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What was the longest continuous/straight drive you've ever done?
I'm quite embarrassed to admit mine as I must of been so tired but at the time I didn't realise the danger.

I once from Tallinn to Calais non-stop (apart from fuel) it took me 33 hours although Google maps suggests it now takes a few hours less than that, I think I took a longer route as I didn't have navigation.

In my defense I was pretty well rested after spending a few days in Helsinki and napping on the boat from Finland to Estonia.

2300 miles Kazan to Portsmouth in under 3 days with just catnaps in the car, including 20 hours stuck at the Ukranian Border!

I got arrested after some guy drove his lada into my landcruiser, so then missed my visa exit date! had to get back for work so by the time I managed to get away I had just 3 days to get back, and in an HJ60, thats a long way, it aint fast!!

The worst was a 3 1/2 day drive with the Army from the UK to Somewhere in the German Forest, at 35mph. 3 1/2 days at 35mph following the tail lights of the vehicle ahead, horrific!

I've been to Belarus about a dozen times now (it's where the missus is from) I decided I wanted to see if I could do it in a one'er. Took 20 hours to do the 1300 or so miles. Couldn't do it now though, too many speed cameras in Poland! Usually do it in 2 days. The A2 from Hannover is a fabulous bit of Autobahn if your in a fast car. coming back in 12 inches of snow through Poland in a Porsche 944 wasn't so much fun though!!

The secret to 'endurance driving' is catnaps. Feel tired, pull over, grab 30 minutes, then back on the road, but it's a skill not to be undertaken lightly. Takes practice and you have to know when you have to stop for a kip to stay safe. You really have to know your limits and what the warning signs are.

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014

Ok ok, actual straight road yes it was in the car, it still counts right?
Darwin to Perth, 4200 K's in 46 hours, two drivers in a hire car! Perth Melbourne in 3 days 3500 K's solo.
Best on a bike is 975 K's in a day, Vienna to Kasel, there was a woman involved :-)

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Hard to compete with Oz in terms of logest actual straight roads!

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014

27 hours straight driving while lost in Mali..

Just stopping to pour fuel in. First part was a sand, red earth rocky nightmare with holes big enough to swallow a truck. 1st and 2nd gear all the way in very hot temps. When we did hit tarmac it was dark. at last we could speed up....the tarmac lasted 3km's when out of the dark we hit big rocks and earth at 80kph.

Slowed down a bit when we hit tarmac again just in case...sure enough the road ran out again!!!...this time i had to swing the car sideways to get it to stop in time.

On and on and on like this through the night....till no more, so pulled over and slept in the car before our last push for Bamako.

My brother had injured his foot..so driving was just down to me.... Never again.

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Facebook " Kevin Heike " come and say Hello as we travel around the world.

Great stories guys! Thanks for sharing and keep them coming.

Surprised we've got to half a dozen posts without finger wagging disapproval somewhere along the line, but there you go.

My err... record comes from back at the dawn of time when there were half a dozen of us in an old Ford Thames van towing a caravan back from the Austrian Alps in the winter. I did 12hrs and then handed over to someone else for the night shift. Within 10 mins he'd jackknifed the caravan into a ditch at the side of the autobahn on a patch of black ice and refused to drive any more so I did the next 36hrs as well until we got back to London. We'd borrowed the van and the owner needed it for work on Monday morning.

I've done a number of 36hrs straight on (usually small) bikes - all day, all night and all the next day, to get through the boring bits of northern Europe. As with all of these things how well you do comes down to motivation and that's the bit that flags with age. That and the increasing amount of hallucinations that start up around 24hrs in, particularly if it's still dark and the road is traffic free.

Longest distance rather than time was London to Greece via the Balkans in a minibus - probably around 2000 miles with a detour or two. That was three days / night but we had a number of drivers so nothing too strenuous.

6 laps of the M25 and you'd be right up there regarding distance, getting it done in a day is the issue!

I think the train drivers in that area get to claim the record for the longest straight drive. From Wikipedia entry for Cook, south Australia.

"The former town was created in 1917 when the railway was built and is named after the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, Joseph Cook. The town depended on the Tea and Sugar Train for the delivery of supplies, and is on the longest stretch of straight railway in the world, at 478 kilometres (297 mi) which stretches from Ooldea to beyond Loongana. When the town was active, water was pumped from an underground Artesian aquifer but now, all water is carried in by train."

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

Longest on a bike was Mt Isa - Darwin (Near on 1,600k's) in 15hrs, have had a few 2,000k runs in 24hr runs in my landcruiser.

Portsmouth to Belarus in one hit, 20 hours and a long border crossing at Belarus. 1300 miles. Those autobahns sure let you press on a bit though!

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014

Atlanta to Los Angeles, solo, 2200 miles, 32 hours of driving and another 6 for various catnaps and fuel/food stops.

Lisbon - Mainz non-stop in a Volkswagen Golf I Diesel, 54 HP, i.e. 24 hours doing 2.300 kms.

325 metres....................then I duffed the 2nd shot into the bunker


Ohhhh, on the bike, 1100km in 14hrs, just rushing back to work to do a 20min job for a customer

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My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

Many years ago I had a very brief conversation with somebody at a services in northern France. He was on a non stopper from the Algarve to either northern Germany or southern Denmark (I forget exactly) - riding a Mk1 Guzzi LeMans.

He didn't look quite right as he walked back to the bike