Why this ride
From Auchel it runs 79 km to Auchel; allow about 1 h 33 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de Béthune, Fosse n°5 and back through Beffroi de Béthune.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cité de Rimbert and Fosse n°5
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 79 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 33
- 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 de Rimbert
West of Béthune, the coalfield starts to run out of flat land. The first chalk hills of Artois rise around Auchel and Cauchy-à-la-Tour, and the pit villages climb their slopes in neat rows of brick. The Cité de Rimbert is one of these, built by the mining company of Marles to house its workers, and it belongs to the long necklace of sites in the UNESCO-listed mining basin. Its houses, gardens and straight streets are a textbook example of company planning, with every family given a home, a vegetable plot and a short walk to the pit.
Read the complete Cité de Rimbert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité de Rimbert is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Béthune.
2. Beffroi de Béthune
The belfry of Béthune has been standing in the middle of the Grand Place since the fourteenth century, and it has survived more than most of the buildings around it. In 1918 the town centre was almost completely destroyed by German shelling, and the square was rebuilt in the 1920s in a mix of Flemish and Art Deco styles, with tall, ornate façades in brick and stone around the old tower. The belfry, a symbol of the town's ancient freedoms, is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, and climbing its stairs gives a fine view over the rooftops and the flat land around.
Read the complete Beffroi de Béthune write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Béthune comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fosse n°5.
3. Fosse n°5
Douvrin, Billy-Berclau and Wingles form a little triangle of brick towns at the northern edge of the Lens coalfield, and the old pit known as Fosse n°5 sits among them. It is not a famous site and does not need to be: its value lies in being one of the many pieces that make up the mining landscape UNESCO listed in 2012, a network of pits, housing estates, slag heaps, railways and public buildings stretching for over a hundred kilometres across the north of France. Seen from the saddle, the area is a patchwork of cités, fields, canals and newer industrial estates, with the occasional terril breaking the skyline.
Read the complete Fosse n°5 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 Fosse n°5. Next is back through Beffroi de Béthune.
4. back through Beffroi de Béthune
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Béthune 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 Béthune, late in the day. Next is Cité de Rimbert.
5. Cité de Rimbert
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité de Rimbert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cité de Rimbert. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cité de Rimbert to Beffroi de Béthune
Cité de Rimbert → Beffroi de Béthune is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Béthune to Fosse n°5
Beffroi de Béthune → Fosse n°5 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fosse n°5 to back through Beffroi de Béthune
Fosse n°5 → back through Beffroi de Béthune is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Béthune to Cité de Rimbert
back through Beffroi de Béthune → Cité de Rimbert is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.