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I've done thousand mile days on motorcycles (three times, 2 of 3 verified for Iron Butt certifications, third just for fun). By car, twice for sure. Tons of 700-800 mile days on both. Most of this in my 30s, some in my 40s, once in my 20s.
I wear earplugs religiously while riding, to preserve my already low-normal hearing.
I wonder if you're having some sort of sensory overload problem, be it auditory or visual. I never get that tensed-up while driving or riding, then or now, so long days through today don't bother me much. I raced motorcycles for three seasons twenty years ago, that didn't affect anything other than my interpretation everyone is going far too slow for their own good. I've driven cars closed-course; same observation, mostly around "wow, amazing how much performance potential Porsches have" (same applies to BMW M3/M4, Ferrari-anything, Lamborghini-anything, others).
Given sufficient lack-of law enforcement presence, possible to find out West here in certain places off the interstates, it is entirely possible to cruise for long stretches at supra-legal speeds while harming nothing other than my gas mileage. My Porsche Turbo *wanted* to go a buck-ten, and stay there. Sadly, the police feel otherwise in this country. Our loss. Point being none of that bothers (or bother-ed) me, in the sensory meaning of the phrase, or affected my ability to drive legal speeds for distance.
Does it seem worse when you are contending with glare from the sun? I've had my squinting reflex kick in and at times mistook the feeling for fatigue when it was actually just glare. I don't know if this is your case or not, however.
I didn't know where else to post it, so I'll post it here.
When I was 20, I drove long distances without stopping. I drove from ~Miami to ~DC in less than 14 hours at over 100 mph for the entire distance.
I did so when the roads were emptier in loud sports cars with open exhausts. Gauges were abundant, music was obnoxious (if I could even hear it).
I topped out many a car on the open highway as well.
Then divorce struck and I had no money. I once had to drive from ~Miami to Franconia Notch, New Hampshire non-stop in a $200 car.
I was about 27 years old then.
Even since I took that trip, I can't drive more than 50 miles without becoming severely tired.
I am now in my early 40's and faced with a situation where I must drive my family 170 miles/3 hours each direction once a week between residences. I do so at or below the speed limit since I am with my family and the laws are extremely strict in Virginia.
I feel completely fatigued after about 45 minutes and think that my driving habits when I was young along with that trip to NH did me in for life.
No amount of Coffee, Monster Drinks, or anything else help. All they force me to do is use the bathroom all the time even if I take a sip or two due to the diuretics.
My father is almost 80 and he doesn't suffer these issues on road trips. Then again, he drove at or below the speed limit his whole life.
This is probably a health or psychological issue at this point, but I'd like some thoughts on how to hear from other drivers.
Concern trolling is welcome as long as I get some helpful posts. I had a good time when I was young and never hurt anyone. I am far more dangerous with my decade old perfect sheeple type driving record on the open road with my inability to keep awake these days.
Thank you.
See a doctor before you drive far again! You don't want to fall asleep while driving!!
Buy a quicker car. I used to hate driving until I bought a car and modded it until it will take down most modern v8 you see on the daily.
I still own a fast car or two. Open cutout, loaded with gauges, turbo boost, loud open wastegate under boost....
I don't feel fatigued in that thing at all, but it's not something I want my family to roll with me in. Reliability is usually lower in machines like this. It's the nature of the beast. Besides, can't go over 80 in this State without getting tossed in jail. I have no desire to go at high speeds with the family either.
See a doctor before you drive far again! You don't want to fall asleep while driving!!
I am going to. I have never fallen asleep, but needing to pull over every 40 minutes for number 1's and 2's is not fun either, nor is getting fresh air every 40 minutes.
I think I am going to head over to health forum soon, but this has been a cool run with some pretty neat enthusiasts at CD. I am wondering if years of waking up earlier and earlier...sacrificing sleep for pay has finally taken it's toll.
I don't know an AWFUL lot of people who needed to wake up at 325am to get to work every day for years on end with a 2-3 hour commute in each direction whether or not I was able to mostly utilize public transportation.
Life is much better now, I mostly work remotely. They say that you can't make up for lost sleep, but no one ever seems to have an answer on how deep that runs. Wondering if I am years behind on sleep if there is such a thing!
See a sleep doctor for an evaluation. I knew one person who would get sleepy driving less than 10 miles. It's often a condition that responds to treatment.
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