Best and worst car journeys.

[Stevel]

Any nominations?


My best.

In my first car. A banana yellow Chevette hatchback.

My parents stayed in a caravan in Mid Wales and I left to pick them up at around 5 in the morning.

Just a map and some hand written instructions had me blasting through the Welsh Countryside along empty A and B roads for close to three hours. About two hours into the drive I came to a fork in the road and had to stop to check the map. I got out of the car and as I smoked in those days lit up a cigarette and surveyed the scene.

The Chevette's headlights picking out the early morning mist, surrounded by trees and just the sound of the engine ticking over behind me. Bliss.



My Worst.

Moving back from London to here. The missus Marina was playing up so we left in convoy at midnight and did 40 mph all the way back.

She didn't know the route so I spent most of the M25 bit looking in the rear view mirror to make sure she was still there.

As we joined the M1 the radio in my Cavalier packed up and I had only one tape in the car. Played it on a loop for about three hours and then gave up. Can't stand level 42 now.

[mark1319]

My best
Driving down the A77 south bound through Maybole and Girvan to Stranrear at night in my old mk3 astra. Dangerous road if you don't treat it with respect, but great to give it some beans.

My worst
Everytime I go home driving up the M5,M6 then the M74 to Kilmarnock, 400miles of utter bordom. Now do it at night as there's no traffic and it wonce took me 13Hrs so I now try and avoid driving it during the day. Gets a bit better once I get onto the A71 as there is some corners to keep me occupied.

[ditchp]

best drive was...

delivered an 8 month omega elite to cardif, via another place in wale's (the place name has left me completly, sorry) but the road's and the scenery were all fantastic, i loved especialy the way the car handled on some quite twisty stuff and was like a bullet on the straight's, so comfy and sporty at the same time, didn't want to get out of it





worse drive was...

11 yrs ago driving to work in stoke on trent when the A50 was under construction, picking people up from 4am and sitting in the worst traffic for 2-3 hrs in a clapped out old tranny van full of hole's, no radio or heater, 5 stinking blokes asleep in the back and a full day of hard graft (installing cable ducting for nynex) waiting for me, had to endure this for 6 day's a week for 2 month's untill the gaffer got a new driver

[shan]

Best journey

Recently on a drive up to Inverness for a little holiday.
Stayed at Cumbernauld overnight and set off up. The drive up to Perth was nice views of Sterling Castle and Wallace Monument etc. But the best bit was from Perth along the A9. Beautifull open country side was amazing so i tuck it steady most of the way, some places you can open it up and it's like going through a green/red heather tunnel.
I highly recommend this road just for the views.

Worst journey'S

I'd did the same run every Monday and Friday for 5 years.
Manchester to Oxford M6, M42, M40. No M6 Road toll at the time
Monday morning was not to bad just very boring same old stuff as it was 4 am.
Fridays was a different ball game. Leaving Oxford at about 4/5pm.
Getting stuck at the M5/M6 section was just hell. Tried all sorts of other route's via Tamworth etc but it was just as bad.
Between 3 and 7 hrs some weeks. I'd get home and be mad as hell. Girlfriend "Now wife" Would not talk to me Friday nights as i was a raging nutter.
So i quit the job just for that drive home each Friday. It nearly killed me.

[parapaul]

My Best

The drive back from Southampton to Stoke after having it remapped at Regal not a single motorway used!

My Worst

Family hoiday to France when I was about 15. Stuck in the back of a people carrier with 2 brothers and my parents for about 8 hours altogether. No such thing as aircon, blazing sun, itchy fabric seats and no music cos the batteries in my walkman had died.

[Gsi3.2]

THE BEST..

chasing Cabby down to Stuttgart this year.. you can't really describe the feeling of hour upon hour of fast driiving on autobahn's with the spectacular Rhine vally scenery..one that will stay with me for a long time..


THE WORST..

November 2005..Cornwall...Mrs Gsi's sisters wedding..

South Beds to Tintagel on the west cornish coast...I was late leaving ( collecting wedding dress for her) and i did push on hard to get to exeter.. the radio was warning of snow in cornwall, but i was driving all the way in blue skys and sunshine...Stopped at exeter services for a while ( p break) and even thou i had enough fuel to make Tintagel, something in me said 'fill up'..Ferking glad i did!!...At Liskard i met the snow....now 220Bhp two wheel drive vectra in deepish snow.. and everyone snarled up for miles because muppets where abandoning cars where they lay.. however they where parked.. across carriageways or not..'banded' together with a group of other motorists who swore we where getting through and spent from 1pm on the friday afternoon to 4am on the saturday morning pushing, bumping or towing cars through to Bodmin..from where i set out to Tintagel...8 miles away..

On a dry day South beds to Tintagel is 5 hours....That friday it took me 16hrs to get into the door of the hotel...what a night.. part boredom ( the queueing) part adrenaline ( the downhill descents)...

another one that i will not forget in a while..

[SignumPhil]

The best?
Driving from my friend's house down near Bordeaux up to Honfleur on the Normandy coast on a Sunday. 420 miles of peaceful, empty roads. Cruise control most of the way, in my trusty Skoda Ocrtavia. driving bliss.

The worst?
Maidenhead to Luton on one of the snowy January nights we had a couple of years ago. 5 hours stuck in the car, two and a half of it trying to get off the M1 at J10. the journey was brightened by finding a bag of jelly babies and a bottle of water in the car!


Phil

[wardy]

THE BEST..

chasing Cabby down to Stuttgart this year.. you can't really describe the feeling of hour upon hour of fast driiving on autobahn's with the spectacular Rhine vally scenery..one that will stay with me for a long time..


THE WORST..

November 2005..Cornwall...Mrs Gsi's sisters wedding..

South Beds to Tintagel on the west cornish coast...I was late leaving ( collecting wedding dress for her) and i did push on hard to get to exeter.. the radio was warning of snow in cornwall, but i was driving all the way in blue skys and sunshine...Stopped at exeter services for a while ( p break) and even thou i had enough fuel to make Tintagel, something in me said 'fill up'..Ferking glad i did!!...At Liskard i met the snow....now 220Bhp two wheel drive vectra in deepish snow.. and everyone snarled up for miles because muppets where abandoning cars where they lay.. however they where parked.. across carriageways or not..'banded' together with a group of other motorists who swore we where getting through and spent from 1pm on the friday afternoon to 4am on the saturday morning pushing, bumping or towing cars through to Bodmin..from where i set out to Tintagel...8 miles away..

On a dry day South beds to Tintagel is 5 hours....That friday it took me 16hrs to get into the door of the hotel...what a night.. part boredom ( the queueing) part adrenaline ( the downhill descents)...

another one that i will not forget in a while..

No wonder it took you 16 hours Tintagel is in East not West Cornwall LOL.

I remember that day, we very rarely get snow down here. That's probably also the reason a lot of people abandoned their cars (can't / don't know how to drive in the snow). I did, however manage to get home.

[BigMan]

The Best....

4's up in my old Vectra B SRi on a Stag Night to Amsterdam(4 days...oh yeah!) On the way back we over slept and were over 2 hours later than planned leaving 'dam and gonna be late for the boat! Oh no we were'nt, 2hrs 15m from Amsterdam Central to Calais Ferry Booth's. That poor car got no mercy n the way back! Planning another 'Dam Road Trip early part of next year, relive some memories!

Worst...

As a 16 year old, going 5's up in a Y plate XR3i to the South of Spain and i was stuck in the back all the bleeding way! Nuff Said!