Roadgeek

A roadgeek is an individual involved in "roadgeeking" or "road enthusism"—an interest in roads as a hobby. A person with such an interest is also referred to as a road buff, roadfan or Roads Scholar, the latter being a play on the term Rhodes Scholar). [ [http://www.houstonfreeways.com/statesman_2004-12-12.htm Road to future or a dead end.] , "Austin American Statesman," 12 December 2004 (accessed 20 January,2007)]

Roadgeeking may focus on a single activity related to roads, such as driving the full length of the highway system in a specific area, creating fonts and other graphic elements to share with other enthusiasts, or researching the numbering system used for a national highway system. Road enthusiasts may also have a comprehensive interest in a single road, a larger highway system, or in roads in general, participating in a wide range of hobby activities.

Roadgeek behavior

Behaviors for roadgeeks may include taking road trips for the roads rather than for the destination, sometimes referred to as roadgeeking or Roads Scholaring, or bragging about the extent of their travels, such as the number of Interstate Highway sections that have wholly traveled. [ [http://www.triskele.com/highway-heaven/my-clinched-freeways Mike the Actuary's Musings, My Clinched Freeways] , accessed November 16, 2007] Other activities include the photography of road signs or of various highway sundries, collecting old road maps, maintaining web sites dedicated to highway transport, correcting errors in newspapers and other publications about highway terminology and the history of highways [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40612-2005Feb20.html John Kelly "A Long Way to Go for a Refund: Highways, Revisited," "Washington Post," Page C11, February 21, 2005] , accessed June 27, 2008] , and the design of graphics or fonts to facilitate the work of others. [ [http://www.triskele.com/roadgeek-fonts Mike the Actuary's Musings, Roadgeek Fonts] , accessed November 16, 2007]

Roadgeeking online

In 2002, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "road enthusiasm" was an internet phenomenon:

cquote|Road enthusiasm is a phenomenon that developed with the Internet. People who for years thought they were the only ones who eagerly awaited the release of the new Rand McNally road atlases each fall suddenly stumbled on to hundreds of people with whom they could trade pictures, share ideas and debate the finer points of interchange design.

In addition to hundreds of Web sites, there is a newsgroup, misc.transport.road, where the discussion meanders from road-trip routing and construction projects to quirks and inconsistencies in signage. [http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/SL/lib00170,0F63781FF9F53473.html "'Road Geeks' Ramp up Their Hobby on the Information Superhighway,"] William Lamb, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch," September 22, 2002, p C-1, accessed July 20, 2008]

Examples of online road entusiasm
* [http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/ Society for All British Road Enthusiasts (SABRE)]
* [news://misc.transport.road misc.transport.road] (Usenet)
* [http://www.roadfan.com/mtrfaq.html misc.transport.road FAQ]

ites of interest to roadgeeks

Arkansas

*Arkansas Highway 43/Oklahoma State Highway 20 concurrency, possibly unique instance of two highways from different states overlapping [ [http://roads.tulok.net/u-a43.html "Oklahoma Terminus: Arkansas SH-43"] , Martin McMahon, " [http://roads.tulok.net/index.html Roadklahoma] ," accessed July 17, 2008]

California

* The Ridge Route, the first paved highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin Valley over the Tejon Pass, a portion of which is in the National Register of Historic Places. It was documented by uber-Roadgeek, Harrison Irving Scott, in 2002. in "Ridge Route: The Road That United California."
*Skyline Boulevard, the road that spans the highest ridge of Santa Cruz Mountains, making it possible to see the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay simultaneously.
*Decommissioned portions of U.S. Route 6, now part of State Route 14, are the subject of significant roadgeek interest. [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/119615812.html?dids=119615812:119615812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+14%2C+2002&author=LISA+LEFF&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=BEHIND+THE+WHEEL%3B+Road+Scholars+Driven+to+Go+the+Extra+Mile%3B+A+small+but+dedicated+band+of+buffs+spends+free+time+studying+and%2C+yes%2C+traveling+the+state's+highways+and+byways.&pqatl=google Lisa Leff, "Los Angeles Times," May 14, 2002, "BEHIND THE WHEEL; Road Scholars Driven to Go the Extra Mile; A small but dedicated band of buffs spends free time studying and, yes, traveling the state's highways and byways"] , accessed June 27, 2008]
*Zzyzx Road, a landmark about halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, known for its unusual name. It is the last place on Earth, at least in the English alphabetical order.

Colorado

*Glenwood Canyon, an engineering marvel
*Eisenhower Tunnel, the highest point on the Interstate Highway System

Maryland

*I-70's eastern terminus at a Park & Ride on Security Boulevard in Baltimore, one of the more unusual Interstate termini

Missouri

*Galena Y-Bridge, an unusual bridge with three land connections

Montana

*Going-to-the-Sun Road, a scenic road crossing Glacier National Park, designated both a National Historic Landmark and a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. [ [http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm National Park Service "Going-to-the-Sun Road"] ]

Oklahoma

*Arkansas Highway 43/Oklahoma State Highway 20 concurrency, possibly unique instance of two highways from different states overlapping

Oregon

*Historic Columbia River Highway, the first paved highway in the Pacific Northwest, an engineering and scenic marvel, designated both a National Historic Landmark and a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. [ [http://www.columbiariverhighway.com Historic Columbia River Highway"] ]

Pennsylvania

*Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike, an example of 1930's-era highway standards
*Breezewood, Pennsylvania, a gap in Interstate 70 that routes traffic down US 30 through town
*Centralia, Pennsylvania, site of underground coal fires undermining the area highways

Notable roadgeeks

*Steve Anderson, creator of [http://www.nycroads.com/ NYCROADS.COM] , "described himself as a 'hard-core road fanatic' (others, he allowed, might say 'road geek') from childhood" according to "The New York Times" in 1999 [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00EED91F31F933A25753C1A96F958260 Marcia Biederman, "Giving Highways Their Due," October 10, 1999, "The New York Times"] , accessed June 27, 2008]
*Nick Christensen, also known as "Nick Mojave," created the Las Vegas Freeways Page in the early 2000s, and was "perfectly comfortable being referred to as a road geek," according to the "Las Vegas Review-Journal" in 2001. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FD394895CFE7ABD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "One man's traffic is another's obsession"] , Michael Squires, "Las Vegas Review-Journal," October 21, 2001, accessed July 17, 2008] [ [http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=190247 "Geekier than moi?"] , KVBC News 3, accessed July 17, 2008]
*Andy Field and Alex Nitzman of [http://www.aaroads.com/ AARoads] were noted by the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" and others since 2002 for maintaining "a site with an exhaustive guide to the interstate highway system." [ [http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/SR/lib00139,10B88BC2510164C0.html "Road geeks get their kicks on Route 66, or even on I-90: Studying, documenting, discussing the nation's roadways and signage is highway to heaven for these enthusiasts,"] The Spokesman-Review, August 4, 2004, accessed July 20, 2008]
*James Love of [http://www.milebymile.com Mile By Mile Media] has the largest collection of highway photos in the world.Fact|date=June 2008
*Adam Prince, of [http://www.gribblenation.com/ GribbleNation.com] and "a self-described 'road geek' whose hobby is learning everything he can about America's highways and byways," according to the "Washington Post" [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56265-2004Feb19?language=printer "Washington Post Answer Man", Sunday, February 22, 2004; Page M08, "What is the Seminole Trail? What do the green signs that say 'Seminole Trail' along Route 29 in Virginia refer to?"] , accessed June 27, 2008]
*David Steinberg, creator of [http://www.ihoz.com/interstates.html "The ZZYZX Interstate Highway List"] , as featured in "The Telegraph" of Nashua, New Hampshire in 1999. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NTGB&p_theme=ntgb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10708D6DB5EE35E8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "And you may ask yourself, where does that highway go to?"] , The Telegraph (Nashua), New Hampshire, December 21, 1999, accessed July 17, 2008]

See also

*Trainspotting, Plane spotting or Bus spotting
*Metrophile
*Railfan
*Road trip
*Sport touring
*Openstreetmap

References

External links

* [http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/ Society for All British Road Enthusiasts (SABRE)]