12-Week Training Timeline • Race-Day Checklists • Packing List
12-week training timeline, race-day checklists, packing list, and a personalized fueling calculator — free, instant access.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
“A mix of technical climbing, descending, and fast gravel”
— Stage 3
“The route has a mix of wide gravel roads and narrower paths, descents and climbs and one or two rough sections. You'll find fast sections, loose surfaces and steep climbs.”
— General Course Description
Race-Specific Training Focus:
Distance: 466 mi
Elevation: 27,887 ft
Location: Great Karoo, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Signature Challenge: Seven days of fast Karoo gravel where the hardest opponent is the fatigue you carried out of yesterday.
Establish aerobic foundation. 70-85% volume in Z1-{{Z2}}. {{CTL}} rising steadily (+5-8/wk in loading weeks, netting about +10/month after recovery weeks). {{TSB}} slightly negative (-5 to -15). Week 4 = recovery week (60% volume). Feels boring but doable—you should finish most rides feeling like you could do more.
Layer intensity, develop race-specific fitness. 60-70% Z1-Z2, 30-40% Z3-Z6. Two to three quality sessions per week. The magic happens here: deliberately dig a fatigue hole ({{TSB}} goes to -25), recover just enough, then dig another hole. This is where fitness sharpens.
Shed fatigue, maintain sharpness. Volume drops 30-50%. Intensity stays high but duration decreases. Week 11: {{TSB}} rises to +5 to +10. Week 12: TSB targets +15 to +25 for race day. Fitness doesn't improve—the goal is to remove the fatigue layer so you can express the fitness you've built.
A stage race trying to be Unbound with safari views, but the Karoo heat and seven-day commitment separate the curious from the committed.
Nedbank Gravel Burn is a seven-day, 750km full-service gravel stage race through South Africa's Great Karoo. The roads are usually faster and less technical than a mountain-bike stage race, but 8,500m of climbing, remote camps, wind, heat, cold nights, and cumulative fatigue make the week the challenge. The 2027 race is confirmed for October 24-30; its exact stage route is still pending.
The current race format publishes roughly 8,500m, or 27,887 feet, of climbing across the week. That clears the rubric's 10,000-foot maximum band by almost three times, and the repeated mountain-pass load matters more than any single summit.
Riding through Big Five territory in fossil-rich semi-desert where 'the hardiest creatures thrive' maxes the adventure meter. You're literally crossing geological and ecological zones most humans never experience, let alone on a bike.
The Burn Camps create 'camaraderie, storytelling, and shared adventure' with communal campfires and local cultural integration including live music and regional cuisine. Alison Jackson captured the appeal: 'I can't wait to make some new friends in the Burn Camps next to the fireside in the evenings.
A young but high-budget international stage race with a major Pro field, full-service camps, and destination-level ambition. (est. 2025)
This is an expedition packaged as a race: expensive, logistically heavy, and genuinely memorable. Go if seven days of managed suffering in the Karoo is the point. Skip it if you want a cheap one-day gravel hit.
Expected Race-Day Conditions:
Climate: Great Karoo spring with large temperature and wind swings
Key Challenges: Hot, exposed semi-desert stages, Cold or freezing nights in remote Burn Camps, Strong crosswinds and rapid weather changes
60-90 minutes Z2 endurance. Keep legs moving, nothing hard. Optional: 3 × 1 min Z4 to keep neuromuscular system awake.
45-60 minutes Z2. Maybe 2 × 3 min G Spot if you're feeling restless. Don't go hard.
Rest day or 30-45 minutes very easy spin. The last hard workout was 4-5 days ago. Everything now is just maintenance.
45-60 minutes Z2. Include 3-5 × 30 seconds Z5-Z6 (openers to keep legs sharp). Last real ride before race.
Travel day (if traveling) or rest day. Optional 30-minute easy spin if legs feel heavy.
30-45 minutes Z2 with 3 × 1 min Z4 openers. Course preview if racing Sunday. No heroics.
20-30 minutes very easy spin or complete rest. Do what's worked for you previously.
Tire Setup (Fast Great Karoo gravel across a seven-stage point-to-point route):
Reviewed Picks for This Course:
Top tire pick: Specialized Pathfinder Pro 42mm ($54.99) — See full analysis →
Climate Gear (Great Karoo spring with large temperature and wind swings):
Drivetrain: Chain clean and lubed. Shifting smooth across all gears. No chain slip under power.
Tires: Tubeless sealant fresh. Tire pressure set for race conditions. Check for cuts, sidewall damage.
Cockpit: Computer charged and mounted. Bottles/cages secure. Bento box organized.
Wheels: Thru-axles tight. No spoke issues. Hubs spin smoothly.
Don't: Install new chain race week. Change tire pressure drastically. Add new untested equipment.
Essentials: Spare tube (even if tubeless), tire plugs, CO2 cartridges (2-3) or mini pump, multi-tool with chain breaker, quick link, tire levers.
Nutrition: Gels, bars, chews—whatever you practiced with. Bottle with sports drink pre-mixed. Extra water bottle.
Other: Sunscreen, chamois cream, arm warmers/vest, rain jacket (if forecast), extra base layer.
Race essentials: Bib number and pins, race chip, ID and emergency contact info.
Gravel Burn Start Time: Daily stage starts; final 2027 rider guide governs.
Wake up. Coffee if you normally drink it (not the time to change habits). Breakfast: 100-150g carbs, minimal fat, minimal fiber. Oatmeal with banana and honey, bagel with jam, or white rice with a pinch of salt.
Start sipping sports drink. Begin hydrating and topping off fuel. Apply chamois cream and sunscreen.
Arrive at start area. Check in, use porta-potty. Get your head right.
Light warmup ride: 10-15 minutes easy spinning. Wake up the legs.
Final gear check: bottles filled and secured, nutrition in pockets, tire pressure verified, drivetrain sounds good. Run through your performance statements mentally.
Openers near the start: 2-3 x 30 seconds at race effort with easy spinning between. Gets HR up, legs awake, reminds body what fast feels like.
Roll to start line. Find your position. Deep breath.
6-2-7 breathing if anxious. You're ready. Trust your training.
Your Fueling Math (466 miles): At ~10mph, expect ~46.6 hours on course. Survival pace — palatability and GI tolerance are the limiters — target 30-50g carbs/hour (1398-2330g total, or 55-93 gels).
Carb targets scale with duration: shorter races burn more carbs per hour at race intensity, while ultra-distance events shift toward fat oxidation and GI tolerance becomes the limiter (Jeukendrup 2014, van Loon et al.).
Enter your details for a complete race fueling plan — carbs, hydration, sodium, and an hour-by-hour strategy.
Your numbers are the easy part.
Hitting them at race intensity is a trained skill — gut training over 4-6 weeks, bottle logistics, heat adjustments when the plan meets the weather. The custom training plan builds your fueling protocol into the actual training weeks, so race day is a rehearsal, not an experiment.
BUILD MY PLAN — FUELING INCLUDEDGet race-day tips in your inbox
What Riders Say About Conditions: The official route guide gives a broad 10-29°C average range, and the inaugural edition added freezing nights, heat, dust, and winds severe enough to neutralize a stage.
Plan your fueling around these conditions — heat and humidity increase fluid and sodium demands significantly.
Aid Stations: Marked route, daily service stations, medical and technical support
2-3g carbs/kg bodyweight. Low fat, low fiber. Familiar foods only. 500ml water with meal.
One gel (24g carbs) with 200ml water. Tops off blood glucose.
Focus on pacing, positioning, settling in. Sip on drink. Heart rate is spiking, gut blood flow is reduced.
First gel or equivalent (24g carbs). Start your fueling clock. Hydrate consistently.
Consume carbs consistently by the clock. Target rate depends on race duration: 80-100g/hr for races under 4 hours, 60-80g/hr for 4-8 hour events, 50-70g/hr for 8-12 hours, and 40-60g/hr for ultra events (12+ hours). At lower intensities fat becomes your primary fuel and GI tolerance is the limiter. Set a timer. Your brain will be stupid. It will forget to eat.
Practice eating real food on easy rides. Start with 40-50g carbs per hour, mostly solid. Build tolerance gradually. SGLT1 transporters can double in 2 weeks of consistent gut training (GSSI).
Increase toward your race-day target rate. Mix of liquids and solids. Practice eating at tempo pace. Your gut adapts to what you train it for.
Hit your race-day target rate (see duration-scaled targets in your prep kit). Race nutrition only (gels, drink, bars you'll use on race day). Practice at race pace. For ultra events (12+ hours), include savory and mixed-macro foods alongside gels.
Stick with what worked in training. No new products. Trust your gut (literally).
Known Suffering Zones:
Budget Planning:
Cost of Trip: Very affordable (1/5)
In-person registration before Stage 1; final 2027 venue and hours pending
Use organizer transport guidance; the race is point-to-point
Spin in Z1 after crossing the finish line. Let heart rate drop gradually. Stopping abruptly causes blood to pool in your legs.
20-30g protein, 60-100g carbs, 500-750ml fluid with electrolytes. Chocolate milk, protein shake with banana, or whatever the finish line has.
You lost 1-4 liters of fluid. Drink 500-1000ml within the first hour. Add electrolytes. If pee is dark yellow by evening, keep drinking.
We use cookies for analytics to improve this site. No ads, no tracking across sites. Learn more.