My Dream Drive: A Counterpoint
Discussion
"I mean he gave them the map when he gave it to you... He gave it to Étienne... And to Françoise, and Zeph, and Sammy, and the Germans, and all the others... The ones we haven't seen yet. The ones that will arrive next month, or week, and the ones that will arrive after them."
That's a little line from Alex Garland's The Beach, a story set in Thailand that's based around the premise that if tourists find a little spot of paradise, they feel the need to tell their friends to come to visit, who tell their friends, who tell their friends... until it's a tourist hotspot with crowded bars and hotels which ruin the very paradise that was there to begin with. Bearing in mind the title of this thread and PH staffers' recent My Dream Drive articles, you can probably tell where I'm going with this thread.
This little passage came to mind a couple of weeks back. I was in Scotland on business and since it was a fair drive from the South East where I currently reside, I thought I'd take a couple of detours along the way. One was inspired by an Evo article about the Old Military Road in the Cairngorns. The other was inspired by an article on this very website about the B1257 just outside York.
They were both fun, but rather different experiences. Up in the Cairngorns, I was by myself and found the freedom of enjoying what the Old Military Road had to offer very liberating. Granted, I had a FWD hatch instead of an Aston but I was still thrilled to be there, enjoying the road and finding a rhythm between me and the car. I'm delighted with the glorious photos I've got but they don't do the place justice at all. It was beautiful. This is the part where people often get told "You should visit!" but instead, I'm not going to suggest you do.
Further south in Yorkshire, I took a detour on my way back home. The B1257 beckoned as a paradise I'd read about on Pistonheads. The thing is, it seemed to beckon for hundreds of others too, from V8 Vantages and fully liveried Evo X's down to stickered up Saxos. I could still have some fun but I noticed I'd have to watch my step more as it was more congested. There were some decent sight lines but too much traffic to make much progress.When it got clearer, I could also tell the group of bikers behind me wanted to go considerably faster than I wished to as well, leaving me as a rolling roadblock for them until I could find a good place to pull in and let them by. (Cue another article on the Bikers Banter section discussing a poorly driven Octavia VRS holding them up, I expect!)
I still had fun but it was just a little tainted, quite some way from the ideal of flowing freedom we enjoy when we're by ourselves with a good B Road. To be fair to the well-intentioned efforts of the PH staffers, it's not just a Pistonheads thing. Just this month, Harry Catchpole writes in Evo about the Evo Triangle, though he has the awareness to reflect on the dangers of too many people now knowing where and what it is- the irony doesn't appear lost on him as he provides a map and directions for Evo readers. But then, I'm part of the problem and if everyone knows where the best playgrounds are, they become ruined. They become built up, congested or speed cameras become abundant. The internet makes this phenomenon more likely because we share our knowledge with many more people than we used to. We need to tread very carefully to manage our own little ecosystem of fun without treading all over it and destroying what we love.
I'm a fortunate chap. While I don't have a Porsche GT3 to play with, I've lived in different parts of the UK and Ireland and I know my own little tarmac treats. They're in bite-sized chunks, not as gloriously lengthy and fun as the Old Military Road or as scenic as the Col de la Bonnette... but I know they'll usually be clear which means no one's holding me up and I'm holding no one else up. I know I can get into that pleasant flow with a car without interruption.
It not my or anyone else's place to tell you to stay away form playgrounds like the Llangollen road that you're introduced to. That would make me hypocritical- I certainly wouldn't do so. But I'd urge many of you to spend some energy to look for your own places to play as well as driving to places you've read about. Another unintentional detour between Scotland and Cambridgeshire led to me finding a gem of a driving road I enjoyed just as much as the Helmsley Road. To give you a clue about its whereabouts, it's somewhere between London and Edinburgh.
Enjoy finding your own places to play, but while you're sharing your favourite roads with others remember to stay tight lipped about some of the playgrounds you find. That way, you help to conserve them for years to come.
Feel free to concur or criticise...
That's a little line from Alex Garland's The Beach, a story set in Thailand that's based around the premise that if tourists find a little spot of paradise, they feel the need to tell their friends to come to visit, who tell their friends, who tell their friends... until it's a tourist hotspot with crowded bars and hotels which ruin the very paradise that was there to begin with. Bearing in mind the title of this thread and PH staffers' recent My Dream Drive articles, you can probably tell where I'm going with this thread.
This little passage came to mind a couple of weeks back. I was in Scotland on business and since it was a fair drive from the South East where I currently reside, I thought I'd take a couple of detours along the way. One was inspired by an Evo article about the Old Military Road in the Cairngorns. The other was inspired by an article on this very website about the B1257 just outside York.
They were both fun, but rather different experiences. Up in the Cairngorns, I was by myself and found the freedom of enjoying what the Old Military Road had to offer very liberating. Granted, I had a FWD hatch instead of an Aston but I was still thrilled to be there, enjoying the road and finding a rhythm between me and the car. I'm delighted with the glorious photos I've got but they don't do the place justice at all. It was beautiful. This is the part where people often get told "You should visit!" but instead, I'm not going to suggest you do.
Further south in Yorkshire, I took a detour on my way back home. The B1257 beckoned as a paradise I'd read about on Pistonheads. The thing is, it seemed to beckon for hundreds of others too, from V8 Vantages and fully liveried Evo X's down to stickered up Saxos. I could still have some fun but I noticed I'd have to watch my step more as it was more congested. There were some decent sight lines but too much traffic to make much progress.When it got clearer, I could also tell the group of bikers behind me wanted to go considerably faster than I wished to as well, leaving me as a rolling roadblock for them until I could find a good place to pull in and let them by. (Cue another article on the Bikers Banter section discussing a poorly driven Octavia VRS holding them up, I expect!)
I still had fun but it was just a little tainted, quite some way from the ideal of flowing freedom we enjoy when we're by ourselves with a good B Road. To be fair to the well-intentioned efforts of the PH staffers, it's not just a Pistonheads thing. Just this month, Harry Catchpole writes in Evo about the Evo Triangle, though he has the awareness to reflect on the dangers of too many people now knowing where and what it is- the irony doesn't appear lost on him as he provides a map and directions for Evo readers. But then, I'm part of the problem and if everyone knows where the best playgrounds are, they become ruined. They become built up, congested or speed cameras become abundant. The internet makes this phenomenon more likely because we share our knowledge with many more people than we used to. We need to tread very carefully to manage our own little ecosystem of fun without treading all over it and destroying what we love.
I'm a fortunate chap. While I don't have a Porsche GT3 to play with, I've lived in different parts of the UK and Ireland and I know my own little tarmac treats. They're in bite-sized chunks, not as gloriously lengthy and fun as the Old Military Road or as scenic as the Col de la Bonnette... but I know they'll usually be clear which means no one's holding me up and I'm holding no one else up. I know I can get into that pleasant flow with a car without interruption.
It not my or anyone else's place to tell you to stay away form playgrounds like the Llangollen road that you're introduced to. That would make me hypocritical- I certainly wouldn't do so. But I'd urge many of you to spend some energy to look for your own places to play as well as driving to places you've read about. Another unintentional detour between Scotland and Cambridgeshire led to me finding a gem of a driving road I enjoyed just as much as the Helmsley Road. To give you a clue about its whereabouts, it's somewhere between London and Edinburgh.
Enjoy finding your own places to play, but while you're sharing your favourite roads with others remember to stay tight lipped about some of the playgrounds you find. That way, you help to conserve them for years to come.
Feel free to concur or criticise...
Thank you for a very well-written post, you make some excellent points. The issue is of course not helped by the more interesting roads in some areas becoming littered with posted speed limits of 50mph or less, at which point any enthusiastic driving leaves one feeling extraordinarily guilty and nervous. As the number of roads in good enough condition not blighted by over-protective numbers on sticks dwindles, I agree with the OP that we need to protect our playgrounds all the more. Eventually we'll make too much noise, and like the stereotypical Hollywood house party, it's only a matter of time before the authorities become aware and take action.
RenesisEvo said:
Eventually we'll make too much noise, and like the stereotypical Hollywood house party, it's only a matter of time before the authorities become aware and take action.
Thanks for your kind words, and that's exactly my point. The average speed cameras on the Cat and Fiddle are a good case in point.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff