Why this ride
161 km from Auby to Auby, about 2 h 57 of riding. The stops in between: Fosse n°5, Cité du château des Dames, Terril 32 and back through Cité du château des Dames. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terril 140 and Terril 32
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 161 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 57
- 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. 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
Terril 140 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 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cité du château des Dames.
3. Cité du château des Dames
South of Bruay-la-Buissière the land stops being a miners' plain and starts to feel like Artois, with small rivers, wooded valleys and the first rolling hills. It is the sort of cité that you come across by accident, a cluster of brick houses with gardens, set a little apart from the village, built for the Compagnie des mines de Béthune or one of its neighbours. UNESCO's 2012 listing included many of these, and each has a slightly different plan.
Read the complete Cité du château des Dames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Cité du château des Dames. Next is Terril 32.
4. Terril 32
Out on the western fringe of the coal basin, where the mining country fades into the farmland of the Lys valley and the edge of the Artois hills, Terril 32 rises near Norrent-Fontes, Mametz and Thérouanne. This is the far end of the seam, a long way from the dense cités around Lens and Douai, and the countryside feels it: smaller villages, more fields, more trees, and pits that were fewer and further between. The heap stands almost like a lone hill above the cropland, a reminder that coal reached even here.
Read the complete Terril 32 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 32, about halfway. Next is back through Cité du château des Dames.
5. back through Cité du château des Dames
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité du château des Dames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité du château des Dames sits at 103 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fosse n°5.
6. 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 comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 140.
7. Terril 140
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Terril 140 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Terril 140 to Fosse n°5
Terril 140 → Fosse n°5 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fosse n°5 to Cité du château des Dames
Fosse n°5 → Cité du château des Dames is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité du château des Dames to Terril 32
Cité du château des Dames → Terril 32 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 32 to back through Cité du château des Dames
Terril 32 → back through Cité du château des Dames is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité du château des Dames to back through Fosse n°5
back through Cité du château des Dames → back through Fosse n°5 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fosse n°5 to Terril 140
back through Fosse n°5 → Terril 140 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.