Why this ride
A 160 km round trip from Charleroi - roughly 3 h 06 in the saddle. On the way it passes Beffroi de Thuin, Bois-du-Luc, Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes and The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi and The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 160 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 06
- 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 Charleroi
Charleroi has a reputation, unfairly earned or not, as one of the grittiest cities in Belgium, and its belfry is a fine reason to look again. Rising from the town hall on the Place Charles II, the belfry was built in the 1930s in an elegant Art Deco style, replacing an older tower, and it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO. Its slender shape, topped with a dome and carillon, is a symbol of the city's pride and resilience, and inside, the town hall has a sumptuous Art Deco interior.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi 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 Charleroi is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Thuin.
2. Beffroi de Thuin
Thuin sits on a rocky spur above the Sambre, and from the river it looks like a town that climbed a hill to keep its feet dry. At the top stands the belfry, a tall square tower with an onion-shaped spire that was originally the bell tower of a collegiate church and survived when the church itself did not. Since 1999 it has been part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a reminder that towns in this region measured their freedom in bells, towers and charters.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Thuin comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bois-du-Luc.
3. Bois-du-Luc
The coal that powered Belgium came from a ribbon of pits across Hainaut, and Bois-du-Luc is where the story is told best. The mining company here, the Societe de Bois-du-Luc, was founded in the late seventeenth century, making it one of the oldest in Europe, and it kept going until the pit closed in 1973. The site is now a museum and heritage centre, and it is listed by UNESCO as one of the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia, together with Grand-Hornu, Bois du Cazier and Blegny-Mine.
Read the complete Bois-du-Luc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Bois-du-Luc. Next is Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes.
4. Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
Beneath the fields south-east of Mons lies a honeycomb of shafts and galleries dug by Neolithic farmers more than six thousand years ago. They were after flint, the essential raw material for axes and tools, and they dug shafts up to fifteen metres deep through the chalk to reach the best seams, using antler picks and stone hammers. The mines at Spiennes, covering more than a hundred hectares, are the largest and earliest in north-western Europe, and they were inscribed by UNESCO in 2000. An interpretation centre allows visitors to descend into one of the shafts, and on the surface the ground is still scattered with flint flakes.
Read the complete Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes, about halfway. Next is The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and.
5. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Picture a barge sitting in a huge iron tank full of water, rising more than fifteen metres into the air while another tank, counterweighted, sinks beside it. That is what happens at the four hydraulic boat lifts on the old Canal du Centre in Hainaut, built between the 1880s and 1917 to carry boats over a steep change in level between the basins of the Meuse and the Scheldt. They were engineering marvels in their day, cast-iron and steel giants powered by water pressure, and they are still in working order, though now mostly used by pleasure boats. UNESCO listed them, along with their surroundings, in 1998.
Read the complete The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and sits at 78 km, about halfway. Next is back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes.
6. back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes comes up about 98 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Bois-du-Luc.
7. back through Bois-du-Luc
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bois-du-Luc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 117 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Bois-du-Luc. Next is back through Beffroi de Thuin.
8. back through Beffroi de Thuin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de Thuin, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.
9. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 160 km.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi to Beffroi de Thuin
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi → Beffroi de Thuin is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Thuin to Bois-du-Luc
Beffroi de Thuin → Bois-du-Luc is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bois-du-Luc to Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
Bois-du-Luc → Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes to The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes → The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and to back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and → back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes to back through Bois-du-Luc
back through Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes → back through Bois-du-Luc is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bois-du-Luc to back through Beffroi de Thuin
back through Bois-du-Luc → back through Beffroi de Thuin is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Thuin to Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
back through Beffroi de Thuin → Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.