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Journal: Early Morning Drives Are One Of Life's Greatest Pleasures

Early Morning Drives Are One Of Life’s Greatest Pleasures

By Ted Gushue
June 6, 2016
19 comments

Coming back from a few weeks out of your time zone is always a wonderful blessing in disguise for me. Of course I miss the road, but for whatever reason, the time change gets me up and out of bed around 5-6 am, totally naturally. Now, I’m no stranger to early morning rise and drives, but there is something magical about waking up that early and feeling laser sharp and ready for driving.

On Saturday morning last weekend, I hopped out of bed around 5:30, jumped in the Porsche, and flew up PCH to Malibu, carved up Solstice Canyon and snapped a few photos at the turnoff. There’s not much of a story here—it was just an incredibly zen morning that I thought I’d share with you guys.

Who else shares a passion for the early morning zen run?

Tags Classic Cars/ Drive Tastefully/ German/ Malibu/ Porsche/ Porsche 911
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Idohard
Idohard
2 years ago

Is it possible that I saw the same Porsche 911 in the center of Milan?

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Eirik Dragseth
Eirik Dragseth
4 years ago

I absolutely agree! Early morning runs are what Saturday mornings are made for! I often take my E36 BMW out around 6AM Saturday morning so that I have unobstructed access to my favorite twisty, fast roads around Spokane, WA where I live. I will rail High Drive from 57th Ave down to I-90. Turn West and take WA 195 south to Spangle to get back onto the great back roads of this area. Usually my run with the Bimmer is around 75-100 miles round trip, then it’s time to have breakfast at one of my favorite establishments on the South Hill and then (usually) I park the Shrike back in the garage and get on with my usual mundane tasks like mowing the lawn or home projects. For me, it is a very Zen way to start my weekend and of course at that hour, there are few (if any) rollers to bum my ride. In case anyone was wondering, the Palouse region here in Eastern WA has some epic, challenging roads to have an early morning blast on.

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John Poletti
John Poletti
4 years ago

I love early morning drives, except when you’re dodging kangaroos and fellow deer!! They’d make real mess of my 1990 mx5! 😜

1
jackc
jackc
4 years ago

Tastefully driving east, into the sunrise.

1
Don Hodgdon
Don Hodgdon
6 years ago

For a couple of years, I made the run from Santa Barbara to Mill Valley on Christmas morning with my GTV6, most of the trip on Highway 1. No better way to celebrate the holidays…a great road, incredible weather, a fun car and no traffic!

1
Jure Žove
Jure Žove
6 years ago

We had an early morning run about 2 weeks ago. Woke up at 2AM and drove to Austria to reach the (almost empty) Grossglockner high alpine road. Toll booth opens up at 5AM, we were there 5:20.

This was the result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLJs1DDa4bk

3
Nils Wenzler
Nils Wenzler
6 years ago

Absolutely! Still my most memorable drive was down PCH, heading south from Monterey on a Sunday morning in early spring. I had just bought the car, a 1972 240z from it’s first owner the day before and was heading back to Anaheim. I spent the night in Monterey and got up at 6am. The reward was an empty PCH with a whiff of fog and the sun creeping over the coast. To get to know that car on that road without seeing any other car for the next 3h was magical.

3
Christian Joseph
Christian Joseph
6 years ago

I work nights and am usually coming home as the sun is peeking up. Nothing beats getting home, dropping the keys for the daily on the table and grabbing the keys for the toy in the garage, opening the door and letting the stress of my work night melt away as I listen to nothing but revs on empty back roads.

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Alexandre Goncalves
Alexandre Goncalves
7 years ago

Love to do that – just coming home at 6 am on a Saturday, taking a shower, eat something, grab the keys and go for a ride! Bliss!

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rob
rob
7 years ago

Years ago when I had my 530i I would get up at 4:00-4:30 and make the 5 hour drive (4.25 to 4.5 at speed)down Hwy 7 to Georgian Bay to go sailing with my Dad for the weekend.Those were great times behind the wheel.I once crested a hill doing at least 80 to 90 mph at the break of dawn to find a police car sitting in an abandoned gas station parking lot.I never bothered taking my foot of the gas & hitting the brakes.I figured he had me anyways.He never even looked up when I went by.Musta been doing paperwork……or he was just a BMW fan.

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danno77
danno77
7 years ago

Its rare to get the opportunity, but a few months back I took my car out into surrey/sussex with the camera and really enjoyed the lack of traffic, and stopped en route for a bacon sandwich from a roadside cafe. The car is a v8 conversion, a bit rough around the edges but the sound is great, especially in the back roads which criss-cross the surrey hills. Must set the alarm early at the weekend 😉

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nosstingray
nosstingray
7 years ago

I hear you brother – great car & nice pictures!

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Christopher André Haas
Christopher André Haas
7 years ago

There is nothing like an early morning drive! Streets are empty and the sun is rising while you drive. Amazing and magical!

The pic was taken in Düsseldorf on a Sunday morning at 5:20. The car I guess, you are familiar with 😉

2
Linda N Brian Schick
Linda N Brian Schick
7 years ago

I don’t have a PCH or a Porsche and I’m retired. But when I was working, I could still enjoy my 1 hour and 15 minute drive home by taking the back roads through the Pennsylvania farm lands, going through the gears of my Toyota and relaxing and unwinding from a day at work. It made for a relaxing evening meal and an enjoyable evening. To HELL with highway driving, horn blowers and impatient drivers. The heart doctors office where my wife worked was full of those very important people.

1
Chris Ribbe
Chris Ribbe
7 years ago

Sunday morning dawn … bright awake … no comb, no breakfast … open the garage … turn the key … the bellow from the twin pipe is echoing through the canyon … empty roads – no cars, no laser guns … it is happening.

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adrian
adrian
7 years ago

It’s the best time , I have a 2.7 S too!

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Kevin Lynch
Kevin Lynch
7 years ago

I am not wrapped up in the “Zen” debate, that’s a personal state of being. I will say I completely enjoy the morning drives. This past weekend I was zipping up to the Friends of Steve McQueen show at Boys Republic – an otherwise boring freeway jaunt from Newport, up the 55 to the 91 to the 71, except being early I was roughly at Gypsum Canyon when the sun rose, mixed between that, low slung clouds and sporadic fog, and the music of the exhaust, and the canyon topography, it was an awesome moment – so I get the Zen reference in that these drives are full of awesome moments. I get Guitar Slinger’s comments – it sucks when you are in a parking lot – it sucks to have to deal with traffic and lack of mobility/freedom – but I will take a few great moments with a few bad and call it a day.

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Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago

Although I have no doubt it was an incredible morning drive it hardly qualifies as a moment of Zen . In fact if anything its the polar opposite of a moment of Zen .

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Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

But err … as far as morning drives are concerned .. in this age of congestion , wretched excess traffic and a plethora of idiot drivers on the road barely capable of walking .. never mind driving ..

Is there any time other than early morning one can take a drive … stretch one’s car/motorcycles legs and actually enjoy it rather than regret it 15 minutes into the drive ? Why no there is not . Especially when it comes to the PCH .. which becomes a virtual parking lot by 10am on any given day … 😉

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