How many times do you encounter a frustrating situation where you’re trying to get somewhere on time, but you’re wasting so much time in traffic? It’s happened to me countless times…waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, cursing the fact that I’m a woman, and wishing I were a man so I could just push my way to the front and be done with it. Let’s be honest – who hasn’t wanted to be able to push their way to the head of the line, especially when they’re the only person in the race?
In today’s world, there are certain times when you just have to go fast. Maybe you’ve got an important appointment you need to keep on time, or you’ve got a meeting with your boss that you need to impress. Traffic becomes your worst enemy, and you want to get to your destination as soon as possible without being held up by a couple of cars or trucks. But what if there’s nothing left to go fast on? What if you’re stuck in a speedway with no other cars around you? It happens all the time in sports, and it’s a pain in the ass. Suddenly your GPS isn’t useful any more, and you have to find another way to reach your destination without suffering.
The Need For Speedy Turns
When the terrain is unchallenging, the going is fast and easy. However, it’s not always easy to predict where the next corner is going to be, or how many seconds you’re going to need to take to reach your destination. When you reach a point where you just can’t go any faster, you need to make a decision – either you stay on the current road, or you take a sharp turn on to a new one. The choice is completely up to you; it’s not written in stone that you have to take the same route to work every day. Sometimes it’s worth taking a quick detour just to shave a few more seconds off your trip.
Take A Look At The Stats
Let’s take a look at how many times each decade certain streets have been determined to be National Historic Trails. The National Historic Trail Map reveals hotspots for fast driving all around the country, including the following areas:
- Alabama – Birmingham and the surrounding areas
- California – The Central Valley
- District Of Columbia – The Washington National Cathedral neighborhood
- Florida – The Florida Keys and the surrounding areas
- Illinois – Chicago
- Maryland – Baltimore and the surrounding areas
- Massachusetts – The Berkshires and the North Shore
- Michigan – Detroit
- Minnesota – The Mississippi River Valley
- New York – The Lower Hudson Valley
- Ohio – The Cuyahoga Valley and the surrounding areas
- Pennsylvania – Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions
- Rhode Island – The North Coast
- South Carolina – The Lowcountry
- Utah – The Great Salt Lake
- Vermont – The Lower Vermont Valley and the Upper Valley
- Virginia – Northern Virginia, including Alexandria and Arlington
- Washington – The Seattle area and the northern portions of the state
- West Virginia – The Gorge region
Clearly, there’s a lot of potential for fast driving on these streets. Since these spots are hotspots for history, it’s only natural that people would want to drive very, very fast on them. But it doesn’t end there. These streets and roadways often provide stunning views of the countryside, and you can use your car’s windows to take a peek at what’s ahead.
Build A Racing Line
The best solution to this problem is to build a racing line. When you’re driving on a regular basis, you get familiar with the roads and the traffic patterns. This lets you know where the blind spots are and what kind of obstacles you need to watch out for. The more you drive on these streets, the better you get at identifying potential shortcuts and finding alternative routes to get where you’re going. In the event of an accident, you’ll also have a map in your head of where you’ve been and what you’ve seen, which helps with reconstruction. In the case of a head-on collision, having a detailed map can be the difference between life and death.
Keep Your Eyes Open For Historic Sites
If history has taught us anything, it’s that the most boring parts of a trip are the ones that you travel the least often. The farther you go back in time, the more interesting the location – and the more you have to drive to get there. If you want to add some variety to your daily commute, there are plenty of places you can travel to along the way. It might be a town famous for its festivals or its artisan shops. You might even find that some of the best parts of a trip are the ones that you get to see when you aren’t expecting it. These are the kinds of places that can make a boring trip interesting – and it’s up to you to find them.
The way we see it, if you can’t make it faster, you might as well make it stronger. If you’re spending a lot of time in traffic, you might as well spend it driving as fast as you can. Sometimes the best way to get to your destination is the way that you arrive. History is always interesting, but it’s even more intriguing when you do something about it. Embrace the adventure and have some fun. Who knows – maybe you’ll even find an antique store or two along the way.