A 12-week plan for your first gravel event
For riders who can manage an hour or two on the road, or on canal paths and trails, and have their eye on a gravel event of 50 to 80 km. Three rides a week plus a short skills session, everything measured in hours rather than kilometres, and a practice ride on the actual terrain. By the end you’ll be comfortable on loose surfaces, know what your tyres should feel like, and have a good idea how long the day will take.
Who this plan is for
Gravel events are the friendliest way into organised riding: mixed surfaces, quiet lanes, a lot of cake, and nobody caring how fast you are. Most first-timer distances are 50 to 80 km, which sounds modest until you learn that off-road you’ll be riding at roughly two-thirds of your road speed. That’s why this plan is written in hours, not kilometres.
You should already be riding once or twice a week for an hour or two, on any surface. You don’t need a gravel bike: a hybrid, a hardtail mountain bike or a road bike with room for wider tyres will all do (there’s more on that in the questions at the bottom). If you’re not riding an hour yet, start with the 8-week 50 km plan and come back.
If you’re new to exercise or have a health condition, get a doctor’s OK first. And if you’re nervous about falling off, know that everyone is. This is general guidance, not medical advice; the app builds a personalised version of it and isn’t a medical service either.
What the twelve weeks look like
Three rides a week, off-road wherever you can find it, plus a short skills session, on its own or tacked onto the start of a ride. Base (weeks one to four) grows the long ride from an hour and a half to just over two and gets you used to riding on loose stuff. Week five is easier. Build (weeks six to eight) adds off-road hills and longer rides on the roughest surface you can find. Week nine is the practice ride on the course itself, or on the nearest thing to it; week ten is the longest ride; weeks eleven and twelve ease off for the event.
The skills session is twenty minutes in a park, on a quiet track or in an empty car park: looking ahead rather than down, braking before a loose corner rather than in it, standing on the pedals with soft knees over rough bits, and letting the front wheel wander a little instead of fighting it. Twenty minutes a week of this does more for your confidence than any amount of fitness.
| Weeks | Focus | Long ride grows to | How it should feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Base: getting used to loose surfaces; first skills sessions | 1 h 30 → 1 h 45 | Easy. Wobbly is normal; slow down until it isn’t. |
| 3–4 | Base: more off-road time; first short brisk efforts | 2 h → 2 h 15 | Mostly easy. Brisk bits are puffy, not gasping. |
| 5 | Easier week | 1 h 30 | Fresh. Skills session still on. |
| 6–8 | Build: off-road hills; longest rides on the roughest ground | 2 h 30 → 3 h | Purposeful. Climbs seated and steady so the back wheel keeps gripping. |
| 9 | Practice ride on the actual terrain | 3 h 30 | A rehearsal: pressures, kit, food, pacing. |
| 10 | Longest ride | 3 h 45 | Steady and unhurried, with stops. |
| 11 | Taper | 2 h | Easy and short. Check the bike over. |
| 12 | Taper and the event | The 50 to 80 km | Two short spins, two rest days, then go. |
Tuesday: 45 minutes easy, on a path or bridleway if you have one nearby. Thursday: an hour easy, with twenty minutes of skills in the middle (loose corners, braking, standing up over bumps). Saturday: an hour and a half easy, as much of it off-road as you can manage. Four rest days. Week two adds fifteen minutes to Saturday.
A sample week
Week seven, in the build phase. Everything off-road is slower than the same time on tarmac, so don’t compare the distances.
| Day | Session | How long | How it should feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | — | Off. A walk is fine. |
| Tuesday | Off-road loop with 4 × 3 min brisk | 1 h | Easy on the whole, with four brisk stretches on rough ground where you’re puffy but still in control. |
| Wednesday | Skills session, or strength | 20–30 min | Loose corners, braking and standing up over bumps, in a park or an empty car park. Or squats, lunges and planks: a strong middle helps on rough ground. |
| Thursday | Off-road hills | 1 h 15 | Five or six seated, steady climbs on loose surfaces, easy between. |
| Friday | Rest | — | Check tyre pressures. Wash the bike if it needs it. |
| Saturday | Long ride | 2 h 45 | Easy, on the roughest ground you can find. Eat every 30 to 40 minutes. |
| Sunday | Rest | — | Feet up, or a walk. |
How to adjust it when life happens
Missed a week? Go back to the week you missed rather than skipping ahead. The long ride should never jump by more than fifteen minutes from the last one you actually did. If you’re short of weeks, keep the practice ride on the terrain and the taper; drop midweek sessions before you drop those.
Feeling wiped? Off-road riding is more tiring than the clock suggests, because your whole body is working. If easy rides feel hard, or you’re sleeping badly, take the easier week early. Keep total weekly riding time within about ten to fifteen per cent of the week before.
Ill? Above the neck, easy riding if you fancy it. Below the neck, rest until it’s gone and come back easy. Gravel needs concentration, and a foggy head is how people fall off.
Weather? Mud changes everything. If it’s been raining for days, ride the road instead, or accept that the long ride will be shorter and slower. Wind is less of a problem in the lanes than on open roads. Ice is a no.
The Etapa app builds a personal version of this from your event, the days you can ride and how much you ride now, drops the sessions into your calendar, and moves them around when you miss one. Its route planner can find you off-road loops nearby, and the coach will happily explain, in plain English, why the front wheel keeps sliding out in loose corners (you’re braking in them).
Kit, food and the basics
Tyres first. The wider the better within what your bike will take, and run them softer than you would on the road: start at the lower end of the pressure range printed on the tyre’s sidewall, go a little lower if you’re bouncing around, a little higher if the rim clonks on rocks or the tyre squirms in corners. Beyond that: a helmet, gloves (you’ll want them the first time you put a hand down), glasses to keep grit out, padded shorts, two bottles, a pump, a spare tube and levers, and a bag or pockets for food. Eat something every 30 to 40 minutes on the long rides. More in our guides to beginner cycling gear and eating on the bike.
The week before and the day itself
Week twelve: 45 minutes easy on Tuesday, 30 on Thursday, then rest. Clean the bike, check the tyres for cuts, set the pressures you settled on in week nine, and charge everything. Look at the route profile so you know where the long climbs and the rough descents are.
On the day: start near the back, let the fast people go, and ride the first hour easier than feels right. Loose descents are ridden slowly and with soft arms; if in doubt, get off and walk, which is not cheating. Eat from the first half hour and at every feed stop. If it’s wet, expect to be slower still and give yourself extra time. You’ll finish muddy, grinning and already wondering about the longer distance.
Can I do a gravel event on a mountain bike or a hybrid?
Yes. A hardtail mountain bike is arguably the easiest bike to do a first gravel event on: wide tyres, good brakes, upright position. A hybrid works well if you fit the widest tyres it’ll take. Gravel bikes are quicker on the road sections, but nobody will check what you’re riding, and plenty of people finish on all three.
How fast will I ride on gravel?
Slower than on the road, by a good margin. Loose surfaces, hills and the extra concentration mean a first-timer might average 12 to 16 km/h, so a 60 km event can take four or five hours with stops. That’s why this plan is built on hours, not kilometres, and why pacing the first hour easily matters so much.
What tyre pressure should I run for gravel?
Lower than on the road. Start at the bottom of the range printed on your tyre’s sidewall and adjust from there: if the tyre squirms in corners or the rim hits rocks, add a little; if you’re bouncing and sliding, let a little out. Wider tyres run lower pressures. Test it on your practice ride, note what worked, and use that on the day.
Do I need to practise on the actual course?
You don’t need to, but it helps more than any other single ride, which is why week nine is set aside for it. If the event is too far away, ride the roughest, hilliest off-road route you can find nearby for the same length of time. The aim is no surprises: surfaces, tyre pressures, food, and how three and a half hours off-road actually feels.
How do I find a beginner-friendly gravel event near me?
The Etapa events directory lists gravel events by country and distance, with dates, entry links and the shortest route options. Look for events with a 40 to 60 km option and feed stops, and for wording like “all abilities” or “social”. You can build a free sample week for any of them on the website, and the app builds the full plan.
Get ready for the gravel with a plan built for you
Pick your gravel event in Etapa, tell it the days you can ride, and it builds a personal version of this plan, finds you off-road loops nearby, and answers the tyre-pressure questions at midnight.
Free to download. 7-day free trial on every plan.