Why this ride
From Binche it runs 235 km to Binche; allow about 3 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A, Beffroi de Namur and back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche and Beffroi de Namur
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 235 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 02
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche
Once a year, on the Tuesday before Lent, the little town of Binche in Belgian Hainaut goes completely mad. The Gilles, men dressed in costumes decorated with heraldic lions, crowns and stars, wearing wooden clogs, padded humps and, in the afternoon, enormous hats of ostrich feathers, dance through the streets to the beat of drums from dawn until late at night, throwing oranges into the crowd. The carnival of Binche is one of the oldest and most famous in Europe and is listed by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. If you are hit by an orange, it is considered a sign of luck, and throwing it back is not done.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche is where the day begins. Next is Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A.
2. Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A
Brussels has a cathedral of trees. The Sonian Forest, or Zoniënwoud, covers about four and a half thousand hectares on the south-eastern edge of the city, and most of it is beech, tall grey-barked trunks that rise like columns, with a canopy so dense that the forest floor under it is open and dim. Some trees are two centuries old, and the pattern of straight, evenly spaced trunks comes from the way the forest was managed in the eighteenth century under Austrian rule, when foresters planted the stands in a deliberate style. Parts of the forest were listed by UNESCO in 2021 as part of the ancient beech forests of Europe.
Read the complete Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Namur.
3. Beffroi de Namur
The belfry of Namur is a stout, round tower with a bulbous slate roof, not at all the slender Gothic spire people imagine when they hear the word. It started life in the fourteenth century as part of the town walls, the Tour Saint-Jacques, and later became the belfry, holding the bell that rang the hours and the curfew. It is one of the many towers in the World Heritage Site of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de Namur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 116 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de Namur. Next is back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A.
4. back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche.
5. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche to Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche → Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A to Beffroi de Namur
Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A → Beffroi de Namur is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Namur to back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A
Beffroi de Namur → back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A to Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche
back through Sonian Forest - Grippensdelle A → Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.