"A man is supple and weak when living, but hard and stiff when dead. Grass and trees are pliant and fragile when living, but dried and shriveled when dead. Thus the hard and the strong are the comrades of death; the supple and the weak are the comrades of life." - Lao-Tzu This collection will take you on a time warp to the deep history of four extraordinary stone circles in Southern England which is still full of traces of the Neolithic revolution that changed these Isles forever. Along the way you will cycle along quiet bridleways, river paths and undulating country lanes through a variety of beautiful sceneries to discover picturesque villages and traces of the ancient landscape. You will have plenty of time to contemplate the quick and the dead and their undeniable influence on the temporality of landscape, which is constantly changing but on timescales very different to the ordinary human lifespan. This circular journey starts in Oxford, which is easily reached by train from most places in the UK. While the route can be completed in three days by skilled cyclists, you may want to take longer to enjoy the wildlife, ancient trees and other highlights along the way.First you will travel west to Devil’s Quoits, a little known but magnificent stone circle in the lowlands. Turning northwards, you will then cycle through the delightful rolling hills of the Cotswolds to find the Rollright Stones and you may find it hard not to fall into deep time at the nearby King’s Stone also dating from the late Neolithic period 2,500BC. You will then cycle south via the Ridgeway, the oldest road in England, passing the Barbury Iron Age fort to arrive at the impressive Avebury Stone circle, where you can commune among the sheep. Finally, cycling further south you will discover the splendour of Stonehenge and Woodhenge on the Salisbury Plain before returning north to rejoin the supple and weak in present day Oxford, perhaps with a renewed perspective on the presence of deep time in the here and now.