Why this ride
A 149 km round trip from Sains-en-Gohelle - roughly 2 h 38 in the saddle. It goes by way of Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de, Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault, Cité du Pont and Cité Crombez.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cité n°10 and Cité Crombez
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 149 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 38
- 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 n°10
Sains-en-Gohelle is a former coal town in the heart of the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin, and Cité n°10 is one of its old mining estates, rows of brick houses built for miners and their families around a pithead. The basin, which stretches about 120 kilometres from the Belgian border towards the west, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, and the cités, the slag heaps and the headframes are its most visible remains.
Read the complete Cité n°10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité n°10 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 Cité du Pont.
4. Cité du Pont
Wingles sits on the northern edge of the coal basin, between Lens and La Bassée, where the mining towns give way to the canals and fields of the Weppes and the outskirts of Lille. The Cité du Pont is one of its miners' settlements, rows of brick houses built for the workers of the local pits, and it is part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. The name, the bridge settlement, hints at the importance of the waterways that crisscross this flat land.
Read the complete Cité du Pont write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité du Pont, about halfway. Next is Cité Crombez.
5. Cité Crombez
Cité Crombez is a miners' settlement at Noyelles-Godault, on the eastern edge of Hénin-Beaumont, in the heart of the old coal basin between Lens and Douai. Built by the mining company to house its workers, it has the classic layout of brick houses, gardens and straight streets, and it is part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. Today it is a quiet residential area, surrounded by shopping centres, motorways and the remains of heavy industry.
Read the complete Cité Crombez write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité Crombez sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cité du Pont.
6. back through Cité du Pont
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité du Pont write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité du Pont comes up about 96 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault.
7. back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 115 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault. Next is back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
8. 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 n°10.
9. Cité n°10
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité n°10 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 149 km.
Leg by leg
Cité n°10 to Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Cité n°10 → 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 Cité du Pont
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault → Cité du Pont is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité du Pont to Cité Crombez
Cité du Pont → Cité Crombez is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité Crombez to back through Cité du Pont
Cité Crombez → back through Cité du Pont is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité du Pont to back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
back through Cité du Pont → back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault to back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
back through 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 n°10
back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de → Cité n°10 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.