Why this ride
A 65 km round trip from Billy-Montigny - roughly 1 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: Terril 49, Terrils Jumeaux 28 and back through Terril 49.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- and Terrils Jumeaux 28
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 65 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 17
- 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 Fouquières-
On 10 March 1906 a fire in a pit at Courrières, a few kilometres from here, set off a coal-dust explosion that ran through the galleries of three linked mines and killed 1,099 men and boys. It is the worst mining disaster in European history. Rescue teams came from Germany's Westphalian coalfield and worked alongside French crews, a rare moment of cooperation between two countries that would be at war within a decade. Twenty days after the explosion, thirteen survivors were found alive, which astonished the country. The disaster led to strikes and a national debate on safety and the role of the state, with the interior minister, Georges Clemenceau, sending troops to the area, and it changed mining law in France.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- 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 Fouquières- 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 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terrils Jumeaux 28.
3. Terrils Jumeaux 28
Two near-perfect black cones rise from the farmland between Ruitz, Maisnil-lès-Ruitz and Haillicourt, and once you have spotted them you will keep seeing them for miles. These twin terrils, the spoil heaps of former coal pits, are among the tallest in the Nord-Pas de Calais basin and have become something of a regional emblem. They look volcanic, which in a way they are: shale and waste rock tipped there for decades by the mining companies, slowly settling into steep, smooth pyramids that turn purple-grey in rain and almost silver in bright sun.
Read the complete Terrils Jumeaux 28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Terrils Jumeaux 28. 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 de Fouquières-.
5. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- 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 Fouquières-. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- to Terril 49
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- → Terril 49 is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 49 to Terrils Jumeaux 28
Terril 49 → Terrils Jumeaux 28 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terrils Jumeaux 28 to back through Terril 49
Terrils Jumeaux 28 → back through Terril 49 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 49 to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
back through Terril 49 → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.