Biglorryblog's 'Man North 'o' The Border' John Henderson has really hit the money with this post---and reminded me of my recent journey up the A9 to Thurso and Wick and Orkney! In good weather the road affords superb views of the North Sea and includes some pretty spectacular hairpin bends that really put artic drivers on their metal. And below you can see an artic just about to enter a really tight right-hander---and John, I can tell you that as of five weeks ago the road surface on the uphill lane was pretty cheweed up--a combination of hot sun, melting tar and loaded drive axles! But I digress.
John says: "Hi Brian, I liked Rod's Kiwi hill climbing shots and it reminded me of a recent afternoon spent watching the motors negotiate the Berridale Braes on the A9 between Wick and Helmsdale. This is a challenging piece of road that should be familiar to your good self and truck drivers must treat its bends with extreme caution." You betcha and click through here fore more...
John continues: "Pictured is a D. Steven DAF CF en route from Wick to the south and this combination gave an object lesson in the correct driving technique. Firstly bring the speed down almost to stop before taking the right hand hairpin, once you've checked it's clear form oncoming traffic. As soon as the rig straightens up, it's all about keeping in slow check before crossing the Berridale Water span on the sharp left with the adverse camber. " And John's not kidding--a loaded 44-tonner will pick up a fair bit of speed on the downhill! And you can see the sea in the background--this is a spectacular road to drive (but probably not much fun in the pouring rain!)
"When clear of the bridge," says John, "get back on full power ASAP for the long climb south towards Inver Hill. I found it a real pleasure to watch the professional HGV drivers here, who all made it all look so easy."
"Best regards, John." And thanks for reminding me of a truly
superb holiday...and to show you what the weather was like here's a picture of yours truly on Orkney...this is on Marwick Head next to Kitchener's Monument...500m sheer cliff covered in seabirds.
And this is how calm the sea was through the time we were there....believe it or not. So you can keep the Costa Brava..if you want a good holiday head north says BLB!
I have some not so fond memories of being stuck slightly uphill of this hairpin after someone managed to get themselves stuck halfway round heading north. Few hours wait until the unit was towed out and a replacement put in to extract the trailer. Pity we didn't have the weather you have in these pictures !!
Donald