Why this ride
156 km from Cambrai to Cambrai, about 2 h 32 of riding. The stops in between: Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu, Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage, Terril 140 and Cité Saint-Paul.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Belfries of Belgium and France and Cité Saint-Paul
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 156 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 32
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Belfries of Belgium and France
Cambrai gave its name to a fabric. Cambric, a fine light linen, was once woven and traded in this town, and the word survives in English. The town is also known for a small, translucent mint sweet called the bêtise de Cambrai, which the locals say was invented by mistake, and a visit to a confectioner is a pleasant way to spend ten minutes. The belfry is one of the group of belfries across northern France and Belgium that UNESCO listed together, as symbols of the independence of medieval towns, and in Cambrai it is a tall stone tower in the town centre, while the town hall nearby has two mechanical figures, Martin and Martine, who strike the hours.
Read the complete Belfries of Belgium and France write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Belfries of Belgium and France is where the day begins. Next is Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu.
2. Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu
Lourches is a small mining town in the Nord department, on the banks of the Escaut river, between Denain and Valenciennes, in the heart of the old coal mining basin that stretched across northern France. The memorial named after Charles Mathieu is one of the elements listed as part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin UNESCO site, alongside pitheads, slag heaps, miners' housing and the buildings of the mining companies.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu comes up 18 km in. Next is Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage.
3. Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
Coal made this corner of northern France, and coal left it with a landscape unlike anywhere else in the country: slag heaps rising like black pyramids from the fields, pithead frames standing over old shafts and long rows of brick miners' houses lining the streets of every town. The Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin was listed by UNESCO in 2012, and the Cités du Champ Fleuri et du Garage, near Masny and Lewarde, are among its typical housing estates, built by mining companies to house workers and their families close to the pits.
Read the complete Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
37 km in you reach Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage. Next is Terril 140.
4. Terril 140
Rising out of the flat fields north of Douai, the black, cone-shaped hill of Terril 140 is not a natural feature at all: it is a heap of mining waste, the spoil left over from decades of coal extraction. The mining basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, listed by UNESCO in 2012 as a cultural landscape, is studded with hundreds of these terrils, some flat-topped, some pointed, and together with the pitheads, workers' housing and railways they tell the story of an industry that shaped the region for nearly three centuries.
Read the complete Terril 140 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 140, about halfway. Next is Cité Saint-Paul.
5. Cité Saint-Paul
The mining basin of northern France is a flat, open country that seems to have been built entirely by hand, and among the first things you notice are the hills that nature never put there. They are the terrils, the slag heaps of the coal mines, some of them more than a hundred metres high, and around Courrières they punctuate the horizon between rows of brick houses. The Cité Saint-Paul belongs to this world: a miners' housing estate, laid out by the mining company with its rows of uniform houses, gardens, schools and a church, so that a worker could live, shop and pray within the company's reach.
Read the complete Cité Saint-Paul write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité Saint-Paul sits at 74 km, about halfway. Next is back through Terril 140.
6. back through Terril 140
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 140 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 140 comes up 92 km in. Next is back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage.
7. back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
110 km in you reach back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage. Next is back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu.
8. back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu, late in the day. Next is Belfries of Belgium and France.
9. Belfries of Belgium and France
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Belfries of Belgium and France 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 156 km.
Leg by leg
Belfries of Belgium and France to Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu
Belfries of Belgium and France → Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu to Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu → Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage to Terril 140
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage → Terril 140 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 140 to Cité Saint-Paul
Terril 140 → Cité Saint-Paul is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité Saint-Paul to back through Terril 140
Cité Saint-Paul → back through Terril 140 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 140 to back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
back through Terril 140 → back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage to back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu
back through Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage → back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu to Belfries of Belgium and France
back through Monument commémoratif Charles Mathieu → Belfries of Belgium and France is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.