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: 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.
From Canterbury it runs 311 km to Canterbury; allow about 4 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la and back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais. It crosses from United Kingdom into France - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
St Martin's is a small flint-and-stone church on a low hill on the eastern edge of Canterbury, and it claims to be the oldest church in continuous use in the English-speaking world. The tradition is that it was already a Christian place of worship when Augustine arrived in 597 to convert the English, because the Frankish princess Bertha, who married King Æthelberht of Kent, had a chapel here and a bishop with her. Parts of the walls contain Roman brick, and the oldest part of the building is plainly very old, though experts argue about the details. The church is part of the World Heritage Site that also includes Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustine's Abbey.
Read the complete St. Martin's Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
St. Martin's Church is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais.
Most riders know Calais as the place where the ferry or the tunnel train spits them out onto French tarmac, and they head south without a backward glance. Spare it an hour. The town hall is a surprise, a grand building in Flemish Renaissance style finished in the early twentieth century, and its belfry, one of the tallest in the region, rises well above the rooftops as a landmark you can see from the port. It forms part of the UNESCO list of belfries in Belgium and France, alongside towers that are centuries older.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais comes up about 93 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-.
Aire-sur-la-Lys is the kind of small French town that rewards a slow walk with no plan. Its belfry rises from the eighteenth-century town hall on the Grand Place, an elegant classical building topped by a tall tower with a lantern and a carillon, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Across the square stands the Bailliage, a richly decorated Renaissance building from around 1600, with arches, carved figures and a little loggia, which once housed the guard and the town's officials. A few streets away, the great collegiate church of Saint-Pierre, built in a flamboyant Gothic style, rises above the rooftops.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais, late in the day. Next is St. Martin's Church, 78 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete St. Martin's Church write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at St. Martin's Church. That is the ride.
St. Martin's Church → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais → St. Martin's Church is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.