Events/Ridgeway Gravel Epic

Ridgeway Gravel Epic

Gravel

Date

Sat, 21 Aug 2027

Venue

Newbury, Berkshire — the Ridgeway, North Wessex Downs

Countdown

August

Routes

Distances

50-110km

Climb, 110 km

1,650m

A day out on the Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road: an ancient chalk trackway running high along the crest of the North Wessex Downs, out from Newbury on a late-August Saturday.

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The course

The route

Three routes from Newbury: 110km, 70km and 50km along the chalk and flint byways of the Ridgeway, with an estimated ~1,650m of rolling downland climbing on the long route. High, open, and exposed to August sun and wind on the crest.

Weather

Late-August, Newbury

22°CTypical high

12°CTypical low

5°CColdest in 20 years

44%Days with rain

Highs around 22°C and lows around 12°C, but it has dropped to 5°C. Rain on 44% of days.

NASA POWER data, 2006-2025, the week either side of race day

Training

Training for the Ridgeway Gravel Epic

We don't do generic plans. We combine deep knowledge of this race's demands with your recent training, then build a plan with you that progresses as you do.

Beina integrates directly with your existing tools to understand your current fitness, and synchronise your planned sessions.

Intervals.icu

What the Ridgeway throws at you

Typical sessions

Sustained tempo on chalk and flint, where power on gravel runs 5-10% slower than the same effort on tarmac

Relentless rolling climbing along the downs crest: gentle but constant up-and-down, no big cols, no long recovery

Exposure on a high, open crest, with August heat and headwinds draining energy where there is little shelter

On the 110km, 4.5 to 7 hours of fuelling under load, where under-eating early means fading in the back half

What your weeks look like

Typical sessions

Progressive Long Ride: build the gravel long ride from 2.5hr toward 6hr, mostly Z2, the core adaptation

Sweet Spot Gravel: 2-3 x 20min at 88-93% FTP on gravel climbs for rolling-climb durability

Tempo-in-Long: a 3-4hr ride with 2-3 x 20-30min tempo blocks to hold effort deep into a ride

Chalk and flint handling plus tubeless plug practice, so a loose rut or a flint cut never ends your day

Not a generic schedule

Typical sessions

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

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7-day free trial, no card required.

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