Why this ride
A 255 km round trip from Saint-Riquier - roughly 4 h 44 in the saddle. The stops in between: Beffroi de Rue, Beffroi d’Abbeville, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin and Terril 244. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de Saint-Riquier and Terril 244
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 255 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 44
- 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 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Saint-Riquier is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Rue.
2. Beffroi de Rue
Rue is a small town of three thousand people that used to be a seaport, and the belfry in the middle of it is one of the reasons it still feels more important than its size suggests. Over centuries the Baie de Somme silted up and the sea pulled back, leaving Rue stranded a few kilometres inland among salt meadows and polders, but the stone tower that once watched the harbour still stands over the square. It is part of the group of belfries of Belgium and northern France on the UNESCO list, symbols of civic freedom built by towns that wanted the world to know they governed themselves.
Read the complete Beffroi de Rue write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Rue comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi d’Abbeville.
3. Beffroi d’Abbeville
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi d’Abbeville. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin.
4. 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.
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 d’Hesdin, about halfway. Next is Terril 244.
5. Terril 244
Way out at the western tip of the coalfield, near the villages of Mametz and Norrent-Fontes, Terril 244 marks the place where coal mining reached its limit. Beyond it, the land belongs to farmers, and the next towns, Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer, have more to do with canals, marshes and markets than with mines. The heap stands as a solitary landmark in the fields, smaller than the giants further east, and its green-covered slopes blend into the landscape. It is one of the outlying components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that the coalfield stretched for over a hundred kilometres from the Belgian border to here.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 244 sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin.
6. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Beffroi d’Abbeville.
7. back through Beffroi d’Abbeville
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Abbeville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 201 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Beffroi d’Abbeville. Next is back through Beffroi de Rue.
8. back through Beffroi de Rue
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Rue 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 Rue, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de Saint-Riquier.
9. Beffroi de Saint-Riquier
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Saint-Riquier 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 255 km.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de Saint-Riquier to Beffroi de Rue
Beffroi de Saint-Riquier → Beffroi de Rue is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Rue to Beffroi d’Abbeville
Beffroi de Rue → Beffroi d’Abbeville is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi d’Abbeville to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin
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 to Terril 244
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin → Terril 244 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 244 to back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin
Terril 244 → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin to back through Beffroi d’Abbeville
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Hesdin → back through Beffroi d’Abbeville is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi d’Abbeville to back through Beffroi de Rue
back through Beffroi d’Abbeville → back through Beffroi de Rue is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Rue to Beffroi de Saint-Riquier
back through Beffroi de Rue → Beffroi de Saint-Riquier is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.