Why this ride
A 323 km round trip from Aniche - roughly 5 h 03 in the saddle. The stops in between: Camus Haut, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières, Monument à Madame Declercq and Beffroi de Béthune. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage and Beffroi de Béthune
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 323 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 03
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
Coal made this corner of northern France, and coal left it with a landscape unlike anywhere else in the country: slag heaps rising like black pyramids from the fields, pithead frames standing over old shafts and long rows of brick miners' houses lining the streets of every town. The Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin was listed by UNESCO in 2012, and the Cités du Champ Fleuri et du Garage, near Masny and Lewarde, are among its typical housing estates, built by mining companies to house workers and their families close to the pits.
Read the complete Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage is where the day begins. Next is Camus Haut.
2. Camus Haut
Camus Haut lies on the eastern edge of the mining basin, near Annay, Pont-à-Vendin and Harnes, where the canalised Deûle carries barges north towards Lille. The label refers to one of the many mining sites and cités of the area, and while the exact spot is hard to identify from a distance, the landscape tells you what kind of place it is: brick housing estates, old pit heads, spoil heaps going green, and the wide, flat horizon of the Gohelle.
Read the complete Camus Haut write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Camus Haut comes up 34 km in. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières.
3. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières
Armentières is a textile town on the river Lys, right on the Belgian border, a quarter of an hour west of Lille. Its name is familiar to many English speakers from the bawdy marching song of the First World War, Mademoiselle from Armentières, which British soldiers sang on their way to the front lines nearby. The town paid a terrible price for being so close to that front: it was shelled, occupied and largely destroyed by 1918. The town hall and its belfry were rebuilt in the 1920s and 1930s in a confident Flemish style, and the tower now belongs to the UNESCO group of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
69 km in you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières. Next is Monument à Madame Declercq.
4. Monument à Madame Declercq
Oignies is a small town in the Pas-de-Calais, at the edge of the old coal basin near the border with the Nord, with a monument at its heart to the people who lived and died by the pits.
Read the complete Monument à Madame Declercq write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument à Madame Declercq, about halfway. Next is Beffroi de Béthune.
5. 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 sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Monument à Madame Declercq.
6. back through Monument à Madame Declercq
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument à Madame Declercq write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Monument à Madame Declercq comes up 171 km in. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières.
7. back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
206 km in you reach back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières. Next is back through Camus Haut.
8. back through Camus Haut
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Camus Haut write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Camus Haut, late in the day. Next is Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage.
9. Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage 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 323 km.
Leg by leg
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage to Camus Haut
Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage → Camus Haut is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camus Haut to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières
Camus Haut → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières to Monument à Madame Declercq
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières → Monument à Madame Declercq is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument à Madame Declercq to Beffroi de Béthune
Monument à Madame Declercq → Beffroi de Béthune is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Béthune to back through Monument à Madame Declercq
Beffroi de Béthune → back through Monument à Madame Declercq is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument à Madame Declercq to back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières
back through Monument à Madame Declercq → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières to back through Camus Haut
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières → back through Camus Haut is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Camus Haut to Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage
back through Camus Haut → Cités du Champ fleuri et du Garage is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Lille and Paysage et ensemble miniers de Libercourt · 164 km
- Cité des Soeurs and Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain · 164 km
- Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin and Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain · 167 km
- Cité du Pont and Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de · 70 km