The Magnificent A68

Dalkieth too Darlington  :twisted:  :twisted:      :twisted:

What a road, stunning in every way.
Still on a high and been back 16 hours.  

A Complete chance on my part as I  did'nt intend taking the Mk1 on what was a Uni drop off from London. 10 hours before starting out the newer car dropped its coolant for the umpteenth time, water pump, hose or whatever as its so encased in plastic its anybodies guess what the problem is  .. Big  problem as the other big car is SORN and the Mk1 was up on axles waiting for me to refit the exhaust that I had removed earlier that week fearing a hole at the front; 10 pm and I'm still  refitting the old exhaust and renewing the rubber hangers (Cheers to the K. Fit lads who were very very decent sorting me out the rubber hangers at a couple of quid that evening after everywhere else had closed). So Loaded up the old girl with the contents of what seemed to be a a small flat and up we travelled (Amen to the Eibach springs). Mission achieved and no hiccups, York on 30£ of fuel; I was on a mission and gonna prove that this 30 year old was still the better of our newer cars and yes decades seperate them. Up to Edinburgh same day we went, crap weather,masses of BFG lorries and boring motorways but surprisingly capable despite what seem to be candles for headlights. Another £40 of fuel after Satnav decided on the long way round and we arrived.
Needing to get back for a Sunday match we headed back down at  lunchtime saturday and using a map found the A68. 90 % dry road a really good surface almost no one else on the road and almost 70 miles with no cameras,  Fast sections , blind summits, twisty bits, long curves and stunning views as you run through the moorland in the borderlands, utterly memorable. At the end was joined by an M3 who was also enjoying himself. As we rejoined the A1 I was struck with the thought that even if the car did nt make it back into the camera, speed bump,  pot hole infestation that is now London, my old car had lived once more.
Wife thinks I m mad to have driven just under 900 miles in 36 hours; but was surprisingly agreeable when I announced I would need  to buy four New "modern" tyres for MY Golf very very soon- wonder why??  :dontknow:

Great Car and a Great Road.

Great post - love these epic drives. A68's a great road - used to go up there fairly regularly when we had family actually living beside it. It's mainly in areas of the North, Scotland and Wales where you get that kind of experience these days.
The other thing is that when you get out of England the surfaces always seem better - not so long ago, went down to Pembrokeshire on the mid-Wales A roads, all perfect condition.

Glad you enjoyed the A68.I live in the Borders half way between Edinburgh and Newcastle so whether heading North or South I can have a good blast on it. Speed cameras are all in my head now so know when they are coming up but the only time I have been done for speeding was on top of Soutra hill just outside Dalkieth,the hill with the windmills, 2 days before Xmas  and they followed me 15miles before they stopped me! :cry:  

Epic road!
I've driven this a few times in my mk5 gti as my girlfriends relatives live in Edinburgh.
I've vowed to take the mk1 up when it's finished, some time next year with any luck!