What do you consider "clinched"?

[DandyDan]

I always think of a road as clinched if I have been in a vehicle for every mile of pavement for a road.  That means I didn't necessarily have to be the driver.  It also means I only had to travel one direction for it to be clinched.  I figure if we drove a road in both directions, it is "clinched both ways".  As for exits on freeways, I always have to reenter at the same interchange for it to be clinched.  I don't know how Missouri outer roads would work, though.  I've never had to deal with international border crossings, but I would think going to the last possible turn is acceptable there.

[1995hoo]

For me this is a particular issue from when I lived in Texas as a baby. I rode on various highways there, but I have no idea what they were other than a few that I had to have been on due to where we lived. I ultimately figure that since I was so young and had no idea what a road was, much less a "clinch," those travels are irrelevant. But I do count travel as a kid when I was old enough to know about roads because I always liked maps and roads. I see no reason not to count travel as a passenger. If I get tired and ask my wife to drive and I tell her where she needs to go, why wouldn't that count? Or earlier this fall when we were in Arizona riding with my brother-in-law.

My litmus test is generally "could I have been the driver?" Meaning a) not commercial transport of some kind, i.e. Greyhound or the like and b) the travel occurred after I got my license (which I didn't do until I was almost 21). That part is rather arbitrary, but it saves a lot of grief and head-scratching over trying to remember routes I may have ridden as a kid during family trips or whatnot. This is how I've constructed and continue to add to my CHM/TravelMapping database.

The reason I don't carry it that far is that I figure my being in the vehicle and being aware of the routing and interested in where we're going is enough to satisfy me. When I was growing up, my parents or other adults often asked me for directions or relied on me to tell them where to turn (example: on a Boy Scout trip to Prince Edward Island in 1989, I was riding with another kid's father and we didn't have any maps in the car because I knew where all the turns were). So once I allow that, it seems a bit silly to disallow, say, a school trip to Atlanta via Myrtle Beach in August 1990 via charter bus simply because I was a passenger on the bus rather than the driver. Of course it does mean I was much less focused on the road than I would be if I were driving (we probably played Hearts most of the way across I-20), but if you use "I could have been the driver" as the standard, it means you count segments where you may have been the passenger but dozed off, or where you had someone else drive because you were too drunk to drive, or the like, all of which are situations where you aren't paying attention to the road. That's why in my view it becomes unworkable if I try to draw the line in that manner.

Doesn't mean anyone else's method is right or wrong, of course. It just goes to the question of whether it's a question of "travel" or a question of "driving."

Are my CHM/Travel Mapping records missing some roads from trips when I was a kid? Almost certainly, and there are a few situations where I know I was in an area but I can't remember which of two possible routes we used. That's life, but it's not a reason for me to discount all the other roads I do know I travelled, especially in areas I'm not likely to visit again any time soon, if ever (the Island of Newfoundland and northern Ontario up near Cochrane and Timmins being two prime examples of that).

[TEG24601]

For those few roads I have claimed as clinched, I have driven from the beginning to the end, save for rest areas (although I have driven each of them enough to have driven past the rest areas).  Of course roads with gaps, don't count the gap, like I-90 in Washington.  For those with split ends, then ending ramps would be considered part of the freeway to which they are connecting.

[Pete from Boston]

Doesn't mean anyone else's method is right or wrong, of course. It just goes to the question of whether it's a question of "travel" or a question of "driving."

These discussions always raise for me the question of why the criteria even matter, something I tried to get to the bottom of inthis thread, in which there were about as many answers as respondents. 

I think this concept last really interested me long before I ever knew of any of this online road discussion world, when I was younger and things like having driven all of a given highway somehow added to my checklist of experience in the world.  Nowadays I'm just happy to see where a road goes and what it looks like there, so yes, my criteria for this sort of thing are extremely loose.

[vdeane]

If I'm paying attention to the road and can see a "reasonable" amount, I count it clinched.  Doesn't matter if I'm driving or not.  I count some mileage from most (but not all) school trips (I don't count mileage from the school trip to DC that was at night because I was towards the back of the bus and they showed movies, so I couldn't see a thing; also, I was asleep for part of it on the way down, but aside from a bit of US 11/15 near Harrisburg and PA 147, I got all that mileage back when my family took a vacation to DC).  I'll also use this standard to fudge routes, but only to a point.  For example, if a freeway and a service road have separate designations, I won't count both unless I've ridden on both.  I will fudge routes that end at borders (state and international) on land and ferries but not with bridges.

[Bruce]

My definition of clinched is very loose, since I don't have a car of my own: any highway I've been physically on in any vehicle during daylight counts. As long as it's on the same right-of-way, I also count walking and cycling (e.g. the I-90 floating bridges, where I've used multiple modes for clinching). Trains running parallel to a highway don't count unless it's physically sharing right-of-way with it (e.g. light rail in Seattle's Rainier Valley along former SR 900).

If I restricted it to the "driven from end-to-end" definition, I've only cinched a single highway (I-405). That would make a very sad-looking clinch map.

[golden eagle]

I consider clinching to have being on every part of a highway, as a driver or passenger. As some have said, I give exception to international border crossings and roads restricted from the public. It also doesn't have to be done one entire trip or even in the same direction.

[Duke87]

Anthony and I fudged the definition a little bit with NJ 68, since there's a small piece that's inside a military base that isn't open to the public.

Regarding military and border endpoints, I'm a bit of a purist.  But I'm a retired servicemember (military ID card) and I have both a passport and an EDL, so those types of endpoints don't bother me as much as others here.

NJ 68 bugged me for years, but eventually I surrendered to the reality that I have no reasonable means of legally reaching the end of it. Should that ever change I would definitely jump at the opportunity to go to the end more legitimately, but in the meantime I've done the best I can.

This situation is unusual, though - generally, when a road ends at a gate to a military base, it is perfectly possible to U-turn right in front of the gate and thus clinch the road legitimately without clearing security. NJ 68 ends beyond the gate inside of the base, due to a historical quirk that pre-9/11 Fort Dix had no gates and the public was permitted to drive through. So, this doesn't concern me so much for other roads that end at military bases.

As for borders, well, my willingness to call a U-turn or turn-off good depends on how close to the actual border the U-turn point is. On US 5, for example, I drove past US customs and then made a right turn onto Caswell Avenue. Did not enter Canada but turned off less than a football field's length from the physical location of the border. I consider US 5 clinched. But I would not, for example, consider getting off at the last exit before the border to be good enough for an interstate because:
1) the missed distance is generally less trivial, can easily be half a mile or more.
2) I have a passport and can legally cross the border, so I can't plead inability to do better in these situations.

That said I do know better than to pull up to customs and be like "yeah, I'm just out for a joyride, not entering your country for any particular reason". I snag opportunities to clinch border-end roads when I am traveling to Canada for some more substantial purpose.

[Rothman]

Heh.  Regarding forgetting portions of travels as a kid:  Despite the fact that I was the navigator for many of my family's trips, there were only two situations I came across where I had a frustrating lack of memory:

1)  We traveled across country from east-to-west on US 30 and US 24 to...at least I-57.  For years, I couldn't remember how we got from that point over to Nauvoo, IL, other than the fact we somehow dropped to US 136.  I didn't know if we went all the way to Peoria or dropped down I-57 or I-55.  Very frustrating.  However, with the advent of GSV and what was a miserable amount of time, I was able to pinpoint the route.  This was due to one clear memory I had of a very straight portion of US 136 and my father making the joke that he could see the curvature of the Earth.  Somewhere around here.

2)  The other one just hasn't been resolved yet:  We traveled across Alligator Alley before it was I-75 and somehow made our way north from Fort Lauderdale to some point on I-95...to somewhere...mmph...whatever.  I don't guess or speculate without evidence, so my map shows only what I'm certain of (i.e., strange stubs of I-75 and I-95) in southern Florida.

[vdeane]

I don't have too many where I don't remember the route well.  The major one I can think of (other than everything in California, seeing as I was an infant when my family took that vacation; I don't count myself as having visited the state at all for that reason) is the Main trip I took with some people in college, as one leg was done at night on rural local roads.  I ended up just using an endpoint that was as far west as could be possible and turned out to be right when I found the house we stayed at on street view years later.

[Duke87]

My family never went on any terribly aggressive trips when I was young and I was paying attention to where we were going since as long as I can remember. So, my list of assumed clinches is fairly short and one item on it (FL 60 from Clearwater Beach to FL 589) lacks any equally reasonable alternative given the known endpoints.

But yes, I do count the assumptions. I'd rather have a few educated guesses than a list I factually know to be non-exhaustive.

[slorydn1]

I'm not overly anal about it. I have to travel the length of the route, one direction is enough, and having to exit to get gas and food is a part of life, as long as I use the same interchange to get back on again its in the books.

Like 1995who and a few others I count family trips from when I was a child, too. I was a "crewmember", if you will, for many long trips back in the day as the official navigator for the trip. So no, I wasn't physically on control of the car, but I certainly was "driving" if you get my meaning. In many instances I was probably paying closer attention than my dad who was actually doing the driving, LOL.

I wouldn't count any mileage spent on a bus though. Chances are I wouldn't even be able to see out of the front window, anyway.

Not sure how old you are Rothman, but I do remember that, at least according to the Rand McNalley atlases of the day, that Alligator Alley was I-75 even way back in the 70's when it was just a two lane road through the Everglades. I am trying to remember if I saw I-75 assurance markers on it during my one and only crossing of it during the winter of 1979-1980. I do remember growing growing up  believing that it was a part of the Interstate system during that time, anyway. It's because of that crossing and subsequent visits to south Florida as an adult that I consider I-75 clinched end to end (although there is some question as to exactly how much of it I got in Sault St Marie as a 4 year child-I know I have been to the locks and watched the big ore ships pass through, I am just not 100% certain we got there via the northern terminus of I-75 or if we had exited just previous too that. My dad passed away several years ago and my mom just doesn't remember).

[Rothman]

Not sure how old you are Rothman, but I do remember that, at least according to the Rand McNalley atlases of the day, that Alligator Alley was I-75 even way back in the 70's when it was just a two lane road through the Everglades.

Eh, I doubt that.  It had a state route number when I was kid (late '70s), early '80s.  In fact, I remember when I-75 ended north of North Port, FL, since my grandparents had a summer home there.  It had to be much later when I-75 was officially extended across Alligator Alley.

[Roadgeekteen]

If I have been on the entire length of the road in any veichle, passenger or driver, (not old enough for license), it is clinched. Exceptions can be made for international borders. Being in a car while sleeping counts.

[JMoses24]

For me, given that I do not drive, a clinch means the following:

1) I have to have been on the route from one end to the other.
2) It need not have been in one sitting. Example, I had traveled sections of I-71 from Louisville to Columbus well before I ever ventured past Columbus to Mansfield, and didn't fully clinch the interstate until my return trip from Providence, RI last October when I went through Cleveland and thus clinched it.
3) Exits for fuel, food, etc. count as long as I re-enter from the same exit. Example, stopping along I-68 at the Maryland welcome center counts because I re-entered at the same interchange. However, when I exited I-95 in RI on a trip several years ago, I didn't re-enter at the same location = no clinch. Of course, I still have a ton of 95 left to go anyway, so no clinch yet.
4) It must be since the age of 7.

[TravelingBethelite]

For me, given that I do not drive, a clinch means the following:

1) I have to have been on the route from one end to the other.
2) It need not have been in one sitting. Example, I had traveled sections of I-71 from Louisville to Columbus well before I ever ventured past Columbus to Mansfield, and didn't fully clinch the interstate until my return trip from Providence, RI last October when I went through Cleveland and thus clinched it.
3) Exits for fuel, food, etc. count as long as I re-enter from the same exit. Example, stopping along I-68 at the Maryland welcome center counts because I re-entered at the same interchange. However, when I exited I-95 in RI on a trip several years ago, I didn't re-enter at the same location = no clinch. Of course, I still have a ton of 95 left to go anyway, so no clinch yet.
4) It must be since the age of 7.

I feel the same way, minus the age 7 part. As long as I can remember being on all of it (even in parts), it counts for me. It does not have to be both ways (even though there are a couple roads that count as clinched for me in that sense), though it does need to be consistent in direction. (E.G. I would not consider taking I-70 westbound from Baltimore to Topeka and eastbound from I-15 to Topeka as being clinched.)

[epzik8]

I used to think it was simply traveling a segment of a highway. Now I consider it to be traveling the entire length.

[MNHighwayMan]

For a while, I used to keep track of what Minnesota highways I'd clinched (this was back around 2010-2012 when I did a lot of in-state driving–then I moved to Iowa...)

My definition was a little weird in that I based it upon the records in MnDOT's logpoint record (PDF warning). If I traveled a majority of the distance (>75%, subjectively) between two entries, it counted. That way I could pull off for gas and still consider that section cliched, even if I didn't drive myself over the 50 feet of pavement between driveways.

Then, sometime around late 2013 and 2014 I quit updating the spreadsheet I used to keep track of it all, and now I have no idea precisely what I do and do not have clinched. Never have I really kept any sort of precise record of what I have and haven't driven in Iowa, although I have a pretty good general idea.

[RobbieL2415]

My definition of clinched is:

To have traveled the entire portion of a numbered highway in both directions in one or more sessions.

[JMoses24]

I feel the same way, minus the age 7 part. As long as I can remember being on all of it (even in parts), it counts for me. It does not have to be both ways (even though there are a couple roads that count as clinched for me in that sense), though it does need to be consistent in direction. (E.G. I would not consider taking I-70 westbound from Baltimore to Topeka and eastbound from I-15 to Topeka as being clinched.)

We differ on the last part. I consider routes clinched by taking the full route with no distinction made as to what direction it has been done in. My I-71 example comes to mind. I've done both sides of 71 from Louisville to as far as Mansfield...but only southbound north of that point. I still consider it clinched because I have been ON 71 from Cleveland to Louisville. 

Of course, there are routes I clinched that I HAVE done both directions (I-68 is the main example).

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I consider a route clinched when I have travelled all of its length. I doesn't have to be with a vehicle, I have a local road clinched on the grounds I have run all of its length.

[tradephoric]

In today's world if you didn't record it, it didn't happen.

[US 89]

For me, I just have to travel the full length of the route. I don't care about direction, time of day, who was driving, how old I was, whether I was sleeping, etc. as long as I know I have physically been on the route's full length. It is fine to get off the interstate and get back on at the same exit. Texas style frontage roads count as part of the route. And it doesn't have to be by car--walking or biking is fine.
For military bases and international borders, I can take the last exit before the gate and still call it a clinch. Of course, if I were actually driving across the border for another reason, I'd make sure to do it on a road that I had already clinched the rest of.

[Roadgeekteen]

In today's world if you didn't record it, it didn't happen.

Like, if you don't record it, higher powers will wipe it from exsistance?

[beau99]

My definition is loose since I don't drive due to anxiety issues (among a few other reasons), so basically as long as I've covered the length of the road, I consider it clinched. Direction, time of day, etc doesn't matter to me.