CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 261 km round trip from Abbeville - roughly 5 h 02 in the saddle. It goes by way of Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin, Beffroi de Saint-Riquier, Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de and Beffroi d’Amiens. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Abbeville stands on the river Somme a few kilometres before it widens into its famous bay, and the town has the air of a place that has been knocked about and picked itself up. Much of the old centre was destroyed by bombing in May 1940, in the German advance, and rebuilt in a plain, solid style after the war. The belfry, part of the town hall complex, belongs to the group of belfries of France and Belgium that UNESCO lists, and it stands as a symbol of the town's medieval privileges.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Abbeville write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Beffroi d’Abbeville is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin.
Hesdin is a small market town in the green valley of the Canche, in the Pas-de-Calais, and it owes its existence to an act of destruction. The original town, a few kilometres upstream, was razed in 1553 by the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and a new fortified town was built here the following year as a strongpoint on the frontier between France and the Habsburg Netherlands. The grid of streets and the large market square still follow that plan. On the square stands the town hall, a former palace of the Habsburg governors, with a beautifully carved Renaissance balcony from which proclamations were read, and its belfry is part of the UNESCO list of belfries in Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Saint-Riquier.
Saint-Riquier is a small village in the Somme, a few kilometres from Abbeville, and it punches far above its weight. In the early Middle Ages it was the site of Centula, one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian empire, ruled by Angilbert, a courtier and son-in-law of Charlemagne, who made it a centre of learning and prayer with hundreds of monks. The great abbey church you see today is later, a Gothic building with a richly carved facade, but the scale of the place still reflects that history. The belfry, a solid square tower in the village, was a symbol of the townspeople's rights and is one of the belfries listed by UNESCO in Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de Saint-Riquier write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de Saint-Riquier. Next is Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de.
On 26 March 1918, with the German spring offensive smashing through the British lines and threatening to split the Allied armies apart, French and British leaders met in the town hall of Doullens, a small town on the river Authie, north of Amiens. In a room on the first floor, they agreed to give the French general Ferdinand Foch the coordination of all Allied forces on the Western Front, a decision that many historians see as a turning point of the war. The room, now known as the Salle du Commandement Unique, can still be visited, with a stained glass window commemorating the meeting. The belfry of the old town hall, a solid tower from the late Middle Ages, is part of the UNESCO group of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de, about halfway. Next is Beffroi d’Amiens.
Amiens built its belfry to say something, and the message was independence. Rising above the town hall in the early fifteenth century, the belfry housed the bell that called citizens to assembly and warned of fire and enemy, and it became the symbol of a town that had won its freedoms from the king and the local lords. UNESCO listed the belfries of northern France and Belgium together in 1999, and the Amiens tower is one of the finest, topped later by a baroque lantern. A short walk away stands the cathedral of Notre-Dame, the largest Gothic cathedral in France by volume, which was listed in 1981.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Amiens write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Beffroi d’Amiens sits at 159 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de comes up about 160 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Beffroi de Saint-Riquier.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Saint-Riquier write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 192 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Beffroi de Saint-Riquier. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin, late in the day. Next is Beffroi d’Abbeville.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Abbeville write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 261 km.
Beffroi d’Abbeville → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin → Beffroi de Saint-Riquier is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Saint-Riquier → Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de → Beffroi d’Amiens is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi d’Amiens → back through Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de → back through Beffroi de Saint-Riquier is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Saint-Riquier → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin → Beffroi d’Abbeville is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.