A while ago we had a day out to Cleethorpes. (Yeah, won’t make that mistake again!!) Traditional ‘Fish and Chips at the Seaside’ dinner and the obligatory Mr Whippy Ice Cream and a pound’s worth of 2ps in the machines, but the rain was pile driving it down that hard that you couldn’t see where you were walking, so it was decided to head back towards home and go to Meadowhall as was still early in the day. (Yes the rain was bad but it was a relief as Cleethorpes is shite.)
The journey back was horrific, the spray and standing water on the M180 was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Other drivers were obviously being over-cautious and driving at stupidly low speeds. Just trying to join from the slip road was a joke as there were cars just chugging along at 20mph – FFS it’s a motorway! Getting to the outside lane as quick as possible is always my aim on a motorway, but in this weather and these conditions I didn’t want to be tangled up with all the scared drivers, lorries and buses.
The outside lane was still busy, but at least we were doing speeds to make progress. Suddenly I found myself at the front of the train-like queue, still in the outside lane, not as much spray and able to see past the end of the Renault Megane’s short bonnet. It was like someone had turned the rain down I remarked, only to find my passengers fast asleep so that was it, I turned the stereo up a little bit, flicked the factory fit sat-nav on so I didn’t have to bother looking at the signs and buried my foot into the floor.
The car twitched, skipped and squirmed through the standing water, so I was hanging onto the steering wheel firmly, but after a few minutes I was losing power and fighting the car not the elements, which wasn’t helping my control so off went the traction control and I have to say this 60 miles or so blast changed my opinion of driving in bad conditions completely.
I got out of the car in the underground car park at Meadowhall with a bit of a sweat on. Such a drive; having to correct the car constantly to keep it in a straight line and facing the right way, dodging the rivers that had formed on the edge of the black stuff and trying to predict what the scared little Citroen C1 drivers would do next was an exhilarating feeling – so much so I wanted to get back in the car and go back out to play (obviously not back to Cleethorpes).
I’m pretty sure I’ve read an article by Jeremy Clarkson about this sort of epic drive in bad conditions in a powerful Jaaaag, but this just goes to show if you enjoy driving, like a challenge, are in the mood and have the stereo turned up then driving anything, anywhere at anytime can be fun, exciting and rewarding.
This blog was inspired by my short drive home tonight. It’s pitch black, no moonlight, hammering it down with rain and blowing gale-force winds. I was skipping through the tracks on a new CD of driving anthems (bought for me for Christmas). Lots of tracks got skipped but 3 in particular put me in the mood for ‘Proper Driving’.
First up, ‘I drove all night’ by Cyndi Lauper. Such a catchy song – the minute this tune started the volume got cranked up and I found myself on a 3-car overtake. My mood and confidence just soared… Next up was one of my favourite tunes: Deacon Blue ‘Real Gone Kid’ – this has the best intro to any song and is a must, loud, in the car.
Listen 🙂 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHTI31XuQxk
Again the traction control was flicked off early on as it wasn’t letting the car slide through the roundabouts and was killing the enjoyment.
After flicking past a few more songs that weren’t really inspiring me to be the 7th speaker in the car came Tina Turner and Ike with ‘Nutbush City Limits.’ Again, another song that was worthy of the volume control being turned to max. I was loving this drive even though the driver corrections, overtakes and slides out of the roundabouts were taking more concentration than I did in all of my GCSE exams way back then. I even found myself taking the long way home to keep the adrenalin pumping.
I have driven on some really good roads, driven some nice cars, and been on the odd track but nothing and I mean nothing gives you the satisfaction of driving on normal roads and competing with Mother Nature’s tantrums.
Used Car Salesman 