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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 331 km round trip from Bruay-la-Buissière - roughly 5 h 42 in the saddle. On the way it passes Camus Haut, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières, Het Belfort of Halletoren and Belfort. It crosses from France into Belgium - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In Bruay-la-Buissière, the streets of one mining estate carry the names of composers, which is where the Cités des Musiciens get their name. The mining company laid out housing in neat rows of brick, with gardens, pavements and modest decorative touches, and gave the lanes names such as Mozart, Berlioz and Bizet, a gesture that mixes paternalism with a certain poetry. Whether the miners cared much about the choice is another question, but the estates have a distinctive atmosphere, and they are listed by UNESCO as part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Read the complete Les cités des Musiciens write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Les cités des Musiciens is where the day begins. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Camus Haut comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières. Next is Het Belfort of Halletoren.
On the Grote Markt of Kortrijk a tower stands alone in the middle of the square, as if the building it belonged to had wandered off. In a sense it did. The Belfort, or Halletoren, was once part of the cloth hall, the trading heart of a medieval textile town, and when the hall disappeared the tower stayed. It is one of the belfries of Belgium and France on the UNESCO list, and it has a pair of local celebrities at the top: two gilded figures, Manten and Kalle, who strike the hours on the bell. Kortrijk people are fond of them, and you will see their likenesses on all sorts of souvenirs.
Read the complete Het Belfort of Halletoren write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Het Belfort of Halletoren, about halfway. Next is Belfort.
Ghent has three towers standing in a row, and the middle one is the belfry, rising over the old centre between St Bavo's Cathedral and St Nicholas' Church. Begun in the fourteenth century, it was the town's watchtower, bell tower and strongroom, where the charters granting the city its privileges were locked away. On its spire sits a gilded dragon, the city's mascot, keeping an eye on things. The belfry, with the cloth hall attached to its base, is part of the UNESCO list of belfries of Belgium and France, and you can climb it, partly by lift, for one of the best views over the rooftops, canals and spires.
Read the complete Belfort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Belfort sits at 166 km, about halfway. Next is back through Het Belfort of Halletoren.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Het Belfort of Halletoren write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Het Belfort of Halletoren comes up about 220 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 262 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières. Next is back through Camus Haut.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Camus Haut write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Camus Haut, late in the day. Next is Les cités des Musiciens.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Les cités des Musiciens write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 331 km.
Les cités des Musiciens → Camus Haut is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 → Het Belfort of Halletoren is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Het Belfort of Halletoren → Belfort is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Belfort → back through Het Belfort of Halletoren is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Het Belfort of Halletoren → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Armentières is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 → Les cités des Musiciens is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.