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.
160 km from Mazingarbe to Mazingarbe, about 2 h 48 of riding. On the way it passes Cité Crombez, Terril 125a, Belfries of Belgium and France and back through Terril 125a. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Béthune was a mining town on the edge of the Artois, and Pit Number 9 of the Béthune company is one of the surviving complexes that UNESCO included in its listing of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin. A mining complex is more than a hole in the ground: there were the winding house and headframe, the screening and washing plants, the offices, the baths where miners scrubbed off the coal dust, the stables for the pit ponies and the railway sidings, and many of these structures stand near Vermelles. Brick, steel and slag dominate the scene, and a sense of effort and anonymity hangs over it.
Read the complete Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune is where the day begins. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cité Crombez comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 125a.
On the southern edge of the coal basin, where Auberchicourt, Écaillon and Aniche run into one another, a long spoil heap rises above the brick roofs and the fields. Terril 125a is one of the many numbered heaps that the Nord-Pas de Calais inventory catalogues, and it belongs to the old concession of the Compagnie des mines d'Aniche, one of the historic coal companies of the region. Aniche itself is a reminder that the north was not only about coal: the town had a long glassmaking tradition, and the combination of fuel, sand and labour made the area an industrial hub well before the twentieth century.
Read the complete Terril 125a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Terril 125a. Next is Belfries of Belgium and France.
Cambrai gave its name to a fabric. Cambric, a fine light linen, was once woven and traded in this town, and the word survives in English. The town is also known for a small, translucent mint sweet called the bêtise de Cambrai, which the locals say was invented by mistake, and a visit to a confectioner is a pleasant way to spend ten minutes. The belfry is one of the group of belfries across northern France and Belgium that UNESCO listed together, as symbols of the independence of medieval towns, and in Cambrai it is a tall stone tower in the town centre, while the town hall nearby has two mechanical figures, Martin and Martine, who strike the hours.
Read the complete Belfries of Belgium and France write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Belfries of Belgium and France, about halfway. Next is back through Terril 125a.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 125a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Terril 125a sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cité Crombez.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité Crombez write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cité Crombez comes up about 134 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune closes the day.
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune → Cité Crombez is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité Crombez → Terril 125a is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 125a → Belfries of Belgium and France is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Belfries of Belgium and France → back through Terril 125a is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 125a → back through Cité Crombez is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité Crombez → Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.