Roads I've driven in their entirety....

[rileyrob]

If the weather stays as good as forecast this weekend I plan on doing the A354 (southbound) end-to-end to visit Portland Bill. I did consider taking the entire of the A31 home for the sake of it, but decided on a different route. Once I get to Ringwood I would have completed it eastbound anyway, both via the A3090 and M27/M3, so will go a different route from there as I have done the Winchester to Guildford (town centre!) section plenty of times.

While I can thoroughly recommend visiting Portland, unless you intend to stop at Tarrant Hinton for the GDSF, I would avoid the A354 north of Blandford. We hope to be in the queue at about half 8 when it's only about 20 mins from Blandford to the car park. I understand it can take over an hour by mid morning.

[Owain]

I count each direction separately though to consider it complete. So of the 2-zone F99 I have done the A2 and A20 eastbound; A21, A22, and A23 both ways; A24 southbound, A25 both ways; A26 southbound; A27 and A28 westbound, and A29 southbound.

As with A31, I'm just missing a few miles of A22 (Croydon and Eastbourne!) and A24 (Worthing!!).

I arrived on the ferry at Newhaven last week, and planned to snatch A26 and A25 - plus that bit of A31 in Guildford - before driving back to Leeds. However, I was too tired after driving from Strasbourg and catching only two hours' sleep on the ferry, so I did A26-A22-M25 instead (and I'm still raging at the missed opportunity!!!).

[someone]

While I can thoroughly recommend visiting Portland, unless you intend to stop at Tarrant Hinton for the GDSF, I would avoid the A354 north of Blandford. We hope to be in the queue at about half 8 when it's only about 20 mins from Blandford to the car park. I understand it can take over an hour by mid morning.

Thanks for the tip, I have already travelled on that section anyway (went to Poole via the A30, A354, A350 last year) so could look for an alternative route that way. Or, as I never thought about the fair, I could just put that trip back as I also have one planned through the Wye Valley. That would not complete any major roads, only the A4136, but it looks a lovely area to visit.

I arrived on the ferry at Newhaven last week, and planned to snatch A26 and A25 - plus that bit of A31 in Guildford - before driving back to Leeds. However, I was too tired after driving from Strasbourg and catching only two hours' sleep on the ferry, so I did A26-A22-M25 instead (and I'm still raging at the missed opportunity!!!).

When I was riding a 125 bike, it was usually faster to get back to London from the A31 via the A246, as I could not take advantage of the higher speed limit on the A3 and it avoided the congestion around Guildford and the M25 junction. Despite being a 30 mph road shortly after the A3 slip, the A31 flows nicely all the way into the centre of Guildford before meeting the traffic on the A322.

[Owain]

Another epic yesterday:

I left Honiton at 9am and drove the A30 to Salisbury. Then I drove the length of the A27, except a little bit in the middle where I detoured to complete the A24. From Eastbourne, I used A22-A26-A20 to get to the M25. I used Blackwall in preference to Dartford to get to the M11, and home.

I had hoped to use the SABRE event in Exeter to add the A38 to my signature, but I left home too late on the Friday, and was only able to add the Devon Expressway on Saturday morning (I'm still missing most of Bristol to Tiverton). And, by touring the 2 zone on Sunday, I had hoped to catch the A22 and A25, as well as the last bit of A31 in Guildford, before heading back up north. By 8pm I was getting a bit tired, though, so I elected to abort the trip, face the horrors of London, and drive home.

It was still a successful weekend, though. I've now driven the whole of the A30 between Popham and Bodmin, and I've been able to add the A24, A26 and A27 to my signature.

I estimate that I drove about 480 miles, which is a similar distance to the crazy detour I took after the 2017 AGM, when I headed back to Leeds from Wolverhampton by driving the A47 in its entirety (both bits), the A12 from Lowestoft to Colchester, and the A134-A17-A1 to get home.

The South East warrents more attention! I've only ever really stopped in Canterbury and Brighton, because I'm usually trying to get to/from France as quickly as possible, but I drove through some great countryside in Sussex and Kent.

[Roavin]

I've driven the A64, A1237, A1079, A1036, A64(M) and M62 all in their entireties.

[Owain]

And I have just completed the A48!

This is something of a special moment, considering that it was 'my' F99 road from childhood, and from my current location in Leeds one of the last I expected to be able to add to my collection.

Yay!!

[novaecosse]

For some reason, I’ve only now recently completed the A87. I was always missing the bit between Bun Loyne and Invergarry.

A previous trip to Skye and Uig was via Invermoriston, having overnighted at the Glenmoriston Arms.

We left Skye via Armadale to Mallaig ferry. So that section of the A87 has always been a missing link for me.

[jgharston]

"The A635(M) is the easternmost motorway section of Mancunian Way..."

Bingo! That means I've done the A57(M) all in one go.

Plus I've added A14(M), A404(M) all in one, and touched M11, M4, M40, M25 for the first time.

[someone]

Today I did the missing section of the A31 (eastbound), the bit which mostly parallels the M27 between J1 and J2.

My F99 and motorway list is now:

A2 (E), A20 (E), A21, A22, A23, A24, A25, A26 (S), A27 (W), A28 (W), A29 (S)
A10, A11 (N), A12, A13 (E), A3, A31 (E), A32 (E), A36 (W)
M11, M2, M20, M23, M275 (S), M3, M32 (N), M40 (N), M45 (W), M48 (W)
A3(M), A308(M) (S), A404(M)

For the M27 (W) I have exited at J1 but not continued through it onto the A31, so it does not count. Similar with the M69 (E) leaving for the M1 and not continuing through the junction to its end on a roundabout, and for the A38(M) joining from the M6 and not the A38.

Also today I did a bit more of the A350 (S), leaving only Melksham to Yarnbrook.

[Skinnylew]

I have walked some numbered roads (well the footways) in their entirety let alone driven them!
Just a few I've driven in their entirety regularly
A2 - I have siblings in New Cross and Canterbury so either end of the A2 (as well as cycling on the old site of the M2 when the shuffled it over )
A211- Resurfaced some of, cycled it, run it as my marathon training route and driven it thousands of times.
A206 - Resurfaced some of it, driven it and run it on the marathon
A207 - Resurfaced some of it, run some of it, cycled some of it
A209 - One i haven't resurfaced, did close some of it recently for a subsidence though
A210 - Responsible for about half of it, resurfaced some of it and drive it's length weekly!
A220 - Resurfaced a small part of it
A221 - Responsible for about half of it, resurfaced some of the other sections
A222 - Again more times than i can remember
A223 - Not resurfaced but done some minor works on
A224 - Driven and cycled it lots

not hard to guess which local authority i work for

A21 - walked a fair chunk of the M25- Bromley stretch once as well to find my brother trapped in snow gridlock
A25 - because the M25 was just too scary towing a car on a dolly

Loads more i could put up but that'll do for now

[A72]

I'm not sure where to ask this, so I will ask it here, as the query pertains to what this thread is about.

On the Sabre Wiki road pages, there is a very helpful red line on the map, showing where the road in question is. How is that created, as I would like to be able to do this to log on a map, where I have and haven't been.

[Glenn A]

Me, of the Axx roads, I've done the A66, A69, A79, A70, A68 and A19 in their entirety. Of these roads, I found the A70 the most interesting, with its half empty settlements like Douglas Water and Rigside and lack of traffic, and the A19 to be the worst, busy and passing some of the ugliest places in England.

[nick_dunn]

Made use of a 3-day visit to Liverpool recently to do a bit of road-bagging as the opportunity was too good to miss - I'd never normally have the chance to do these. Did the following from beginning to end in one go... M62 over to Hull, then over the Humber to do the M180 from east to west, including a brief diversion to do the M181. Up to the centre of York to find the A59 and then all the way back to Liverpool. Driving the A59 was like pulling teeth out with pliers whilst simultaneously being prodded with a sharp stick. Hit Harrogate at rush-hour on a Friday afternoon and there were road works over the moors near Blubberhouses and at Skipton. To cap it all, my dashcam power lead got knocked out for the hour over the moors where it could have captured the nicest scenery and I finally noticed just as it got dark near Clitheroe! Oh well.
Next day was a trip to Barrow, thus knocking out the A590 on to Walney Island. Oh and threw in the A601(M) for good measure. Pity I didn't see much of Liverpool but maybe next time.

[Owain]

Driving the A59 was like pulling teeth out with pliers whilst simultaneously being prodded with a sharp stick. Hit Harrogate at rush-hour on a Friday afternoon and there were road works over the moors near Blubberhouses and at Skipton. To cap it all, my dashcam power lead got knocked out for the hour over the moors where it could have captured the nicest scenery and I finally noticed just as it got dark near Clitheroe!

Sorry to hear that! ... the rural stretch of the A59 over the Pennines is an extremely pleasant drive; even the section between Preston and Liverpool is quite nice.

It certainly beats the A58, which has about one mile of niceness in the middle (and which is probably the only bit with NSL!). All of the rest of it is truly horrible. In fact I'd probably vote the A58 as the least enjoyable of all the F99 roads I've driven end-to-end (see sig!).

[Owain]

New Year's Resolution: Complete the F99!

I've been reviewing my progress on this project. I decided to drive the F99 in their entirety back in 2016, at which point I had (somewhat inadvertently) completed 5 of them.

Since taking on the challenge, the number of F99 roads I have completed each year has been as follows:

Up to 2015: 5
2016: 13
2017: 29
2018: 23

Total: 70 (my signature shows all those I have completed).

This means I have the following 29 to go:

A2
A3
A4
A9
A11
A20
A21
A25
A28
A29
A30
A38
A40
A52
A57
A64
A66
A77
A81
A83
A87
A90
A91
A92
A93
A94
A96
A97
A99

I'm looking forward to the ones in Scotland. I'm dreading the ones in central London.

[Euan]

New Year's Resolution: Complete the F99!

I've been reviewing my progress on this project. I decided to drive the F99 in their entirety back in 2016, at which point I had (somewhat inadvertently) completed 5 of them.

Since taking on the challenge, the number of F99 roads I have completed each year has been as follows:

Up to 2015: 5
2016: 13
2017: 29
2018: 23

Total: 70 (my signature shows all those I have completed).

This means I have the following 29 to go:

A2
A3
A4
A9
A11
A20
A21
A25
A28
A29
A30
A38
A40
A52
A57
A64
A66
A77
A81
A83
A87
A90
A91
A92
A93
A94
A96
A97
A99

I'm looking forward to the ones in Scotland. I'm dreading the ones in central London.

The A83 and A87 should be excellent roads to drive.

Question: Does/will the opening of the AWPR and subsequent alterations of the routes of the A90 and A92 affect your completion status of them in any way at all?

Perhaps you could tick off quite a few of the A9x roads by filling in some gaps here and there while in the region to have a look at the new road layouts around Aberdeen.

[Steven]

I'm not sure where to ask this, so I will ask it here, as the query pertains to what this thread is about.

On the Sabre Wiki road pages, there is a very helpful red line on the map, showing where the road in question is. How is that created, as I would like to be able to do this to log on a map, where I have and haven't been.

I've only just seen this, so sorry about the delay! It's basically route traces out of OpenStreetMap.

You can however trace your own routes by using the "trace" functionality on SABRE Maps, and display them on your SABRE Wiki user page.

[Owain]

The A83 and A87 should be excellent roads to drive.

I've done about 66% of the A83 already! The problem with those two is that they are hardly in convenient locations (from my point-of-view), and they are giant dead-ends. But I am looking forward to bagging them both.

RileyRob suggested getting the ferry to Skye and driving the A87 from Uig back to the A9. I'm tempted to do it that way. I might also look into using the Campbeltown-Ardrossan ferry so that I don't need to do the A83 both ways.

Question: Does/will the opening of the AWPR and subsequent alterations of the routes of the A90 and A92 affect your completion status of them in any way at all?

Perhaps you could tick off quite a few of the A9x roads by filling in some gaps here and there while in the region to have a look at the new road layouts around Aberdeen.

I've been worrying about this .... well, not exactly worrying, but it is a dilemma!

My policy has always been to drive a road in the form that it exists at the time. For instance, I've claimed the A6, but I've never driven the A1000 which once held the A6 number.

In the case of the A90, I've done all the present road except for a short (walkable!) section in Edinburgh. If the Aberdeen bypass is opened by the time I complete the Edinburgh section, I will need to drive it as well to claim the road; if it's not opened when I complete the bit in Edinburgh, then I will tick the A90 off.

The A92 is already taken care of: I've driven the bit that is being renumbered from A90 to A92 in Aberdeen already, and I'm only missing the existing section between Stonehaven and Dundee.

I'm currently planning a couple of big trips to Scotland to take care of all these remaining F99 roads, because in the current climate I can't see myself driving to Italy this summer. I've always enjoyed myself in Scotland, so it's not a bad substitute!

[A72]

Question: Does/will the opening of the AWPR and subsequent alterations of the routes of the A90 and A92 affect your completion status of them in any way at all?

Perhaps you could tick off quite a few of the A9x roads by filling in some gaps here and there while in the region to have a look at the new road layouts around Aberdeen.

I've been worrying about this .... well, not exactly worrying, but it is a dilemma!

My policy has always been to drive a road in the form that it exists at the time. For instance, I've claimed the A6, but I've never driven the A1000 which once held the A6 number.

In the case of the A90, I've done all the present road except for a short (walkable!) section in Edinburgh. If the Aberdeen bypass is opened by the time I complete the Edinburgh section, I will need to drive it as well to claim the road; if it's not opened when I complete the bit in Edinburgh, then I will tick the A90 off.

I had a similar dilemma, when the Queensferry Crossing opened, regarding the Forth Road Bridge. So I made sure I drove over it, during the first set of snagging works, so I could legitimately claim the A9000.

[A72]

I'm not sure where to ask this, so I will ask it here, as the query pertains to what this thread is about.

On the Sabre Wiki road pages, there is a very helpful red line on the map, showing where the road in question is. How is that created, as I would like to be able to do this to log on a map, where I have and haven't been.

I've only just seen this, so sorry about the delay! It's basically route traces out of OpenStreetMap.

You can however trace your own routes by using the "trace" functionality on SABRE Maps, and display them on your SABRE Wiki user page.

Thanks, Steven. That gives me a good project to do, while I wait to go back to work. (Long, gruesome story, but I am slowly on the mend)