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 Noyelles-Godault it runs 69 km to Noyelles-Godault; allow about 1 h 12 of riding. It goes by way of Terril 80 et cité des Garennes, Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin and back through Terril 80 et cité des Garennes. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
From a distance they look like hills, which in this flat country is reason enough to stare. The terrils numbered 87 and 92, on the edge of Noyelles-Godault and Dourges next to Hénin-Beaumont, are spoil heaps from the coal mines of the Nord-Pas de Calais basin, made of the shale and rock that came up with the coal over a century and more of mining. They are part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2012 as a whole cultural landscape: pits, headframes, miners' housing, schools, churches and these artificial black mountains, more than a hundred of which are protected.
Read the complete Terrils 87 et 92 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Terrils 87 et 92 is where the day begins. Next is Terril 80 et cité des Garennes.
Liévin is a town that knows grief. On 27 December 1974, a firedamp explosion at the Saint-Amé pit killed forty-two miners, one of the last great mining disasters in France, and it is still remembered every year. The town sits on the southern edge of the coal basin, next to Lens, and its landscape is still marked by the industry: Terril 80, a spoil heap from one of the pits, and the Cité des Garennes, a settlement of miners' houses, are part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site.
Read the complete Terril 80 et cité des Garennes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Terril 80 et cité des Garennes comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
Barlin is where the coalfield starts to run into hills. To the west, the land rises gently into the Artois uplands, and the mining town sits at the transition, its slag heaps, workers' houses and pit buildings now part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. It is a quieter corner than Lens or Douai, and the mix of industrial history and rolling countryside makes it a pleasant place to pause.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin. Next is back through Terril 80 et cité des Garennes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 80 et cité des Garennes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Terril 80 et cité des Garennes, late in the day. Next is Terrils 87 et 92.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terrils 87 et 92 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Terrils 87 et 92. That is the ride.
Terrils 87 et 92 → Terril 80 et cité des Garennes is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 80 et cité des Garennes → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin → back through Terril 80 et cité des Garennes is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 80 et cité des Garennes → Terrils 87 et 92 is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.