Cycling Plus has spent enough time riding along the network of gravel roads and tracks of Salisbury Plain on countless photoshoots over the years to know it’d make the bones of a brilliant gravel event. Northern England and Scotland in particular are blessed with the terrain and wilderness to allow several events to develop into bucket-list rides – we count the Dirty Reiver in Kielder Forest and Dukes Weekender in The Trossachs among them. Both are tantalising prospects for anyone north of Manchester, but for riders in the south of England, both are onerous schleps up the motorway. A big hello, then, to the Ekoi Stone Circle, a new addition to the gravel calendar from events firm Hotchillee that levels up gravel riding for fans of the rough stuff in the south, making full use of Salisbury Plain’s copious natural gifts for a rigorous test of skill and stamina.
With a name inspired by the world-famous Stonehenge, the ancient monument built to align with the sunrise on the summer solstice (the longest day of the year), it made marketing sense for Hotchillee to stage the event
