Why this ride
From Carvin it runs 78 km to Carvin; allow about 1 h 25 of riding. It goes by way of Cité d’Auchy, Cité des Petits Bois and back through Cité d’Auchy. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hôtel de ville and Cité des Petits Bois
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 78 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 25
- 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. Hôtel de ville
A town hall makes an odd target for a ride, but Carvin's is a good excuse to stop in a place most people only see from the A1. The town sits on the northern edge of the old coalfield, between Lens and Lille, and its civic buildings and squares reflect the confidence of a community that grew with the mines. Like many such places, Carvin's centre is a mix of brick, stone and post-war rebuilding, and the town hall faces a square with cafés, bakeries and a market on certain days.
Read the complete Hôtel de ville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hôtel de ville is where the day begins. Next is Cité d’Auchy.
2. Cité d’Auchy
Rows of identical brick houses with small gardens, laid out in straight lines or gentle curves, each with its own vegetable plot and outhouse: the cité at Auchy-les-Mines is a textbook example of the miners' housing built by mining companies in northern France. The companies provided homes, schools, churches and shops, both to attract workers and to control them, and the cités, with their distinctive layouts and architecture, are a central part of the World Heritage listing of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité d’Auchy comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cité des Petits Bois.
3. Cité des Petits Bois
There is a particular kind of street in the old coalfield that outsiders mistake for suburban normality. Rows of identical brick houses, each with a small front garden, line a gently curving road, with a school at one end and a church at the other. These are the cités, built by the mining companies to house their workers, and the Cité des Petits Bois at Liévin is one of them. It belongs to the same family as the cités of the Solitude, named on this ride, and together they tell how a company could organise the life of its men from cradle to pit head.
Read the complete Cité des Petits Bois write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Cité des Petits Bois. Next is back through Cité d’Auchy.
4. back through Cité d’Auchy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité d’Auchy, late in the day. Next is Hôtel de ville.
5. Hôtel de ville
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hôtel de ville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hôtel de ville. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hôtel de ville to Cité d’Auchy
Hôtel de ville → Cité d’Auchy is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité d’Auchy to Cité des Petits Bois
Cité d’Auchy → Cité des Petits Bois is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité des Petits Bois to back through Cité d’Auchy
Cité des Petits Bois → back through Cité d’Auchy is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité d’Auchy to Hôtel de ville
back through Cité d’Auchy → Hôtel de ville is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.