Why this ride
70 km from La Bassée to La Bassée, about 1 h 08 of riding. On the way it passes Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de, Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault and back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cité d’Auchy and Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 70 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 08
- 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. Cité d’Auchy
Rows of identical brick houses with small gardens, laid out in straight lines or gentle curves, each with its own vegetable plot and outhouse: the cité at Auchy-les-Mines is a textbook example of the miners' housing built by mining companies in northern France. The companies provided homes, schools, churches and shops, both to attract workers and to control them, and the cités, with their distinctive layouts and architecture, are a central part of the World Heritage listing of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité d’Auchy is where the day begins. Next is Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
2. Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
On the morning of 10 March 1906, an explosion tore through the galleries of the Courrières mining company, killing well over a thousand miners. It remains the worst mining disaster in European history. Most of the victims came from the towns of Méricourt, Sallaumines and Billy-Montigny, and many were buried in a mass grave nearby. Twenty days after the explosion, thirteen survivors emerged from the darkness, having found their way through the ruined galleries, and their story became famous across Europe. The memorials in and around Sallaumines honour the dead and the rescuers, including German miners from Westphalia who came to help.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault.
3. Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
The flat country between Douai and Lens does not look like much from a motorway, but it holds one of the great industrial landscapes of Europe. For more than two centuries coal was dug from under these fields, and the mining basin of the Nord-Pas de Calais was listed by UNESCO in 2012 as an evolving cultural landscape of pits, slag heaps, railway lines and workers' housing. The Fosse Cornuault at Évin-Malmaison is one piece of that vast mosaic, a former colliery site with its associated buildings, set among the brick villages of the eastern part of the basin.
Read the complete Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 35 km into the recorded legs you reach Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault. Next is back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
4. back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de 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 de la Catastrophe de, late in the day. Next is Cité d’Auchy.
5. Cité d’Auchy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cité d’Auchy. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cité d’Auchy to Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Cité d’Auchy → Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de to Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de → Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault to back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault → back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de to Cité d’Auchy
back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de → Cité d’Auchy is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.