Beginners Guide to Gravel Racing and 100K Training Plan
Off-road adventures are calling you to explore remote areas and earn some scenic views from mountain tops and valleys you might never see otherwise. Gravel racing is a great way to get into cycling events for a beginner. While a diligent beginner can certainly jump into a 100+ mile event, most races have shorter distances too. These shorter distances can be a much more enjoyable way to get started.
Plan Your Training
If you are looking for a ready-to-go training plan to tell you what to do, I have plans designed to prepare you to complete a 100k gravel race or 100 mile race. If you are looking to learn more about the nature of gravel racing and how to plan your own training, read on to the next section.
100k Gravel Plan - Power-Based
Uses power to define efforts (requires a power meter)
Suitable for beginners or experienced riders new to structured training
100k Gravel Plan - RPE-Based
Uses ratings of perceived exertion to define effort
Suitable for beginners or experienced riders new to structured training
100 Mile Gravel Plan - Power-Based
Uses power to define efforts (requires a power meter)
Suitable for intermediate to advanced riders or fit beginners who want more structured workouts
The workouts in these gravel race plans progress in intensity and duration throughout the plan to prepare you for race day. The plans are designed to make the most of your time spent riding through structured weekday workouts and a longer weekend endurance ride. There are three workouts per week and one optional workout. Each week, key workouts include one to two structured interval workouts that can be completed in an hour and one long ride. Every fourth week is a recovery week. The plan includes strength training and optional yoga videos. These are designed to support your stability and mobility on the bike to increase comfort when riding and reduce injury. The plan also includes guidance on developing your own nutrition plan for race day.
How Much Do You Need to Ride?
There is not a one-size-fits-all answer to this other than as much as you can. But if as much as you can is only 30 minutes twice a week and a longer ride on the weekends, then that is how much you should be riding.
Consistency is more important that hitting a certain number of hours. Whether you are following a plan or creating your own, your ability to be consistent week to week is going to be a huge factor in your success. So you want to be realistic with what you can fit in during any week. Of course, things like work travel, family obligations, vacations, or injury may come up where you can’t ride for a given time. That is normal, but getting back into the groove and not letting life derail you from your goals is an important factor to success. Even if you miss a week or two weeks or more, just get back to it. You may need to readjust your training to account for time off, or readjust your race expectations, but that is better than stopping entirely.
How Should You Structure Your Training?
If you are brand new to cycling, you can begin by just spending some time in the saddle. When you are comfortable on your bike, you can gain fitness more quickly by planning your riding around different cycling training zones. Targeting different training zones can help you build training adaptations more quickly than compared to just riding at an easy endurance pace.
More frequent rides throughout the week are better than one long ride.
Include time at Tempo and Sweet Spot each week to achieve more training adaptations than riding at an easy pace.
Include some very high intensity efforts. These can be particularly useful when you have 30 minutes or less to train. These rides should be done when you are fresh and not tired from previous workouts, and when you have time to recover before your next workout.
Plan one to two rides per week that are more challenging Tempo/Sweet Spot or interval rides, and one long endurance ride. Any other riding days you add should be easy riding.
Long rides and training volume get a lot of the attention when training for long events, but your work at harder efforts is the work that is actually going to make you faster. Going out for lots of long slow rides will make you really good at riding slow for a long time. So mix up the intensity levels.
How Long Should Your Longest Ride Be?
The biggest benefit of really long rides is the experience of doing those rides and learning how to fuel properly. Physiologically, you can get similar training benefits from shorter rides with harder efforts. However, a beginner should still plan on some long endurance rides to learn how to fuel properly, build confidence at longer distances, and learn how to push through discomfort when things go poorly.
Plan at least one ride that is about 60 to 75% of your expected finish time, but not more than 5 to 6 hours of moving time. For example, if your expected finish time is 8 hours, plan your longest ride to be just under 5 hours. If your expected finish time is 10 or more hours, still keep your longest ride to 5 or 6 hours. Rides longer than this take a long time to recover from and can interrupt your other workouts. Plan your longest ride to be 3 to 4 weeks before your event.
Understand The Demands Of Gravel Racing
Off-road races differ from their on-road counterparts in that it is more effort to cover the distance, there is less opportunity to coast, off-road climbs are often steeper than the paved variety, the riding is more technical, and the conditions can be more varied. Also, don’t expect time to relax on descents and be prepared for the possible hike a bike or river crossing. The condition of the roads and trails you will be riding combined with the elevation can make for a large variety in expected finish times for different events. You may also find yourself riding in groups where you may have to react and accelerate to stay with a paceline.
Your training should prepare you for a hard start at the beginning, time spent riding at tempo, efforts above your threshold, and a long day in the saddle. Whether you are racing for podium or just aiming to finish, you are not going to be spending the day at an easy endurance pace.
Practice Your Off-Road Skills
You don’t need to complete every training ride on gravel if you do not have easy access to off-road riding, but there is significant skill involved when it comes to cornering and descending. Plan some rides where you can practice this and use these rides to understand the demands of the terrain. You might also want to consider a skills clinic if you are new to off-road riding in general.
Select Appropriate Equipment
Gravel is not the same everywhere in the country. Some gravel can be nearly as smooth as pavement, while other gravel is basically a road-sized mountain bike trail, and some is not even gravel but actually single track. Road conditions can vary greatly—you may need to be prepared for mud, sand, rocks, leaves, roots, creeks, rivers, puddles, and even hiking.
The conditions of your event will greatly influence tire size, tire, pressure, gearing, and even bike selection. Do some research to understand the conditions you can expect, and try to ride in similar conditions so you can figure out an appropriate equipment set up to include tire size, air pressure, and if you want to include tire inserts.
Plan Your Nutrition
Poor nutrition probably ruins more race day dreams than poor training. If you are properly fueled, you can likely keep turning the pedals and finish even if your training has been slim. However, a super fit rider can easily lose time by not consuming enough carbohydrate for optimal performance. Plan to consume 30 to 60g carbohydrates per hour (and possibly up to 90+ grams) during your long training rides and your event. Use every workout and long ride to plan what to eat and drink before, during, and after your training for your best performance.
Consider Your Why
This is probably the absolute most important part of training for any ultra-endurance event. You need to know why you want to do this. Not because your friends are doing it, but why you really care about this. What does it say about you? What is the feeling it will create for you?
This “why” the thing that will keep you moving forward when your body is loudly saying no, or when the rain is pouring down, or the mud is thick, or after you have changed your third flat of the day.
Things like finish times and podium spots will not cut it on their own as motivation. When something goes wrong, and those items are no longer on the table, you need something else to keep you going. External motivators can be effective, but internal motivation is ultimately the most powerful.
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