program is to build gradually toward the target event. In our case, we are looking at 56 miles of pretty good gravel, with a few hills, a little mud, and about a mile of road you may have to walk part of depending on your bike skills. And don't worry about bombing the downhills. Just ride them as fast or slow as your courage and common sense suggest.
Also, this workout should be something you can do in about 2 hours except for the long ride. With the return of daylight, you should be able to do this after work.
Week 1. Goal - get comfortable on the bike, get legs used to spinning.
Five days of riding (out of 7) Note that days aren't specified since the weather may dictate riding.
3 days 15-20 miles
1 day 25-30 miles
1 day 35 miles
Week 2 Goal - build distance base, add a few easy climbs. Nothing long or hard, 1/4 mile is plenty.
Again, 5 days of riding
2 days 15-25 miles - try to build your pace just a bit (remember our target is 16-18 on the flats
2 days 20-35 miles
1 day 40 miles. Throw in a few climbs. If you are local to Minnesota, consider River Falls as a riding area.
Week 3 Goal - add in a few gravel sections and more hills. Slight increase in miles 6 days riding this week
2 days 20-30 miles - build pace, add a few short hills
2 days 25-35 miles - work on pace - 17-18 on flats, climb both in and out of the saddle
1 day 40 miles - again work on pace and some climbing. A few short sprints (like really short, and not that hard)
1 day 10 miles - go find some gravel, a park, horse trails or whatever. Play with technique in sand, mud, loose rock, find out what the bike does in those situations. Don't forget to give your bike a bath after!
Week 4 Goal - raise the miles just a bit, find a few more hills, preferably later in your ride.
2 days 20+ miles. Mix it up, ride some trail or path, some road, and hills.
2 days 25-35 miles. As above, try to mix it up
1 day 10-15 miles, lots of unpaved surfaces and/or hills.
1 day 40-45 miles 'grinder pace' - really try to keep your pace up (but not crazy). This is also a good time to feel out what your target finish time might be for the 56. Are you likely to do 5 hours, 4 hours, 6?
Event week - We're cruising in to the event.
Monday or Tuesday - 20 miles one of the two days. Easy ride
Wednesday or Thursday - 30 miles, a little faster
Friday - off. Change tires if you need to.
Saturday - 25-30 miles, then clean bike, lube chain, but try not to adjust anything!
Sunday - Event day!
If you've been diligent with the program above, you'll have no problem riding 56 miles. If you started with good intentions, but came up short, you might look at cutting the course, maybe lopping off a hill, or one of the loops. You can figure 1/3 of your weekly miles as a rough guess of what you can safely do.
I'll do another training article next month with some specific ideas on food and drink.
Ride safe. Wear your helmet.
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