Why this ride
A 211 km round trip from Escaudain - roughly 3 h 40 in the saddle. The stops in between: Terril 49, Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de and back through Terril 49.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain and Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 211 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 40
- 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. Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain
Escaudain sits in the old heartland of the Compagnie des mines d'Anzin, the oldest and once the most powerful of the coal companies in northern France, and the landscape around it is pure mining country: rows of brick terraces, spoil heaps, old railway embankments and the occasional headframe standing like a monument. This is the Valenciennes end of the coalfield, close to the Belgian border, and it was here that coal mining in the north began in the eighteenth century. The town and its surroundings form one of the many components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, which UNESCO inscribed in 2012 as an evolving cultural landscape.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain is where the day begins. Next is Terril 49.
2. Terril 49
Terril 49 rises above the fields between Vermelles, Mazingarbe and Noyelles-lès-Vermelles, one of the dozens of spoil heaps that punctuate the landscape of the Gohelle. Like many of them, it has gone green, with trees and scrub covering slopes once black and bare, and it has become a refuge for wildlife in a landscape of intensive farming and urban sprawl. Lizards, rare insects and birds of prey thrive on the warm, dry slopes of the terrils, which retain heat like stone.
Read the complete Terril 49 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 49 comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de.
3. Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de
On 26 March 1918, with the German spring offensive smashing through the British lines and threatening to split the Allied armies apart, French and British leaders met in the town hall of Doullens, a small town on the river Authie, north of Amiens. In a room on the first floor, they agreed to give the French general Ferdinand Foch the coordination of all Allied forces on the Western Front, a decision that many historians see as a turning point of the war. The room, now known as the Salle du Commandement Unique, can still be visited, with a stained glass window commemorating the meeting. The belfry of the old town hall, a solid tower from the late Middle Ages, is part of the UNESCO group of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 105 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de. Next is back through Terril 49.
4. back through Terril 49
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 49 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 49, late in the day. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain.
5. Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain to Terril 49
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain → Terril 49 is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 49 to Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de
Terril 49 → Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de to back through Terril 49
Beffroi de l’ancienne maison communale de → back through Terril 49 is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 49 to Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain
back through Terril 49 → Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Escaudain is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.