I had an open stretch of highway tonight – not a car in front of me for at least a mile.* At first, I thought to myself: “you must behave, there are police about,” but I quickly got bored of that thought and pushed the accelerator a bit, but only a bit. I almost immediately ran into a problem. The problem I had had nothing to do with the car or the police: The pavement was too uneven! When driving on the Autobahn in Germany, things go smoothly. I could totally (and legally!) max out the speed on this car and it would all go well – I’d have a great time! Not so here in America. When the roads were built, cars did not go fast and so the highways were made with this slower speed in mind. Our highway system is designed for 50ish miles per hour. Most do 70ish today, but the ride is rough. At even slightly elevated speeds, the road becomes unbearable. It felt like I was driving over potholes! I must get this car on a proper track some day.
A friend has also told me of a street down south that I might try – it’s long, strait and dead flat. He and his biker buddies have achieved some very high speeds on that stretch of road – speeds that I would like to beat, if at all possible.
(* The last time I thought this thought and acted on it… 30 years ago… I did get up there in speed, but then someone pulled into the fast lane about a quarter mile ahead of me and in my rapid deceleration, I blew both head gaskets… and that was the end of my first car.)