Events/Wessex Gravel Epic

Wessex Gravel Epic

Gravel

Date

Sat, 8 May 2027

Venue

Frome, Somerset, England

Countdown

May

Routes

Distances

50-100km

Climb, 100 km

1,600m

A fully-signed gravel sportive over the rolling chalk downland around Frome, with three routes to pick from: 100km, 66km or 50km. Feed stations on course, a medal and a beer at the line, and no cut-offs at all.

Create a free training plan for the Wessex Gravel Epic

7-day free trial, no card required

Create my plan

The course

The route

Out from Frome into the Wessex downs on hard-pack farm and estate tracks, chalk and limestone byways and bridleway, linked by quiet lanes. The 100km packs roughly 1,600m of rolling climbing (estimated), with no sustained cols.

Weather

Early-May, Frome

16°CTypical high

6°CTypical low

-1°CColdest in 20 years

40%Days with rain

Highs around 16°C and lows around 6°C, but it has dropped to -1°C. Rain on 40% of days. Pack for the cold end, not the average.

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

Training

Training for the Wessex 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 Wessex downs throw at you

Typical sessions

Rolling accumulation: no big climbs, but the downland rollers add up over 100km. A durability day, not a climbing test.

Mixed surfaces: hard-pack tracks and chalk-limestone byways that turn greasy and draggy after rain.

Fuelling a four-to-six-hour ride: the back half is decided by eating and pacing, not peak power.

Exposed downland tops that catch a real headwind on the open drags.

What your weeks look like

Typical sessions

Progressive long rides on gravel, building from 1.5 hours toward a 3 to 4 hour peak.

Event-pace long rides of 3 to 4 hours with a full fuelling rehearsal at 60 to 90g of carbs an hour.

Tempo-in-long: 2 to 3 blocks of 15 to 25 minutes of tempo held deep into a long ride.

Mixed-surface handling on hard-pack and greasy chalk, plus a tubeless plug and tube change for self-sufficiency.

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

Entries open now

Get your Wessex Gravel Epic plan.

7-day free trial, no card required.

Start my plan