← All eventsEtape Caledonia
The UK's original closed-road sportive: a ~85-mile (137km) Highland loop around Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch from Pitlochry, under the flank of Schiehallion. 40mi and 55mi options also offered.
The UK's original closed-road sportive, run since 2007. 85 miles and 1,555m of climbing on traffic-free tarmac through Highland Perthshire, a loop from Pitlochry around Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch.
The elevation reads honest, not brutal. What tires people is the wind. Long exposed shores off the two lochs, where a headwind on the outbound leg is the single biggest variable in your finish time.
The signature climb comes late, on the flank of Schiehallion after 60km of grind. Pace the early lochs with discipline and it's manageable. Chase wheels and it's where the day unravels.
Is Etape Caledonia for you?
- Riders with a solid FTP who pace to it. Threshold power is the biggest predictor here, of both climb time and sustainable pace on the exposed shores.
- Anyone who can sit in a bunch. Closed roads mean the early groups go genuinely fast, and sheltering in a wheel saves huge energy into the wind.
- Riders who ration effort over three-plus hours. The quiet middle loch loop is where undisciplined riders drift and then pay for it at Schiehallion.
- First-timers who pick the right distance. The 40 and 55 mile routes are legitimate goals, not consolation prizes to prove a point over.
Training plan for Etape Caledonia
A training plan for Etape Caledonia isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- 85 miles and 1,555m of climbing over 3.5 to 6 hours: one hard day, not an ultra
- Long exposed lochside sections where wind, not gradient, drains the legs
- One sustained climb under Schiehallion, late, after 60km of undulating grind
- Fast early bunches on traffic-free roads that tempt you into burning matches
- 2x20 sweet spot at 88 to 94% FTP, the core sustainable-power builder
- 3x12 threshold at 95 to 100% FTP, tuned to Schiehallion-pace efforts
- Solo wind grinds: steady sweet spot deliberately ridden into a headwind
- Event-pace long rides building to 4 to 5 hours, in a group where you can
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
