Why this ride
71 km from Mazingarbe to Mazingarbe, about 1 h 20 of riding. It goes by way of Camus Haut, Terril 140 and back through Camus Haut. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d and Terril 140
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 71 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 20
- 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. Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
In the mining towns of northern France, the companies built not only pits and houses but whole communities, with churches, schools, dispensaries and, after the First World War, monuments to the dead. This war memorial and the iron gates of a mining cité in Mazingarbe are small parts of that story, included in the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. They stand among rows of brick houses, gardens and allotments in a town shaped by coal.
Read the complete Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d 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 about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 140.
3. Terril 140
Rising out of the flat fields north of Douai, the black, cone-shaped hill of Terril 140 is not a natural feature at all: it is a heap of mining waste, the spoil left over from decades of coal extraction. The mining basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, listed by UNESCO in 2012 as a cultural landscape, is studded with hundreds of these terrils, some flat-topped, some pointed, and together with the pitheads, workers' housing and railways they tell the story of an industry that shaped the region for nearly three centuries.
Read the complete Terril 140 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Terril 140. Next is back through Camus Haut.
4. 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 Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d.
5. Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d to Camus Haut
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d → Camus Haut is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camus Haut to Terril 140
Camus Haut → Terril 140 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 140 to back through Camus Haut
Terril 140 → back through Camus Haut is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Camus Haut to Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
back through Camus Haut → Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.