← All eventsSalisbury Plain Easter Epic
Single-route (100km) Glorious Gravel Epic on exposed military-road gravel and chalk byways across Salisbury Plain, from Thruxton/Andover — utterly exposed, no cut-offs. Easter-weekend date approximate.
One hundred kilometres of open gravel across Salisbury Plain, the largest chalk grassland and military training area in Britain. Wide, hard-packed military roads and chalk byways, utterly treeless, utterly exposed.
The climbing comes as long, gradual swells, not sharp climbs. It's a steady tempo grind. Out here the wind, not the hills, decides your day.
A Glorious Gravel Epic with feed stations, a medal and a beer at the finish, and no cut-offs. E-bikes welcome. But the open plain is a real, committing day, not a first gravel ride.
Is Salisbury Plain Easter Epic for you?
- Steady tempo riders who meter their effort over long rolling terrain, rather than punchy climbers hunting short, sharp efforts.
- Riders comfortable working in a group into wind. On the shelterless plain, sharing turns turns a brutal headwind into a manageable one.
- Anyone who can pace and fuel a long day. Open gravel for the best part of five or six hours rewards discipline over raw power.
- Riders with genuine long-ride volume behind them. No cut-offs make it welcoming, but the exposed distance still asks for real endurance.
Training plan for Salisbury Plain Easter Epic
A training plan for Salisbury Plain Easter Epic 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.
- Relentless wind: the treeless plain gives zero shelter for long stretches, and a headwind is the single biggest energy drain out here.
- Long rolling swells: climbing arrives as gradual, sustained chalk drags, a steady tempo grind rather than sharp, punchy climbs.
- Exposure and cold: an early-April Easter day on an open plain can throw wind, rain and wind-chill at you with nowhere to hide.
- Fuelling gaps: support is spread thin across the open plain, so you carry your own and eat to schedule, not on feel.
- Progressive long ride: build the long gravel ride from 2.5 hours out toward 5.5, mostly Z2, on rolling terrain where you can find it.
- Rolling tempo: 2 to 3 x 20 to 30 minutes at sweet spot on rolling gravel, training durability for the long chalk swells.
- Into-wind exposure rides plus group draft practice: deliberately ride exposed, windy routes and take turns, rehearsing the plain's defining difficulty.
- Event-pace long with full fuelling: a 4.5 to 5.5 hour ride at target effort, practising 60 to 90g of carbs an hour.
- 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
