Gravel Training: Wordsof Wisdom on Trainingand Workouts
By Frank Pike
Head Coach at Beyond Category Coaching
Hello Gravel Worlds nation! Welcome to the next article in our series All Things Gravel. Please be warned, there is A LOT of info in this article, like The Long Voyage amount! This is the longest in the series, so sit back and enjoy the read!
We are now 22 weeks away from event day. In this article, I want to outline some training strategies and provide some specific workouts as well as how to arrange your workouts, so they have a better impact for your overall fitness and prep for race day. We will also cover bike handling skills required for a successful event and some specific drills to help you become a master bike handler.
You are registered for Gravel Worlds 2021 so now what do you do? The reality, excitement and anticipation sets in that you have committed to an epic challenge. Most gravel races are 60-200+ miles long, and with lower average speeds than road events, you need to be prepared for many long hours on the bike. Training for a gravel race shares a lot in common with training for road or endurance mountain bike events, but there are some unique differences you need to prepare for. While this article doesn’t include specific training plans, I do offer plans that are “plug and play” and you can purchase them from me. I have created specific Gravel Worlds plans and you can even take advantage of the special pricing I am offering on my 1:1 coaching service. Contact me at frank@beyondcategorycoaching.com for details and to purchase these at special GW prices.
When it comes to laying out a map and constructing your master training plan here are some key topics to keep in mind:
Long Range Training Schedule
While gravel racing is relatively new, the demands these events place on the body are not, and the training methodology used for gravel is similar to other disciplines. One of the first things you need to think about when planning out your training for a your Gravel Worlds event is timing and periodization. Knowing when to schedule process-goal events (other races/events that you will use to determine shortfalls in your training- these are events/races used for training purposes only without too big of expectations), when to focus on riding the greatest volume, and when to begin your taper are important in sketching out how your training will unfold in the months leading into your Gravel Worlds event.
Process Goals and Training Races
Process goal races, or “B” races, can serve as trial runs before your Gravel Worlds event which for this article would be your “A” race. This is important because it allows you to test your equipment, nutrition, skills, and mental tactics in a race setting ahead of your goal event. These events can also serve as a good training day on the bike and can be a good way to boost confidence. “B” events can be shorter in distance than your GW event and only if you have sufficient time between your “B” event and GW should you attempt to do 2 long (100+ milers) within weeks of each other. Just registering for another event, starting and finishing it prior to Gravel Worlds will be of great benefit all around! If things do not go as planned, B races identify changes that need to occur in order to be successful when it is time for Gravel Worlds. For those reading this that have more of a full gravel calendar or multiple gravel events, you should shape your gravel race calendar around one or two A races and select a handful of B races to include for training and experience. As far as timing goes, your final B race should be around four to eight weeks before your A race. This timeframe gives you an idea of your fitness level while also giving you enough time to make some changes before the main event if necessary.
Train General to Specific
Once you’ve arranged your calendar and or events you can think about how to structure your training and workout blocks around those races/events. As a general rule, you will start with more general workouts and move to more specific workouts as you get closer to your main event(s). For example, if your event is Gravel Worlds or The Long Voyage, the most race-specific demand is the ability to pedal at a steady pace for many hours. As a result, you may start your training plan with more high-intensity intervals and move toward more Endurance, Sweetspot, and Tempo-based work as you get closer to your event, depending on exactly when you start your training and your current fitness level. If your race is the Privateer or Buccaneer, you may do the opposite and start with Endurance, Sweetspot and Tempo and move to high-intensity intervals because the physical demands of the race will favor high power outputs for longer durations and repeatable hard efforts.
Plan Your High-Volume and Taper Periods
Thinking about when to schedule your higher-volume weeks and when to taper can be tricky. Volume in training is an important aspect of any solid plan, but it is especially crucial in gravel racing, where 100+ mile races are the norm. A week or even 3-4 days of high-volume back to back rides can have a significant impact on boosting fitness and getting the body adjusted to long hours on the bike. If you are like most athletes who are busy and must juggle family, work and life with training plus have a full-time job and limited hours to train, creating time for a long endurance block will take some creative scheduling. If you have the luxury of choosing when to fit in your higher volume training, then around 4-6 weeks out is a good time to schedule a challenging week or long weekend of high-volume training. That way, you can expose your body to greater training stimulus than normal to prep the body for peak fitness, and then transition into some lower-volume, higher-intensity training as you begin to taper for your event. Tapering for a big race can be an art on its own and is very unique based upon your own physiology so if you are unsure how to arrive at the start line with the perfect amount of fitness and freshness, be sure to contact me at frank@beyondcategorycoaching.com and I can provide help based upon the training that you have planned or completed.
Gravel-Specific Training
Train for Intensity Early in the Event
Mass starts and mixed pelotons are two of the best things I love about gravel events . In many events, the whistle blows and men and women of all abilities are in the same field as World Tour pros- it is truly amazing and exhilarating! This unique start is what makes gravel awesome, but it can also make for a very hard start before the race settles in and breaks up.
From my experience participating in gravel events and analysis of many power files from my athletes, most gravel races/events have a very similar pattern of intensity or power distribution:
The first hour is often the highest normalized power (what your legs actually felt as a result of all your efforts and durations) output, whether you’re in the front or the back.
Due to the surface, you are forced to pedal more even when riding in a group and drafting. This can lead to an increase in hourly energy expenditure compared to what you are used to. About half of the race is in your endurance zone, and the other half will be spent at higher intensities, but only a small percentage of time will be spent coasting.
You will spend a lot of time riding at Tempo/Sweetspot (up to 30% of the race!), and a lot of time spent above your lactate threshold.
The goal is to be able to meet the early demands without having to dig too deep into your energy reserves. You want to be able to start fast, but not over-extend trying to stay in a fast group early on and end up paying for that effort hours later. To get a good start and ride strong later on, you want to maximize your sustainable power for long efforts. You should devote 2-3 days per week to medium- and high-intensity workouts, including Tempo, Sweetspot, and Vo2 Max work. Tempo (moderately hard aerobic intensity) is extremely important for gravel racing because you may spend hours riding at this intensity over the course of a long gravel race.
Train for the Long Haul
Good quality Tempo and Sweetspot work means riding prolonged intervals (10-60 minutes and even up to-90 minutes of tempo, depending on fitness level) at a pace above your conversational endurance pace but below lactate threshold. Because Tempo is a challenging but sustainable intensity, athletes can accumulate a lot more time at this pace – compared to higher intensity intervals – before getting too fatigued to continue. Accumulating time at these intensities are very effective and they help to develop and build your BIG robust aerobic endurance engine.
Tempo work can be a ride of its own (a 2-hour ride with 3×20 minute Tempo Intervals, separated by 10 minutes recovery) or Tempo can be incorporated at the end of long endurance rides or after a set of harder intervals to simulate the late-race demands of a long gravel event. An example might be a 3-hour ride that includes 3x10minute lactate threshold intervals, 10-15 minutes of recovery after that interval set, and then 30-45 minutes at Tempo intensity on the way home. The key to constructing workouts is start on the lower end of both intensity and duration and add time as you are successful. Do not be afraid to start with short 10-15 minute intervals of Tempo or Sweetspot intensities.
Train for “Peanut Butter”
If you’ve ever ridden in mud or deep sand- what I refer to as riding in peanut butter or felt your tires slip on a climb in loose gravel, then you’ll understand being able to “muscle” your way through high-torque, low-cadence situations are key to gravel success. Two workouts that can help develop more power for high torque are muscle tension intervals and standing starts. Muscle Tension intervals are seated, low-cadence intervals (50-55 rpm) best performed on a hill (can be performed on a trainer, too). These intervals help develop power and strength for high torque efforts, particularly by increasing engagement of the glutes, for low cadence efforts like climbing or riding through sand and mud.
Do 5×5 minutes of muscle tension (50-55 rpm, big gear, seated) followed by 5 minutes of recovery between intervals. Focus on keeping the upper body and core strong and “quiet” while concentrating on maintaining a smooth pedal stroke. As you are successful, add time at intensity via longer intervals or adding more intervals at same time. The goal is to work towards multiple 10-15min efforts.
Standing starts are basically big-gear accelerations (8-15 seconds) that start from a near standstill or with one foot unclipped and on the ground and work to increase muscular power. They are best performed on a flat road.
Start from a very slow speed or with one foot on the ground in a very hard gear. Jump up on the pedals, out of the saddle, driving the pedals down as hard as possible. Pull on the handlebars IN THE DROPS using the leverage to move your body over each pedal as you drive the pedal downward. The standing start should not last longer than 8-12 pedal strokes or 8-15 seconds. Recover for 7-10 minutes and shoot for 5 to 8 reps. These are truly MAX efforts, thus require at least 5-7 min recovery between efforts.
How Long Should My Longest Training Ride Be?
It is easy to get caught up, even agonize on how long your longest ride in training should be. In short, riding 150 miles in a single training ride before Gravel Worlds may not actually be the smartest use of your training hours. While long rides are important, CONSISTENCY in training and overall fitness always trumps the specific length of any one training ride. If you are anxious about a specific distance before events day, generally you can use the 75% rule that has long been established in marathon runners who train up to 20 miles in a single session before their 26.2 mile event. This rule has been well used for cycling as well.
Training on Gravel vs. Pavement
How much training on gravel vs pavement is a great question. Once you have mapped out your race(s)/event(s) and a general idea of your workout schedule, you will probably be thinking to yourself how much of your training should take place on gravel roads. Riding gravel regularly can sharpen your bike handling skills and improve upper body strength and stamina, but it can also detract from the quality of your workouts if you are not 100% comfortable on gravel in order to maintain specific intensities and durations. Remember training from a 30,000 ft view is all about time at intensity, especially intervals. If you have gravel nearby to train on, then shooting for around 2 gravel rides per week is a good place to start. If you find yourself struggling to maintain consistent power especially during intervals then resort back to the road for these workouts and use gravel for endurance-paced rides.
Gravel Training Tricks- ways to mimic gravel demands
You signed up for Gravel Worlds and then realize you really do not have access to much gravel in your area. It’s OK! I have some other ways that can help mimic the physiological adaptations that you may gain from riding gravel often:
Incorporate more climbing into your training, or ride into a headwind if you live somewhere flat- I was born and raised in Nebraska and know that area is not short of windy days! LOL! Gravel races tend to be lower cadence vs equivalent events on the road, so spending a lot of time climbing or riding into a headwind can mimic that lower-cadence work so your body will adapt, not to mention the muscle endurance you will gain from lower cadence training.
Tempo and Sweet spot Intervals at lower cadences. Similar to the previous bullet point, doing your long Tempo or SST efforts at 70-75rpm will condition your body to be more comfortable at lower cadences. Tempo is 76-90% FTP or 70-80% of max HR and SST is 86-94% FTP or 70-85% max HR
Go mountain biking. Riding trails requires similar stabilizing muscles to riding gravel. If you live near some mountain bike trails, try to incorporate at least 1-2 trail rides per week to get your body used to the jarring nature of gravel. Don’t be afraid to ride a drop-bar bike (IE your gravel bike) on moderate singletrack as well.
Zwift. This can be a great platform to use in order to mimic the demands of gravel-like hill climbing or riding into headwinds. If you have a smart trainer, use it to your advantage and climb some of the rides within Zwift like Alpe d’ Huez or set the erg mode to your tempo or SST intensity and bang out some longer efforts at 70-80rpm. (side note- this is one of the only situations I would suggest erg mode. Want more on erg mode pro/cons, contact me)
Do some upper body and core strength training. Gravel racing is demanding on the upper body and lower back. Even if you train on gravel regularly, you can benefit from incorporating some simple upper body and core exercises into your training twice a week. Shoot for exercises that target the triceps, lower back, trapezius, and forearms. Planks, ab dolly roll-outs and work on a stability/exercise ball are all great as well. Keep is short, no more than 30 minutes is more than sufficient.
Well, we have covered a lot of info in this article. As always, if you have a question or comment or want to discuss your training in more detail drop me a line at frank@beyondcategorycoaching.com and I will do my best to respond and help you out. In our next article we will be addressing how to become a master on bike handling skills. I will provide some specific drills you can incorporate into your training rides as well as describe various situations when you need to rely on these skills.
About Beyond Category Coaching
Beyond Category Coaching was born out of a passion for cycling and the desire to help athletes reach their goals and discover their own potential. The company is led by owner and head coach Frank Pike who has been riding, training and racing bikes for over 20 years and is based out of Denver, CO. Frank holds certifications from USA Cycling as a level 2 advanced coach and Training Peaks as a level 2 premium coach. Additionally, Frank works with Inscyd a performance software tool that can analyze and identify some key metrics such as VO2 max, efficiency, fuel utilization, lactate accumulation and clearance as well as identifying overall strengths and weaknesses. The test is done on your bike using critical power durations and is available if you are working with Frank as your coach or if you have a coach already. A detailed performance report is provided identifying metabolic efficiencies, load characteristics, metabolic footprint showing strengths/weaknesses and training zones.
Beyond Category Coaching is founded on the belief that it takes exercise science, experience and awesome customer service to help athletes reach their goals. My company aims to provide complete personal coaching for the needs of each individual athlete. I am proud to provide top-level coaching and customer service at affordable prices. I combine the expertise of professionalism, my experience and education in coaching all levels of cyclists. Beyond Category Coaching exists to empower, motivate and challenge athletes to GO BEYOND!
Frank Pike
Owner/Head Coach