What is the allure of clinching?

[Pete from Boston]

There's a lot of direct or indirect mention on this and other road sites of "clinching," checking a road or place off one's list.

Why is clinching important to you (if it is)?  Is it having some complete knowledge or experience of something?  Or is it just the satisfaction of filling out the bingo card, so to speak -- checking off everything on the list?

What's your story?  Do you go out of your way to clinch, or is it just something that happens?

This is a sincere interest, because I've been reading mentions of this for years.  I have a real nagging curiosity to know more about why this idea matters to people, and I think it's an interesting subject to explore.

[briantroutman]

I think roadgeekery lends itself to a certain degree of obsession and compulsion (witness all of the renumbering proposals), and "clinching"  is a natural fit with that profile.

Beyond that, unless you've driven the whole thing, you don't know what sights you've missed.

[Duke87]

Well, I've always had a desire to take different roads just to explore and see what there may be to see. So keeping track of what I've clinched is pretty much just adding a formal structure to this.

Of course, once you turn it into a checklist, it then immediately follows that checking off every box is a goal to work towards. It also kind of plays into my video gaming mindset. Why go crazy trying to unlock every achievement in a game? Because I can, damn it, and it means bragging rights if I do.

[corco]

Very similar to Duke's explanation.

I've clinched the entire state highway systems of three states now (WA, WY, AZ), with a fourth on the way (ID) this summer.

I couldn't really tell you why I do it- I enjoy taking roadtrips, so this provides a sort of method to the madness, I guess. I clinch whatever state I live in at the time (or is most convenient- in the case of Idaho, the furthest point away from me in Idaho is closer than the furthest point away from me in Montana), so when I want to take a daytrip, it gives me a sort of formula to follow.

On longer trips to states I'm not focusing on, it gives me incentive to make sure I take a different route every time- often the roads I have left to clinch dictate my route for me. particularly in states I've travelled in fairly extensively already .

And sure, I do get some personal satisfaction from being able to say "I've driven every mile of state highway in Washington" or whatever- not that that's something that comes up often in conversation, but it does give me an internal good feeling. I would say the ultimate goal is to drive the entire nation's state highway system, but, you know, unless I win the lottery, I expect I would probably die before that occurs.

The downside being- okay, I've driven the entire Wyoming highway system. Now I have to dodge the entire state of Wyoming to hit new territory, which can be tricky when driving east.

[Arkansastravelguy]

I agree with what most everyone said here. I personally enjoy photography and history. Clinching kind of puts a method to the madness. To me it's like a grid, research things I want to see of Hwy 71, then move on to the next. I have clinched all of Virginia, North Carolina, most of Georgia, most of Maine except Aroostook County (which I will do in September) most of NH and all of Vermont. Working on Arkansas and Missouri as well.


iPhone

[Jim]

My reasons are similar to what has been said so far.  I like going new places.  By the time I finished the 50 states, I had discovered county-counting.  I started keeping track of my travels on Interstate highways, then discovered CHM.  I look at it as a good excuse to go to new places, or at least find different ways to go to the places I was planning to go anyway.  I've rarely taken a trip or even a very significant detour on a trip with a sole purpose being to clinch something.  Exceptions are things like a route planned specifically to get my last missing Florida county, or a side trip when in Boston to re-clinch I-90 after it was extended to Logan.  The times I'd say a part of my actual travel is motivated by clinching occur when I fly somewhere for business and try to tack on a day or two when I can take a rental car out in some direction I haven't been before.  Even if it's a city I've visited many times before, there's a good chance I can hit a lot of new and interesting places with an 8-10 hour day on the road.  It's allowed me to see a lot of small towns and scenery I otherwise wouldn't have seen, and often gives me a chance to try out a local restaurant or two.  The routes partially motivated by clinching have given me a chance to see how much of this country is not just another busy strip off the interstate with all of the same chain stores, restaurants, and hotels.  There's still a lot of local flavor out there if you look.

Another thing I "clinch" is professional baseball parks.  After completing the MLB parks, I started in on the minors.  That often plays nicely together with the other kinds of clinching.  I decide I want to take a side trip somewhere because there's a minor league game somewhere I haven't been, and I can get there by routes I haven't taken before.  I usually only pick up a few new ones each season, so I'm about as likely to finish all of those any time soon as I am to complete my counties.

One thing I don't do that I've noticed in some others' clinching efforts is putting order to it.  I don't have any preference for which highway I travel or clinch next based on numbering or geography.  Maybe an exception is if I am down to a single county in a state, or have just a small missing segment in a long highway, I feel a little extra motivation to get there.  But for the most part, I'd rather cut a new path across a state by taking a US highway instead of an interstate, no matter its number or how many new counties it hits.

[roadman65]

You are right you become obsessed with clinching.  You set goals for yourself and once they are achieved you then find some more to conquer.

I find that after I clinch a road that I often wanted to do, I want to go back as either signs change or new alignments come into existence that were not there the first time around.

That is why I am waiting to do the US 31 Kokomo Bypass, because the other two US 31 freeways are almost near completion and then there is the I-69 extension as well.  Somebody here suggested that I wait till that progresses more so I can do it all in one trip which makes sound sense to me.  As good things come to those who wait is the old saying.

[texaskdog]

Just one of those things I'm not interested in, since I know I won't be driving on every foot of the road in each direction.  Just trying to get to every state and as many National Parks as I can get to.

[jeffandnicole]

I don't go bat-crazy trying to clinch routes or counties, although if I'm driving along and I have the opportunity to do so, I will. 

Or...I'll 'clinch' a route that many don't have the opportunity to clinch.  I've driven NJ 324, a closed, mostly abandoned roadway that used to be US 322 for the Ferry to Chester, PA.  And many have heard about the Road to Hana in Maui.  There's a southern route to/from Hana (Rts 330/31/37) that is prohibited to use by the car rental companies because of some unpaved portions, but I drove it anyway.  It may be paved now though...that was back in 2000 when I drove it.

[Roadrunner75]

I don't go bat-crazy trying to clinch routes or counties, although if I'm driving along and I have the opportunity to do so, I will. 

Or...I'll 'clinch' a route that many don't have the opportunity to clinch.  I've driven NJ 324, a closed, mostly abandoned roadway that used to be US 322 for the Ferry to Chester, PA.  And many have heard about the Road to Hana in Maui.  There's a southern route to/from Hana (Rts 330/31/37) that is prohibited to use by the car rental companies because of some unpaved portions, but I drove it anyway.  It may be paved now though...that was back in 2000 when I drove it.

I think I got about halfway down NJ 324 awhile back, but it was pretty overgrown if I recall.  I looked at it on street view, and the Google car got almost to the end (maybe Google bike cam?)

A friend at work drove the Road to Hana on his honeymoon maybe about 5 years ago, and drove the northern route in and the southern route out in a rented Jeep (against the rental agreement, of course).  We were just looking at it on GSV about a week ago.  Looks like still a mix of paved and unpaved sections.  If I ever get over there, I'm driving that.

[oscar]

A friend at work drove the Road to Hana on his honeymoon maybe about 5 years ago, and drove the northern route in and the southern route out in a rented Jeep (against the rental agreement, of course).  We were just looking at it on GSV about a week ago.  Looks like still a mix of paved and unpaved sections.  If I ever get over there, I'm driving that.

Go for it!  But if you want to clinch HI 360 (north half of the loop through east Maui), you'll need to turn east in Hana at the "End State Highway" sign in "downtown" Hana, since the highway technically ends a few blocks downhill at the Hana Bay wharf.

That highlights one of the less alluring parts of clinching, which is figuring out exactly what you need to cover if you want to clinch a route.  That's not always obvious from the signs, especially in states like Hawaii with uneven and sometimes confusing "end" signage.  The Clinched Highway Mapping project's route maps can help on that (except for the state and provincial route systems still being worked on), even if you're not using CHM to track your travels.

[Alps]

I think roadgeekery lends itself to a certain degree of obsession and compulsion (witness all of the renumbering proposals), and "clinching"  is a natural fit with that profile.

Beyond that, unless you've driven the whole thing, you don't know what sights you've missed.

Second this exact statement.

[Alex]

I started keeping a log of the Interstates I clinched when I was 13 or so and the allure with it grew through high school. I was also into sports stats quite a bit, which really got me into baseball back then. When looking at the sports page in downtime during 9th grade (1988), I was enamored with the concept of a sports team clinching a division or a playoff birth. It was sometime after that that I decided to reference seeing an Interstate from end to end as having clinched it. Having met a like minded friend into roads in 12th grade, we discussed clinched routes and embarked on roadtrips all the time after finishing high school. The obsession just stuck with me and is one I never grew out of, where as being into MLB stats went by the wayside two decades ago.

The county collecting bug came about after a roadtrip with Froggie in 1999 where we took several detours to nab counties for him. The concept seemed pointless to me at first but then a few years later I started a lines atlas (after seeing Adam Prince's) where I highlighted every road I had seen. Seeing where I had been got me curious about what counties I had clinched, and with some friendly competition with Justin Cozart, I made it a point to start going out of my way to collect them.

As some of the others wrote above, the concept gets you to places you otherwise would never see or think of. Sometimes the places suck, but other times it was well worth it.

[bugo]

There's a lot of direct or indirect mention on this and other road sites of "clinching," checking a road or place off one's list.

Why is clinching important to you (if it is)?  Is it having some complete knowledge or experience of something?  Or is it just the satisfaction of filling out the bingo card, so to speak -- checking off everything on the list?

What's your story?  Do you go out of your way to clinch, or is it just something that happens?

This is a sincere interest, because I've been reading mentions of this for years.  I have a real nagging curiosity to know more about why this idea matters to people, and I think it's an interesting subject to explore.

It's just something that happens to me, even though there are some long routes (US 59, US 71, US 270, US 64) that I wouldn't mind driving the entire length of.  But for the most part, I don't get the appeal of it.  I don't care about clinching some 20 mile long state highway that is in the middle of nowhere and has no interesting features.  I did go out of the way to clinch OK 63 from Kiowa to Hayleville because I grew up near the eastern terminus of the highway, and I'll never drive that section again because it is in TERRIBLE condition and has awful geometrics.  I also want to clinch the Oklahoma turnpike system one day (I have all of it except for the Bailey turnpike, the Bailey spur, the Cimarron spur, and the Chickasaw.)

[bugo]

I think roadgeekery lends itself to a certain degree of obsession and compulsion (witness all of the renumbering proposals), and "clinching"  is a natural fit with that profile.

Beyond that, unless you've driven the whole thing, you don't know what sights you've missed.

Sometimes, you realize after clinching that there was nothing interesting or notable about the road whatsoever.

[bugo]

The downside being- okay, I've driven the entire Wyoming highway system. Now I have to dodge the entire state of Wyoming to hit new territory, which can be tricky when driving east.

There are always county roads...

[oscar]

I think roadgeekery lends itself to a certain degree of obsession and compulsion (witness all of the renumbering proposals), and "clinching"  is a natural fit with that profile.

Beyond that, unless you've driven the whole thing, you don't know what sights you've missed.

Sometimes, you realize after clinching that there was nothing interesting or notable about the road whatsoever.

So you can check it off, as a road you want to never re-travel if you can help it, confident that you haven't missed anything worthwhile.  That's useful information.

[corco]

The downside being- okay, I've driven the entire Wyoming highway system. Now I have to dodge the entire state of Wyoming to hit new territory, which can be tricky when driving east.

There are always county roads...

Hahaha, you haven't been to Wyoming much have you-  there are very few paved highways outside city limits that are not state highways, and a county maintained often not well maintained dirt (not gravel) road that is indirect to being with just adds too much time. Wyoming's highway system is as dense as Texases, including FMs, there just aren't nearly as many roads.

[formulanone]

I'll just add to what everyone else has said, with: "Because it's there."

[on_wisconsin]

A reason against: Highway clinching can become a quite expensive hobby. (gas, maintenance, food, etc.)

[kinupanda]

Echoing what has been said earlier, being a roadgeek (or having a vested interest in any topic, for that matter) definitely avails itself to wanting to quantify one's passion. Growing up, I'd always known that there was more than one way to get from point A to point B, but I only decided to keep track of clinched counties after I started driving and realized that "how many ways?" was a wonderful follow-up question. The goal wasn't necessarily to keep track of the counties themselves at the beginning, but as I got more interested in that, I saw that it does provide some tangible context in helping me to find new routes.

As an example, I've driven from San Antonio to Amarillo on numerous occasions, which does avail itself to multiple routes that are of similar length. While the routes may be indistinguishable in many aspects, knowing that I'm using a new route (and, consequently, going through a different set of counties) not only has the simple psychological effect of making the drive less monotonous, but also gives me the opportunity to experience something new, even if it something as simple as seeing a interesting historical marker or eating at a local diner. As a result, some of my most enjoyable drives have come out of that desire to want to explore other paths, and being able to say "I've been to X county, so next time I'm going through Y county" helps fuel that expectation that the next drive could provide something new at, quite literally, the next turn.

[agentsteel53]

That highlights one of the less alluring parts of clinching, which is figuring out exactly what you need to cover if you want to clinch a route.

I generally don't care about the exact, tedious details.  I claim to have clinched US-6 even though there are certain current segments, like the bypass of Brooklyn, IA, that I've never done, instead having done the old road.

[bugo]

I don't go out of my way to "clinch" counties but I do have a mob-rule.com account just so I can see where I've been on a map.

[Haeleus]

I haven't clinched any major highways out of practicality (perhaps just the 400-series highways in Ontario but compared to some interstates they don't compare in length).

For me what's more alluring is coming across a piece of road you've previously driven on but in a totally separate location. For instance, driving most of I-70 in Colorado and Utah and several years later driving a stretch of it in Pennsylvania felt pretty neat knowing I was so far away yet on the same highway.

[triplemultiplex]

It's the best way to find all of the small-town speed traps in a state.