Why this ride
79 km from Charleroi to Charleroi, about 1 h 28 of riding. On the way it passes Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche, Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes and back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bois du Cazier and Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes starting at Charleroi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 79 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 28
- 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. Bois du Cazier
On the morning of 8 August 1956, a fire broke out in the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Marcinelle, near Charleroi, after a mechanical error in the shaft loaded a lift cage with a wagon and cut an oil pipe and electric cables. Smoke filled the galleries within minutes. Two hundred and sixty-two miners died, and only thirteen were rescued. Most of the dead were immigrants, and one hundred and thirty-six of them were Italian, men who had come to Belgium under a 1946 agreement that exchanged Italian labour for Belgian coal. The disaster remains a deep wound in Belgian and Italian memory, and it changed mining safety rules across Europe.
Read the complete Bois du Cazier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bois du Cazier is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche.
2. 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 comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes.
3. 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
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes. Next is back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche.
4. back through 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 through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche, late in the day. Next is Bois du Cazier.
5. Bois du Cazier
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bois du Cazier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Bois du Cazier. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Bois du Cazier to Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche
Bois du Cazier → Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche to Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche → Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes to back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche
Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes → back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche to Bois du Cazier
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Binche → Bois du Cazier is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.