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James Rothwell 11 Feb 2015 12:41

Longest straight drive?
 
In an effort to keep the forum active!

What was the longest continuous/straight drive you've ever done?
I'm quite embarrassed to admit mine as I must of been so tired but at the time I didn't realise the danger.

I once from Tallinn to Calais non-stop (apart from fuel) it took me 33 hours although Google maps suggests it now takes a few hours less than that, I think I took a longer route as I didn't have navigation.

In my defense I was pretty well rested after spending a few days in Helsinki and napping on the boat from Finland to Estonia. :smiliex:

moggy 1968 11 Feb 2015 20:49

2300 miles Kazan to Portsmouth in under 3 days with just catnaps in the car, including 20 hours stuck at the Ukranian Border!

I got arrested after some guy drove his lada into my landcruiser, so then missed my visa exit date! had to get back for work so by the time I managed to get away I had just 3 days to get back, and in an HJ60, thats a long way, it aint fast!!

The worst was a 3 1/2 day drive with the Army from the UK to Somewhere in the German Forest, at 35mph. 3 1/2 days at 35mph following the tail lights of the vehicle ahead, horrific!

I've been to Belarus about a dozen times now (it's where the missus is from) I decided I wanted to see if I could do it in a one'er. Took 20 hours to do the 1300 or so miles. Couldn't do it now though, too many speed cameras in Poland! Usually do it in 2 days. The A2 from Hannover is a fabulous bit of Autobahn if your in a fast car. coming back in 12 inches of snow through Poland in a Porsche 944 wasn't so much fun though!!

The secret to 'endurance driving' is catnaps. Feel tired, pull over, grab 30 minutes, then back on the road, but it's a skill not to be undertaken lightly. Takes practice and you have to know when you have to stop for a kip to stay safe. You really have to know your limits and what the warning signs are.

anonymous1 12 Feb 2015 03:36

Western Australia
 
1 Attachment(s)
Ok ok, actual straight road yes it was in the car, it still counts right?
Darwin to Perth, 4200 K's in 46 hours, two drivers in a hire car! Perth Melbourne in 3 days 3500 K's solo.
Best on a bike is 975 K's in a day, Vienna to Kasel, there was a woman involved :-)

moggy 1968 12 Feb 2015 06:11

Hard to compete with Oz in terms of logest actual straight roads!

Overland Tonka 12 Feb 2015 07:22

27 hours straight driving while lost in Mali..

Just stopping to pour fuel in. First part was a sand, red earth rocky nightmare with holes big enough to swallow a truck. 1st and 2nd gear all the way in very hot temps. When we did hit tarmac it was dark. at last we could speed up....the tarmac lasted 3km's when out of the dark we hit big rocks and earth at 80kph.

Slowed down a bit when we hit tarmac again just in case...sure enough the road ran out again!!!...this time i had to swing the car sideways to get it to stop in time.

On and on and on like this through the night....till no more, so pulled over and slept in the car before our last push for Bamako.

My brother had injured his foot..so driving was just down to me.... Never again.

James Rothwell 12 Feb 2015 08:04

Great stories guys! Thanks for sharing and keep them coming.

backofbeyond 12 Feb 2015 08:18

Surprised we've got to half a dozen posts without finger wagging disapproval somewhere along the line, but there you go.

My err... record comes from back at the dawn of time when there were half a dozen of us in an old Ford Thames van towing a caravan back from the Austrian Alps in the winter. I did 12hrs and then handed over to someone else for the night shift. Within 10 mins he'd jackknifed the caravan into a ditch at the side of the autobahn on a patch of black ice and refused to drive any more so I did the next 36hrs as well until we got back to London. We'd borrowed the van and the owner needed it for work on Monday morning.

I've done a number of 36hrs straight on (usually small) bikes - all day, all night and all the next day, to get through the boring bits of northern Europe. As with all of these things how well you do comes down to motivation and that's the bit that flags with age. That and the increasing amount of hallucinations that start up around 24hrs in, particularly if it's still dark and the road is traffic free.

Longest distance rather than time was London to Greece via the Balkans in a minibus - probably around 2000 miles with a detour or two. That was three days / night but we had a number of drivers so nothing too strenuous.

anonymous1 12 Feb 2015 09:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by backofbeyond (Post 495289)
Surprised we've got to half a dozen posts without finger wagging disapproval somewhere along the line.



Wait till Mouldydog reads it. LMAO!!!!

James Rothwell 16 Feb 2015 09:33

I recently changed my job so my commute is horrendous until I move house.
Currently I'm actually driving between 350km and 420km per day depending which route I take just going to work and back.

Is that the worst daily commute of all time?

anonymous1 16 Feb 2015 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by moggy 1968 (Post 495283)
Hard to compete with Oz in terms of logest actual straight roads!


6 laps of the M25 and you'd be right up there regarding distance, getting it done in a day is the issue!

bnicho 18 Feb 2015 03:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Rothwell (Post 495631)
I recently changed my job so my commute is horrendous until I move house.
Currently I'm actually driving between 350km and 420km per day depending which route I take just going to work and back.

Is that the worst daily commute of all time?

There was an article on Jalopnik about a guy that had a 3 hour commute each way daily. It was from somewhere in Virginia to the Pentagon. I'm stuffed if I can find it now though.

anonymous1 18 Feb 2015 05:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnicho (Post 495833)
There was an article on Jalopnik about a guy that had a 3 hour commute each way daily. It was from somewhere in Virginia to the Pentagon. I'm stuffed if I can find it now though.


I read something similar, I think it was on ADV Rider, a bloke doing 3 hours each way to work everyday :eek3:

James Rothwell 19 Feb 2015 03:52

It usually takes me 1hr 20mins - 2hrs to get to work in the morning depending on how many accidents there are. Coming home is usually 2hrs - 2hrs 30 mins but sometimes on a Thursday if enough morons manage to crash it can take me 4 hrs.

I can't wait to move...

bnicho 19 Feb 2015 05:28

It used to take me two hours each way to get to work when I lived in Sydney. The freeway system is better now.
Now I live in Melbourne where 45mins to an hour is the norm. :thumbup1:

ta-rider 19 Feb 2015 07:08

Mauretania to Marocco 2000 km bouring strait:

Adventure experience - motorcycle trip riding across Africa


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