your favourite road?

[bella]

what the thread title says - name your favourite road, present us with photos or a google maps link and tell us why.

i rediscovered the a7 southbound between milan and genova the other day. from about halfway down it's a dual carriageway racetrack climbing up and down the hills and around villages with a speed limit that varies between the usual motorway limit and 80kmh. not to be confused with its boring northbound counterpart, which bypasses most of the fun by way of bridges and tunnels. it's kind of like the nurburgring, in a dual carriageway format, with competition!

behold: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll...90765&t=h&z=11

your turn

[barnettracing]

The M1 southbound from J18 to J8 I joke, I joke...

It's not the entire road, but a very small section. The B3081 southbound, just outside my hometown of Shaftesbury. Precisely, the very small section known as 'Zig Zag Hill' - apparently the bendiest road in Britain. The section just after the top of hill affords stunning views, and a couple of good, fast corners.

Here is the Google Maps link.


It's such a blast to, well, blast up it. Especially on a summer's afternoon (I've heard they're nice, apparently ).

[bella]

admit it, you've handbrake turned on that corner haven't you?

(we're joking, officer)

[barnettracing]

Strangely, despite being a racing driver in my spare time, and owning a Citroen Saxo VTR, I haven't (yet).

Honest Officer.

[JHamilton]

Deals Gap - Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina is pretty fantastic.

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uqPGYfNACI&feature=fvst

BUT I prefer what they call the Six Gap loop in N. Georgia as it is less busy and closer.

http://www.sixgap.com/

My favorite portion is the RBR parkway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMoKWEWjcE8

Here is a picture off RBR from many, many years ago of my car and fellow ten-tenths member fieldodreams...

[Peat]

In the world? http://g.co/maps/qf8e5

This mountain pass in Vietnam was certainly a hoot on a motorbike (later featured on Top Gear) and has to be 'up there' on my list.

Closer to home, i always relish making the trip to Newbury from my hometown.

http://g.co/maps/9pakb

The road really evolves as you go. Starts wide and smooth, as you get into Berkshire, the road surface breaks up but then comes back as you enter a narrow wooded section. Really is a pleasure to drive. It has everything, odd cambers, great views, elevation changes.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Peat

http://g.co/maps/9pakb

The road really evolves as you go. Starts wide and smooth, as you get into Berkshire, the road surface breaks up but then comes back as you enter a narrow wooded section. Really is a pleasure to drive. It has everything, odd cambers, great views, elevation changes.

All admirable features that you would hope to find on a decent race track too!

[nicanary]

It isn't my favourite road per se but you can drive on a bona fide bit of race track here in Ulster.
The public roads are still closed for bike road-racing of course, and also for the Craigantlet hill-climb, which used to be a round of the British Hillclimb championship.
East-by-North-East of Belfast, running behind the Stormont estate, is a road which leads high over the Craigantlet hills; in recent times they have built a modern road with slow-lane which ascends almost directly, but the old road , always used for the competition, still twists and turns in a parallel direction.

You need to get there at daybreak, before traffic commences, because the old road (race track) is bisected in places by the new "highway", and there are white lines denoting priority for the main traffic.(I am not suggesting race speeds here, no, no)

So there you have it - a road which is also used for an actual speed event.Open for public use.

[MGDavid]

I assume 'public road' is meant.

The Nordschleife.

No maps or pics needed.

Driving it is brilliant, racing on it is probably as good as I'll ever get :-)

[wheelsportaddict]

For me, the A5 up through north Wales from Betws-y-Coed to the A55 junction.
A good mix of fast curves and twisties.

[MagnetON]

When I was a lad I loved this one, a few of the corners have been reprofiled and the map doesn't show the changes in elevation that well, but this 4 miles was a belter, and also killed quite a few people. The start point is the "Carbeth Inn", used to be one of the best known bikers pubs in that part of Scotland. So that road was always full of bikes as well as cars.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...b4f95423e37d9f

[Peat]

Originally Posted by wheelsportaddict

For me, the A5 up through north Wales from Betws-y-Coed to the A55 junction.
A good mix of fast curves and twisties.

Up there this weekend to race at GYG, sadly the fuzz seem to be out in force along there nowadays.

[wheelsportaddict]

Originally Posted by Peat

Up there this weekend to race at GYG, sadly the fuzz seem to be out in force along there nowadays.

Always have to spoil the fun of the good roads don't they?

[johnh875]

Originally Posted by wheelsportaddict

For me, the A5 up through north Wales from Betws-y-Coed to the A55 junction.
A good mix of fast curves and twisties.

I've been there, can't recall if I've driven that road or not, but given we did a trip from Betws-y-Coed to Conwy, then around part of Anglesey and back to Betws-y-Coed there is a fair chance.

I do remember there being a few nice roads (did 3000 miles around the UK), the one that sticks in the memory most is a section of the A68 somewhere between Edinburgh and I think Darlington, which had a set of extremely sharp crests with speed advisory signs like you normally find on corners - if you didn't slow down I'd hate to think how far you would have landed down one of the hills in particular!

[GORDON STREETER]

This one down to my favorite beach does tend to get a lot of handbrake use on the cars that I hire !

[Peter Mallett]

Two days after I passed my driving test my mate let me drive his car. We went down this route. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Fr...=h&mra=ls&z=11

[RCMADD]

my favourate road is an empty one..

[ensign14]

There are some fantastic ones in Scotland. This is a pic I took in the middle of the night near Loch Assynt in the north-west. So it was probably the A837.



The A82 and A83 into the Highlands though are probably the best - bendy, curvy, and often free of traffic. This is just off, you can see part of the A83 in the distance, at Rest And Be Thankful.

[b1ackcr0w]

Virtually every road in the Lake District.