Is Stone Circle worth entering? Elaine Burrough gives her impression of 2025 event
Stone Circle is billed as the UK equivalent to US gravel event; some may say this is optimistic as a sudden downpour is guaranteed to turn trails into plain old mud, but the Salisbury Plain has a secret advantage. Being the British Army’s largest military training area means that it regularly gets bashed flat by armoured and caterpillar tracked vehicles and any newly laid hardcore becomes champagne status in a matter of weeks. There were red flags flying last weekend which meant that all but the legal bridleway routes were off limits and there was an impressive array of big guns and tanks to gawp at as we pedalled past.
The Route
At the check in I was presented with a sticker that said "Bastard" which I thought was a tad harsh and then realised that I had stupidly entered the route that was leaving the fort start line at 4.30 am!... I dropped down to the 130km route as I felt that was the best balance for my weekend.
I am not training for an ultra this year so I had done very little training in the run up to the event. There was no plan to make a break or chasing anyone down. In fact, I was looking forward to a few beers with friends and spending the day on the bike (not in that order). The route itself was around 80% off road which is incredible when you consider the proximity to civilisation so chapeau to the organisers.
My Bike
I was riding my Reilly Reflex and this route really is where titanium excels. It’s just springy enough to take out the top end lumps and bumps and reactive enough to really fly when you kick it. Confidence inspiring geometry for the superfast descents and with a 34:42 bottom range gearing I didn’t need to stress on the climbs. At 136km and over 1700m elevation it didn’t feel like a hilly course, in fact I can only really remember one steep climb and that was quite short.
It was scorchio which meant dusty grins and an aversion to applying sticky suncream! Surely a thick layer of dust works just as well anyway?
I didn’t race it so I'm sure that those who did would beg to differ but it was a pretty chilled day of riding. Strava tells me my moving time was 8 hours so I’m guessing I spent more time at the feed stops than totally necessary but that’s possibly down to the amazing array of treats on offer - from peanut butter filled pretzels at the first stop to salted baby new potatoes at the second, I didn’t go hungry and energy levels were good.
The Orange Collective
I was riding as part of The Orange Collective, an initiative set up by POC and Reilly to help riders on gravel events, easily identifiable by bright orange helmets and Reilly bikes. Our role for the day was to chat to folks along the way, provide help if needed and offer encouragement and all-round cheer. It was hard not to be cheery on a day that good but some folks were not faring so well. One chap called Paul we met at the BP garage was contemplating getting the train back to the start but we persuaded him to inhale an ice-lolly and follow our wheels at least to the second feed station where he was going to take a rest and try to push on to finish. If there were any of the new potatoes left, then I am pretty sure he will have recovered his strength enough to finish the final 20kms back to the fort.
Stone Circle: The Festival
The festival vibe the Stone Circle team creates was worth immersing yourself in for the whole weekend and there we plenty who did. Rows of cotton yurt style tents alongside eye wateringly expensive converted campers and motorhomes to remind us what a relatively elite sport gravel riding is. Thankfully, the price of entry plus food & drink was respectfully 'normal' making it an inclusive weekend in the Wiltshire sunshine.
Thank you so much to Ash from POC and Petra and all the team at Reilly for the best weekends riding of the year, I will definitely be back next year.
