VELOARCHITECT

Gravel ultra-endurance is the longest-arc event Veloarchitect serves. An Athlete finishing a 350 km gravel race in 14 hours produces ~14,000 kJ of mechanical work at sub-threshold intensity across 8+ hours of moving time and 6+ hours of total elapsed time. Generic gran-fondo blocks cap at 5–6 hours; ultra-endurance demands a different sub-threshold ceiling and a different fueling-window calibration. Veloarchitect reads each Athlete’s longest ride in the last 100 days and dispatches the long-Z2 progression the body actually needs.

The gravel ultra-endurance segment is the easiest to under-train with off-the-shelf plans. An Athlete with a strong 8-hour ceiling but a 12-hour ceiling collapse will bonk at kilometer 280 of a 350 km race, regardless of FTP. Veloarchitect’s Protocol 1 — Zone Endurance — is the lever that moves the 8-hour ceiling to a 14-hour ceiling. Mechanical Efficiency, read across 12-week long-Z2 blocks, tells the Athlete whether the metabolic engine is extending. Adaptation Rate gates when the block is allowed to extend past 8 hours; the Athlete who skips the gate arrives at the start line with a strong 8-hour number and an 8-hour ceiling.

Protocols: Protocol 1 — Zone Endurance; Protocol 8 — Fueling Window; Protocol 10 — Adaptive Workout

Worked Example — 16-week block for a 350 km gravel race

Athlete: 38y/o, 264W FTP, 1.51 W/bpm, longest ride in last 100 days: 5:30. Target: 350 km gravel in 18 weeks, 4,500m climbing, expected temperature 26°C. Block 1 (weeks 1–6): weekly Z2 progression 4:00 → 5:30 → 7:00 → 8:30 → 10:00, 1 weekly Threshold Sustain at 88% FTP. Block 2 (weeks 7–12): weekly 9:00–12:00 Z2 with race-pace climbing intervals, weekly 4×12 Threshold Sustain. Block 3 (weeks 13–16): 2 long outdoor re-entry rides at event pace (12h, 14h), taper. Mechanical Efficiency: 1.51 → 1.64 W/bpm. Sub-threshold ceiling: 12:00. Race Execution Precision: 0.88. Mechanical-work delivery: 13,800 kJ at 62% FTP.