All, had a trip from Glasgow to Wigan today, journey of 210miles, only 8 major turns / changes of direction would take me to my destination (straight on through roundabouts notcounted.) Just proper junctions or left / right equivalents at roundabouts.
Knowing that some of you folks have driven around the world, howfar have you got for the minimum number of proper turns (change of road / route) from start to finish for your journey. (I know there are some very long straight roads out there.)
|
I don't count them usually. But I often use routes across London that have lots of twists and turns and lots of speed bumps and other obstructive carp, just to avoid sitting in nose-to-tail crawling or stop-start main-road or direct-route traffic. I would rather travel further and work harder to get to the place, even in extreme cases take longer, than sit cursing and fuming even for a minute or two.
Of course it often happens anyway.
|
I used to obsess about this funnily enough. I lived in Palmers Green just off the North Circular and could get to my folks home near Manchester Airport in about 8 turns. 1-North Circular 2-M1 3-M6 a couple at Knutsford and maybe four or five more to the front door. That was 210 miles too.
When I drive to my folks now it's 1000 miles, the E30 right across Europe is one road but you have to exit it to stay on it in several places (does that make sense) and the bit to Rotterdam has a few direction changes. I'll count next time.
|
|
|
|
Many years ago we used to drive to Greece for hols. I seem to remember that one got onto the "Autoput" - motorway - near Zagreb and got off it at Thessalonika (I think we also went to Athens once on basically the same road). I don't remember any junctions/roundabouts etc the whole way (might have been a set of traffic lights near Nis at the turnoff for Sofia but we went straight on). Not sure of distance - maybe 500 miles to Thess, nearly a thousand to Athens?? By the way, it was a really carp road, 2 lane for most of the way, cobblestones for some and the only variance from driving straight was to avoid head-on crashes which had taken place, or about to take place (us!!) by diving for the hard shoulder (bit of grass at the edge). We found another route to the north via ordinary roads next time.
Cue someone saying "That's nothing, I drove Moscow to Vladivostock" or "Nullabor plain".....
|
|
I can do S Oxon to daughter's university accom in Liverpool in eight turns, a journey of 195 miles!
|
|
|
Cue someone saying "That's nothing I drove Moscow to Vladivostock" or "Nullabor plain".....
OK I'll bite - Having lived in Australia it cures you of concern about distance in the UK.
|
|
|
|
Knowing that some of you folks have driven around the world
I have driven the North-South route I5 from Sacramento to San Diego which is about 505 miles in a day.
maps.google.com/
There are much longer straight routes East-West, for example the I40 and the I20.
|
I reckon that I don't make any turns at all, driving up the A1 from Colsterworth (Lincs) to Alnwick (Northumbria). Just the natural curves and bends of the road, some roundabouts which don't seem to count and when I get off the A1 2 turns to to my daughter's house. Journey of 210 miles.
|
|
|
|
Longest without a single turn was Windhoek to Cape Town - about 1700km. With one turn, Swakopmund to Cape Town - about 2000km.
My BiL did Sydney to Perth, where he now lives - about 3300km.
Kevin...
|
On a slight tangent to the original thread another interesting exercise is finding the longest journey in the UK purely on dual carriageway/motorway.
Presumably somewhere in Scotland to somewhere in Cornwall but the interesting bit would be the starting point in Scotland (and also the finishing point in Cornwall).
|
On a slight tangent to the original thread another interesting exercise is finding the longest journey in the UK purely on dual carriageway/motorway. Presumably somewhere in Scotland to somewhere in Cornwall but the interesting bit would be the starting point in Scotland (and also the finishing point in Cornwall).
Start on the M9 at Stirling, then on the M8, then M74, M6, M40, M25 (anti-clockwise), M1 up to Leeds, M62 to Manchester, then M66 to Ramsbottom - at least you don't visit anywhere twice!
Edited by grumpyscot on 18/06/2008 at 08:14
|
|
|
|
Longest without a single turn was Windhoek to Cape Town - about 1700km. With one turn Swakopmund to Cape Town - about 2000km.
On some stretches of this road (N7), you see a car approaching, and it takes 10 minutes to get to you ... Seriously LONG and boring straights. And with 250 kms between towns, NOt a place to run out of petrol! (Or, for that matter, to have to rely on a space saver spare)
Authorities have put rumble strips every 20 kms or so, to 'wake drivers up', followed by big signs "if tired, stop and rest", and laybyes.
Great fun for the kids when you hit the strips and get the the BzzBzzBzzBzzBzzBzz !
Though I've always thought that a rearrangement would be better - space the strips so they go shave-and-a-haircut.
|
|
|
|
If anyone wants to see what a trip from Windhoek to Cape Town is like it's just started on National Geo+1 - Long Way Down, now!
Kevin...
|
|
I recall, a long time ago, three of us setting off from Dar-Es-Salam in search of some game reserve. After 8 hours driving due West, with no turns or even bends, we decided to give in and head back. Estimating distances with a "diary map" is a bit hit and miss!
|
Not quite on the same level, but...
I can remember doing a journey in a van about 10 years ago on a Sunday from near Bedford to near Inverness. The fact which stood out was that I joined the M1 at j13 and cruised (no cruise control, H-reg Maestro van, don't be silly) between 65-72mph all the way to the roundabout on the A80 at Stirling, a recorded distance of 390 miles without coming out of 5th gear at all. IIRC I stopped in the first layby after this roundabout for the comfort break I'd started to need somewhere near Carlisle...
Edited by Webmaster on 21/09/2008 at 13:37
|
Try the Eyre Highway in Oz...
It has one 90 mile straight without kinks or deviations..
Have a look -
tinyurl.com/58zgpm
|
Driven at dusk it has plenty of deviations kinks and sudden stops
Big Red Roos mostly
|
|
I can get to London from here (250 miles) in four turns.
|
Marylebone to Bonar Bridge, 611 miles, has very few turns. Depends how you count turns, of course, but two turns to get onto A5-M1, onto M6-A74-M74, onto M73, onto A80-M9-A9, and then a couple more turns at the end.
Excluding the turns at the two ends, that's three turns over 600 miles.
|
The late Len Beadell built a number of roads across the interior of Australia in the 1940/50s. The first one was the Gunbarrel Highway because the aim was to make it as straight as a gunbarrel. It is about 1400km long. As it passes through remote desert areas it is not for inexperienced drivers and definately not a holiday jaunt. You also need a total of three permits to travel along it. It connects Victory Downs near the NT/SA border to Carnegie Station in WA. The only real turn is at Jackie Junction
|
|
|
|
