Why this ride
64 km from Mazingarbe to Mazingarbe, about 1 h 08 of riding. The stops in between: Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières, Terril 140 and back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terril 49 and Terril 140
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 64 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 08
- 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 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 is where the day begins. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-.
2. 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- comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 140.
3. 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
about 32 km into the recorded legs you reach Terril 140. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-.
4. back through 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 through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-, late in the day. Next is Terril 49.
5. 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 at Terril 49. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Terril 49 to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
Terril 49 → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- to Terril 140
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- → Terril 140 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 140 to back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
Terril 140 → back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- to Terril 49
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- → Terril 49 is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.