Why this ride
A 78 km round trip from Billy-Montigny - roughly 1 h 19 in the saddle. The stops in between: Fosse n°5, Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval and back through Fosse n°5.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt and Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 78 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 19
- 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 de Drocourt
Drocourt lies in the middle of the basin, between Lens and Douai, and its landscape tells the story of coal on a human scale. The pit-head frames and brick buildings of the old shafts, the spoil heaps sprouting trees and the long rows of miners' houses lie almost within sight of one another, and together they are listed as part of the UNESCO Mining Basin. Nearby is the old pumping house at the Sarteau shaft, a reminder that water was always the miners' enemy, and that huge machines had to keep the workings dry day and night.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt 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 de Drocourt is where the day begins. Next is Fosse n°5.
2. Fosse n°5
Douvrin, Billy-Berclau and Wingles form a little triangle of brick towns at the northern edge of the Lens coalfield, and the old pit known as Fosse n°5 sits among them. It is not a famous site and does not need to be: its value lies in being one of the many pieces that make up the mining landscape UNESCO listed in 2012, a network of pits, housing estates, slag heaps, railways and public buildings stretching for over a hundred kilometres across the north of France. Seen from the saddle, the area is a patchwork of cités, fields, canals and newer industrial estates, with the occasional terril breaking the skyline.
Read the complete Fosse n°5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fosse n°5 comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval.
3. Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval
The flat coalfield of northern France has one real hill near Liévin, and on top of it stand two tall white pylons carved with figures of grief. This is Vimy Ridge, taken by the Canadian Corps in April 1917, and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial looks out over the mining country below. Down on the plain, in Avion and Liévin, Pinchonval is a cité, a miners' housing estate of brick houses and gardens, and with dozens of other sites it makes up the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, a World Heritage Site since 2012.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval. Next is back through Fosse n°5.
4. back through Fosse n°5
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fosse n°5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fosse n°5, late in the day. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt.
5. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt 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 de Drocourt. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt to Fosse n°5
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt → Fosse n°5 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fosse n°5 to Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval
Fosse n°5 → Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval to back through Fosse n°5
Paysage et ensemble miniers des Pinchonval → back through Fosse n°5 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fosse n°5 to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt
back through Fosse n°5 → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Drocourt is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.