MANE ROADS
Cycling Plus UK|May 2023
Wiltshire has eight giant horses carved into its chalky hillsides. Rob Ainsley saddles up to ride them all...
Rob Ainsley
MANE ROADS

stonehenge. Avebury. Long Barrows. Crop circles. White Horses. There's something weird about Wiltshire. Must be those open plains and chalk slopes: a blank canvas to send messages to the gods. Or, as some would have it, extra-terrestrials to us.

Britain has many hill figures in the shape of a giant steed round the country. Most famous is the ancient one on the Ridgeway at Uffington, Oxfordshire. But it looks more like a weasel, sketched by Picasso. And if you cycle there, you'll be disappointed. Folkestone's kitschy, new-fangled horse is only visible from the train as it ducks into the Channel Tunnel. At least Yorkshire's effort, at Kilburn on the edge of the North York Moors, is a landmark view from many a ride.

Wiltshire, however, has eight horses in all, more than everywhere else put together, all hacked out the turf in the last 300 years by people with spades, not aliens with laser beams.

I collected the lot in one baking hot day last summer: a lovely 70-mile circular trip from Pewsey, through open, billowing, uplifting, hills-and-plains scenery. Here's what happened.....

1. Pewsey White Horse 6.30am 

Pewsey's horse, cut in 1937 to replace an earlier lost one, is the smallest of Wilts' eight canonical nags: 20m by 14m, roughly tennis-court sized, though on a 25% gradient, rallies would be brief. Getting there, as with most of the Wiltshire White Horses (WWHs), involves a long, steady 100m-plus climb from the flatlands up the hillside via a narrow lane. I lock my bike to the fence, needlessly - nobody's around this cloudless morning - and walk through dry knee-high grass down the short footpath to the figure.

Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA CYCLING PLUS UKSe alt
No limits
Cycling Plus UK

No limits

Not every adventure needs to be that epic, says bikepacking Scotland founder Markus Stitz

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
UNBOUND UNLEASHED
Cycling Plus UK

UNBOUND UNLEASHED

Josh Patterson was one of 34 starters for the inaugural edition of Unbound in 2006. Now, with more than 5,000 riders taking part in today's event, he charts the rise of the most important race in gravel

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2024
FOREST COMMISSION
Cycling Plus UK

FOREST COMMISSION

Looking for a goal race in 2025 that'll stimulate the synapses and live long in the memory? You'd struggle to do better than ENID CRV in Finland

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
15 OF THE BEST ADVENTURES
Cycling Plus UK

15 OF THE BEST ADVENTURES

Featuring Yorkshire, the USA, Sri Lanka and more, here are our picks of the world's greatest gravel races and routes

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
The stuff of dreams
Cycling Plus UK

The stuff of dreams

Ned sings the praises of the Paris Olympics road-race course

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
"I rode 3,000 miles around Britain on a bamboo bike to highlight our climate crisis"
Cycling Plus UK

"I rode 3,000 miles around Britain on a bamboo bike to highlight our climate crisis"

Recordbreaking cyclist and triathlete Kate Strong, 45, took to the road to raise awareness of environmental issues

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
Cycling Plus UK

FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE

We venture into the hidden gem of the glorious Creuse, one of France's least populated regions

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
STAR TREK
Cycling Plus UK

STAR TREK

New tube shapes and carbon lay-up makes the eighth generation of Trek's legendary Madone an aero and climbing bike all rolled into one

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
GOLD RUSH
Cycling Plus UK

GOLD RUSH

With conflict around the world, Paris 2024 was a ray of light. Here are our highs of a mighty Olympics

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
HIGHER CALLING
Cycling Plus UK

HIGHER CALLING

Pro cycling commentary is a formidable skill that Ned Boulting and Matt Stephens make look easy. Andy McGrath drops in on their booth at this year's Giro d'Italia to learn their secrets

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2024