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.
81 km from Douai to Douai, about 1 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n°, Terril 80 et cité des Garennes and back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n°. The line favours views over speed.
The ride follows Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame → Paysage et ensemble miniers de l for 19 km.
Douai is a handsome old town on the river Scarpe, and its belfry is the thing to look for. The tall Gothic tower, topped with a lion, rises above the town hall and holds a carillon of bells, and it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France that UNESCO listed together. Every July the town stages a big parade of giants, huge wicker figures carried through the streets that represent Gayant, a giant from local legend, with his wife and children, a tradition that dates back centuries and which UNESCO recognises as intangible heritage. The Chartreuse museum, in a former monastery, holds paintings and sculpture from the town's long history.
Read the complete Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame is where the day begins. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n°.
At Oignies the last coal in the whole Nord-Pas-de-Calais basin was brought up, and the pit closed in December 1990. That was the end of more than two and a half centuries of mining in northern France, and the buildings of pit number 9 and 9 bis survive as a monument and, remarkably, as a concert hall. The old headframes and sheds now host rock bands, and the site is one of the most striking pieces of the UNESCO-listed mining landscape. Two terrils, slag heaps from the mine, rise behind it, green with birch and bramble.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 80 et cité des Garennes.
Liévin is a town that knows grief. On 27 December 1974, a firedamp explosion at the Saint-Amé pit killed forty-two miners, one of the last great mining disasters in France, and it is still remembered every year. The town sits on the southern edge of the coal basin, next to Lens, and its landscape is still marked by the industry: Terril 80, a spoil heap from one of the pits, and the Cité des Garennes, a settlement of miners' houses, are part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site.
Read the complete Terril 80 et cité des Garennes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Terril 80 et cité des Garennes. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n°.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n°, late in the day. Next is Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame. That is the ride.
Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame → Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° → Terril 80 et cité des Garennes is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 80 et cité des Garennes → back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de la fosse n° → Cités de la Clochette et Notre-Dame is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.