Interesting comments guys. Being a shift worker, when I bought my Morgan to replace m/cycling mid week days on the interesting A, B and back roads in and around my area. I feel fortunate to live but a field away from the suburbs of Glasgow and as such don`t have as much as a traffic light between my home and local interesting roads on which I enjoyed many a year of almost traffic free driving on many sections, though things would get busy in the Trossachs during tourist season and on my very favourite stretch of Tarmac.. Shrug!
As the years passed and vehicle ownership rose exponentially combined with industry downsizing, delayering enhanced pension offers and lump sums, even the formerly quiet roads became rather busy with "mature motorists" on any day the sun might care to shine, enjoying the wonderful scenery and inevitably creating lengthy traffic snakes by driving too close to the car in front to allow overtaking in any kind of leap frog progress Thus if one did not wish to join the snake and travel at circa 30-40MPH on the straights and much slower during cornering... One had to overtake the whole snake in one go, assuming it was safe to do so.
Safe to do so... Hmm..? I knew most of my favoured roads like the back of my hand and my +8, although in standard engine tune, it`s exhaust system is minus back boxes, thus when you step on the loud pedal with serious intent, it does SHOUT a bit, pops and bangs and might even spit the occasional flame on the over-run.
After a few occasions of coming across a snake of a reasonable length to overtake, and knowing the road very well, I would drop back and down a gear or two, and on expectation that the straight section of road about to appear round the next bend, I would be accelerating out of the bend catching tail end Charlie but with enough braking distance not to bite Charlie on the tail,should the straight have on coming traffic on it.... If the road was clear, I would then roar past the snake and leave plenty of room after passing the head of the snake before pulling back in...No problemo...
Hmm..? Some years back in conversation relative to increasing traffic with our departed pal Bill Button, it did seem there was a chance of scaring some timid soul as I roared past, perhaps even some envious type and not only that, as Mr Harris typed above, with all the comms, in-car and roadside camera`s etc.etc. It would seem possible to convert what was a safe thought out overtake into some sort of hooligan behaviour....? Another way had to be found if I was to continue enjoying my favoured roads.
As one who worked rotating shifts on occasional seven day patterns, I was well used to being wide awake at any hour of the night or day, thus in the Summer months I would head out at or around dawn, in my part of the world in mid summer it can often stay reasonably bright all through the night, though heading out circa 04:00 hrs tends to find traffic free tarmac in most places.... However one has to maintain a weather eye for the wildlife, deer, foxes hedgehogs wabbits and hares a plenty, even a lost cow on one occasion...! Memories of a chap on local roads being killed when his car hit a stray horse in the early morning hours, so yes best to be wide awake when otherwise one`s body might expect to be sleeping....
These days if I catch a snake on interesting roads I pull over and park up till enough time and space is likely to be created between me and the tail, then head out again to be able to enjoy the corners at road legal speeds. I do the same thing on a road that is tight and twisting if I come upon a truck trundling along where there is little to no chance of an overtake for miles, usually a tourist type route which has occasional lay-bys..Fortunately that is still possible in my part of the world, though I appreciate that in some areas trying to create that sort of space on an interesting road may be impossible for some... Sorry.
Still lots of enjoyment to be had out there if one picks just the right time..
When touring, we used maps back circa 2002/3/5 thus we got pleasantly lost on the deserted back roads of France Spain and Italy.... Happy days.. (-:
