Don’t Fight the Road

Don’t Fight the Road July 24, 2014

At In Earnest, Jane Clark writes about discovering, on a road trip through Southern California, that it’s actually more fun to drive the speed limit . . . and considers why:

This is counter-intuitive on every level. First of all, the speed limit is the rule, and following rules usually seems less fun than bending or breaking them. Second, going fast should always be more fun than going slow, especially when you’re piloting a massively complex technological wonder over some of the best roads in history. Third, where you are always seems less interesting than where you could be, which in turn causes us to race on to the next thing.

There is definitely a thrill to driving really fast. I’m not going to deny that. Northern New Mexico, with its low hills and relentless fields, seems designed for 100 mph power-drives. There’s a sense of conquest as the seemingly endless land melts away under the gas pedal (especially when you remember that it took Coronado months to make the trek).

But speed is the cousin of time, and an obsession with speed is just a family reunion away from an obsession with time.

Read the whole thing here.


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