Presumably quite a lot of us here like driving? Or at least some of the time anyway! The boring commute, the familiar traffic jam and the sheer costs of motorised transport all conspire to take the edge off that enthusiasm but here we all are, more than prepared, even eager perhaps, to waffle on for hours, years in some cases, on one of our chosen activities.
I drive a lot. Mostly through work commitments, but I'm pleased to say I still drive for pleasure. Not so much now just for the sake of it but I do enjoy a pleasant journey provided there is the promise of an at least mildly interesting destination.
I like to drive to muddy places where I/we can use our mountain bikes. I like to drive to Edinburgh. It was my home town and many of the approaches from the south count among the better driving roads in Britain. I love to drive in France, so much space once you get away from the cities. I enjoy driving in London on a Sunday, it's still a bit busy but you actually get to see the sights. I quite like driving in snow, masochistic though that may seem. Especially if there's no one else about. Once went through the "Great Glen" in a snowstorm without seeing another vehicle. I also get a peculiar sense of peace driving late at night on open roads especially if it's raining, oddly enough.
Do you like driving still? I suppose we all must have done at some time.
|
>> Do you like driving still?
Yes and I know some of the roads you mention approaching Edinburgh. But for some bits I'd not tackle them flat out at 60mph. The locals behind me seemed annoyed. And I'm talking the winding, undulating bits. Am I such a poor driver?
Now years ago I travelled the Snake Pass to Sheffield daily for months. I got to know how the car handled and all the imperfections of the road so could make progress. But did know that occasionally someone would be overtaking three cars coming the other way! On a bend! I was able to slow down to let them complete the manoeuvre.
|
M6 Northbound from Lancaster
I love it when you get to the edge of the lakes and have to go through the hills, as they loom in the distance its my favourite part of the Journey
|
I enjoy two things: -
1. Driving a small nippy car (e.g. Citroen C1) through the urban environment. Makes much more sense than my S-Max, but I need the bigger car at weekends.
2. An early morning motorway with no traffic, cruise control set at a slightly illegal speed and watching the trip computer grow the economy figure. There is a fine balance between too slow for interest and too quick for the decent economy/rozzers.
|
|
im a big fan of Hitachi drives and put files in the appropriate destination folders but shouldnt this be under computer related questions?
|
I wouldn't touch hitachi drives with a tow truck.
They were not called "death stars" for nothing
|
The best drive i have ever had is California Highway 120
It starts on the desert border of Nevada, climbs the Sierra Nevada and the High Sierras, over Yosimite via the Tioga Pass. (touching 10,000 feet) and snake down again to the plains of Modesto.
Its smooth, has some enormous humps twists, turns, scenery, everything.
I have driven Alpine Passes including the Stelvio, this road knocks them all into a cocked hat.
The Tioga pass is now closed due to heavy snow and probably wont reopen till April / May.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 22 Nov 10 at 16:37
|
|
Better than the Tioga pass is the Sonora Pass to the north. It has great views, more twisties and less traffic.
|
Yes - by less than 100ft..... 9,860 vs 9,945 :-0
I got altitude sickness staying overnight at Mono Lake. Woke up with a blinding headache. Felt a lot better after two paracetamol, drinking about 1.5 litre of water and SWMBO driving over the Tioga Pass down to a more manageable 6,000ft.
|
|
Yes I stayed at the lake too, in Lee Vining.
|
|
We stayed directly facing the lake at 'The Lodge at Mono Lake'. A bit rough but great views both evening and morning. About two miles north of Lee Vining. We really enjoyed that trip despite five of us and luggage being cramped into a Ford Escape.
|
|
I used the Glasgow / Kyle of Lochalsh and return route a couple of times a month for a five year period. Tourists in summer and whiteout winters couldn't spoil the magnificent scenery as it varied through the seasons. Anywhere in the west of Scotland will do me.
|
|
I'm lucky to live amongst some of the best driving roads in the country - turn left or right at the end of the lane and follow your nose really - however after thinking hard - The road I most need to get back to sample was in the Meuse valley France and Belgium - another on the same trip was the road between Bastoinge and Dinan.....
|
NW Scotland for me, especially around March/April. Some favourite sections:
Calendar to Tydrum/Rannoch Moor/Glencoe
Great Glen to Eilean Donan Castle/Kyle of Lochalsh
The Skye Bridge
Kyle of Lochalsh to Torridon
+ basically everywhere north of Torridon!
Also the Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rockies, coast road north of Cairns, Queensland, roads from the north coast of Spain into the Picos de Europa, and loads more I can't think of right now!
|
Beautiful part of the country Pat. Have to agree with your choice.
You know what, I have just driven the Mondeo tonight for the first time in a week or two. "She" had "forgotten" to fill it up and... "would you mind awfully darling?"...
You so quickly forget how good that car is. Flik flaks through roundabouts like a young 'un. Fairly cheered me up. Really hard not to say "pump 9......and 20 Marlboro Reds please...."
"Pump 9 thanks" on its own just felt a bit wrong...Like tea without a chocolate digestive.
:-(
|
Rural Leicestershire/Rutland can be quite special in places. Its about 15 mins from me to get there but the wife and I can spend several hours pottering through pretty villages and stopping for panaoramic views.
Sometimes the beauty is right on your doorstep.
|
Take the TF-11 from Santa Cruz in Tenerife and head North to San Andres, stop for refreshments at the lovely Playa de las Teresitas, then head inland on the TF-12.
Stay on this road (if you can) and take plenty of Humphs fags with you to calm your nerves.
You can 'pop' down into Taganana & Casa Vegueta if it takes your fancy, or stay on the TF-12 through Montena del Termino, over Las Mercedes then drop down into La Laguna on the TF-13 and then jump onto the TF-5 to La Orotava then onto the TF-31 to Puerto de la Cruz to visit the Loro Parque ~ www.loroparquetenerife.com/morepics.html
|
|
I feel a bit like the big guy bottom left at the moment. Fine though...
|
|
Going grey (sorry silver) already? :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 22 Nov 10 at 20:01
|
>> Sometimes the beauty is right on your doorstep.
Ne'er a truer word...
We've been making a conscious effort to visit local places recently, there's some cracking stuff, some even walking distance. I like all round about Lanark. It's easy to pretend you know what you're doing with a camera when the views are like that... :-)
|
(The big guy on the bottom left looks just like Clive James)
My mum hails from Edinburgh and I still have relations there - if I have the time I go by the A68. I love the bleak Durham moorlands around Tow Law, and then the gentler countryside as you go into Northumberland and then the glorious Cheviot Hills and over Carter Bar - and a peculiar feeling of 'coming home' even though I've never lived in Scotland.
Another favourite is the valley well-named Eden: the tourists throng to the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales unaware of the deloghts in between them. A series of B-roads more or less follow the River Eden and you rarely see another car.
And finally of course the Road to the Isles - from Fort William to Mallaig: it's partly the beauty of the road itself, and partly what's coming afterwards (Skye in particular).
|
|
Home every day. Town changes to countryside, the fields and trees signalling the changing seasons.
|
I have a couple of favourites, both associated with holiday trips - which have the advantages of a relaxed timetable and something to look forward to at the end.
First is the A40 through the Brecon Beacons National Park, in our case en route to South Pembrokeshire. Lunch at the Clytha Arms near Raglan, then 50 miles of glorious, varied scenery to Llandovery, with the sparkling Usk for company and the Beacons looming over us. Add a winding road with an excellent surface, take away (please) the occasional swarm of sports bikers and it's about as good as driving gets for me.
The other favourite is across the Channel: the A84 in Normandy. It's a switchback ride over a succession of big hills, affording magnificent views for the humans and a proper workout for the car. The locals do it in their little Renaults and Citroens, but it's fun even in a diesel Verso with a full box on the roof and four bikes on the tow bar.
In fact, I love most of the holiday driving experience - such a refreshing change from constantly having to be somewhere on time. Didn't get to France this summer because we were too busy (and poor) from moving house; next year, must try harder.
|
Everything Pat says
+ B6255 Ingleton - Hawes road
+ Zillertaler Hohenstrasse
|
... B6255 Ingleton - Hawes road...
Quite a few decent driving roads in North Yorkshire, particularly up and down the dales.
In the south, I always enjoyed the cross-Cotswold route from Tewkesbury to Burford, via Stow.
|
Favourite drives and destinations? - rtj70
