CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 312 km round trip from Villegailhenc - roughly 6 h 48 in the saddle. It goes by way of Château de Termes, Château de Quéribus, Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc and back through Château de Quéribus. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Four castles perch on a narrow rock ridge above the village of Lastours, in the Montagne Noire north of Carcassonne, and they look so improbable from the viewpoint across the valley that most people stop talking when they see them. The two streams, the Orbiel and the Grésilhou, wrap around the ridge, and the castles, Cabaret, Tour Régine, Surdespine and Quertinheux, stand along its length like beads on a string.
Read the complete Châteaux de Lastours write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Châteaux de Lastours is where the day begins. Next is Château de Termes.
In the summer of 1210, Simon de Montfort, leader of the crusade against the Cathars, brought his army to the remote castle of Termes, in the heart of the Corbières, and laid siege to it. The castle's lord, Raymond de Termes, held out for four months, and the defenders only surrendered when their water supply was contaminated and disease broke out, or so the story goes. The castle became a royal fortress, guarding the border with Aragon, and was eventually dismantled in the seventeenth century. Today, its ruins sprawl over a rocky spur above the village, with remains of walls, towers and a chapel, and the views over the wild hills of the Corbières are tremendous.
Read the complete Château de Termes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Château de Termes comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Château de Quéribus.
Quéribus clings to the top of a limestone pinnacle like a crown, so improbably perched that it is hard to believe people ever built it, let alone held it under siege. It is often described as the last Cathar stronghold: when Montségur fell in 1244, the remaining Cathar refugees and their supporters found shelter here, and the castle held out until 1255, when it finally surrendered to the forces of the French king. It then became a royal fortress guarding the border with Aragon, until the frontier moved south in 1659 and its usefulness ended.
Read the complete Château de Quéribus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 110 km into the recorded legs you reach Château de Quéribus. Next is Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc.
The Corbières are a rugged knot of hills between Carcassonne and the Pyrenees, covered in garrigue, vineyards and dark oak woods, and dotted with castles that seem to grow out of the rock. After the crusade against the Cathars in the thirteenth century, the French crown took over the region and rebuilt a string of fortresses to guard the border with Aragon: Peyrepertuse, Quéribus, Puilaurens, Termes, Aguilar and the walled city of Carcassonne itself, often called the five sons of Carcassonne.
Read the complete Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc, about halfway. Next is back through Château de Quéribus.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château de Quéribus write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Château de Quéribus sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Château de Termes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château de Termes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Château de Termes comes up about 241 km into the recorded legs. Next is Châteaux de Lastours.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Châteaux de Lastours write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Châteaux de Lastours closes the day.
Châteaux de Lastours → Château de Termes is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de Termes → Château de Quéribus is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de Quéribus → Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc → back through Château de Quéribus is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Château de Quéribus → back through Château de Termes is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Château de Termes → Châteaux de Lastours is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.