Driving the Old Military Road in Scotland
Discussion
Both of those are the least of your worries - the queues of tourists stuck behind a Lochs and Glens coach will be in the way.... 
I've not been over the 939 in a couple of years, so someone else can comment on the condition of that. Last time it was a fabulous, fun road - with some sections of terrible, post frost broken tarmac...
The 93 I've been over half a dozen this in the last year. It's the usual tale of a few really poor sections of broken tarmac, but there's also some long secured sections of fresh new tarmac.
Neither have average cameras, but police are regularly out (particularly the 93) in my experience. There's also a lot of crappy other drivers, sheep, quad bikes, blind bends, cyclists, walkers and goodness knows what else, so staying legal is a sensible idea.
I've not been over the 939 in a couple of years, so someone else can comment on the condition of that. Last time it was a fabulous, fun road - with some sections of terrible, post frost broken tarmac...
The 93 I've been over half a dozen this in the last year. It's the usual tale of a few really poor sections of broken tarmac, but there's also some long secured sections of fresh new tarmac.
Neither have average cameras, but police are regularly out (particularly the 93) in my experience. There's also a lot of crappy other drivers, sheep, quad bikes, blind bends, cyclists, walkers and goodness knows what else, so staying legal is a sensible idea.
I did both twice in the winter and again just a few weeks ago. A93 is fine in something hard riding but the A939 suits something a bit more compliant. I've just swapped from smaller winter tyres to larger diameter summer wheels on my Evora and it was better on the A939 with the winter tyres (a bit narrower and higher profile). My most fun on the A939 was in a 1.2L Suzuki Swift...
Agree with warnings of campervans. You will find yourself in a speed median between them (and they won't pull over in the single track sections) and locals in double cab pickups who can outpace a Group B Rally car...
Agree with warnings of campervans. You will find yourself in a speed median between them (and they won't pull over in the single track sections) and locals in double cab pickups who can outpace a Group B Rally car...
Thanks for the feedback. I completed the route some 10 years ago in an F type and had a great time. I’m planning on doing it mid June starting at 4.30am so whilst I will still have sheep for company, hopefully will avoid the camper van brigade. It’s too good a road to waste sitting behind traffic.
Don’t bother trying to avoid the B976 single track road by going via Bridge of Gairn. You won’t have a much wider piece of road and there is more tourist traffic that way too. I tried it last year out of curiosity. To be honest, it’s nice to break the sheer pace of the faster sections past the ski resorts and Braemar anyway.
Do be careful of the sheep! They have no respect for traffic whatsoever. In the evenings after a sunny day, they like to lay on the warm tarmac. The above comments about the speeds the locals drive at are entirely accurate. It’s the first time I’ve seen a muddy agricultural Japanese pickup truck overtake a Ferrari!
I’ve never heard of cameras on the roads but from the behaviour of many petrolhead tourists, it’s only a matter of time. Waze will help with warnings of potholes, speed traps etc but do remember that someone has to be the first to record these hazards…
Do be careful of the sheep! They have no respect for traffic whatsoever. In the evenings after a sunny day, they like to lay on the warm tarmac. The above comments about the speeds the locals drive at are entirely accurate. It’s the first time I’ve seen a muddy agricultural Japanese pickup truck overtake a Ferrari!
I’ve never heard of cameras on the roads but from the behaviour of many petrolhead tourists, it’s only a matter of time. Waze will help with warnings of potholes, speed traps etc but do remember that someone has to be the first to record these hazards…
Edited by brisel on Wednesday 23 April 22:51
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