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Fewbie+ / Intermediate Morning Drive through Al Faqa - 1st Nov 2019


Srikumar

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With the cool morning weather, lets plan a fast paced drive through the amazing long range dunes of Al Faqa desert. This area offers plenty of opportunity for ridge riding, side sloping that would test your offroad skills. The drive is for Fewbie+ (atleast 3-4 drives at Fewbie Level) and Intermediates only. Plan is to start at sunrise and drive till about 10:30 AM or even a bit more weather permitting. 

When: 1 Nov 2019, Friday
Meeting time: 06:00 AM,
 the convoy will move sharply at 06:15 AM
Where: Al Faqa Desert

GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/dt57TRJ3ak4SrCkX8

Level of drive: Fewbie+ (atleast 3-4 drives at Fewbie Level), Intermediate and above
Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance.
Plan: Drive and enjoy from 6:00 AM till about 10:30 AM
What to bring along: Snacks - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, smiles, stories, and enthusiasm

Please RSVP the below calendar even

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Trip Report - With the mornings getting more pleasant I was quite eager to reach the meeting point and start the drive in one of my favourite areas, Al Faqa. At 6:00 am I got a call from @AKR mentioning that he had just got up as he missed the alarm. Guess he didn't sacrifice his Thursday night routine after all.

So we were down to 3 cars with Shamil in middle and Xavier in sweep duties. After a bit of warming up on some nice dunes we started encountering the famous long range dunes of Al Faqa. Now, when you are ridge riding on long range dunes it's important to know at what point to exit out. @Shamil realised that a bit late and we had our first stuck right down the middle on the top of a tall dune.

20191101_070454.jpg

After a lot of shovelling to clear up the underbelly of the car, @Javier M recovered him in the safest possible manner. Well done Javier.

The advantage of a small convoy is the pace that can be maintained and with a good set of capable drivers I was very soon side slopping and ridge riding on every possible dune. Except for a couple of stucks the drive was extremely smooth and I must say that @Shamil did surprise me with his precise car control in some of the places. Also the increase in his confidence could be seen as we drove longer. We totally covered a distance of approx 50 kms in a drive time of about 2.5 hours.

Special thanks to @Javier M for supporting the drive. Look forward to more such wonderful drives with you guys. Till then Adios Amigos.

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Wow @Srikumar nice trip report. Great going @Javier M looks like you've taken up the sweep position as your own. Heard good things about your lead too. @Shamil really happy to hear positive things about your improvement and control. Glad you're learning well and putting it into practice.

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17 hours ago, Srikumar said:

Trip Report - With the mornings getting more pleasant I was quite eager to reach the meeting point and start the drive in one of my favourite areas, Al Faqa. At 6:00 am I got a call from @AKR mentioning that he had just got up as he missed the alarm. Guess he didn't sacrifice his Thursday night routine after all.

So we were down to 3 cars with Shamil in middle and Xavier in sweep duties. After a bit of warming up on some nice dunes we started encountering the famous long range dunes of Al Faqa. Now, when you are ridge riding on long range dunes it's important to know at what point to exit out. @Shamil realised that a bit late and we had our first stuck right down the middle on the top of a tall dune.

20191101_070454.jpg

After a lot of shovelling to clear up the underbelly of the car, @Javier M recovered him in the safest possible manner. Well done Javier.

The advantage of a small convoy is the pace that can be maintained and with a good set of capable drivers I was very soon side slopping and ridge riding on every possible dune. Except for a couple of stucks the drive was extremely smooth and I must say that @Shamil did surprise me with his precise car control in some of the places. Also the increase in his confidence could be seen as we drove longer. We totally covered a distance of approx 50 kms in a drive time of about 2.5 hours.

Special thanks to @Javier M for supporting the drive. Look forward to more such wonderful drives with you guys. Till then Adios Amigos.

Thank you @Srikumar. This was a special drive for me indeed whereby i was really able to challenge myself whilst having heaps of fun. As very rightly pointed, I was a bit on the edge, at the beginning since I dont do fast paced drives regularly but about half way into the drive, after @Srikumar and @Javier M very rightly pointed out that i could do with a a reduction in tire pressure, i was then able to really push and drive better. All in all, this drive was unforgettable for me as i feel i have taken away some new skills. A big shout out to @Srikumar for the fantastic lead and to @Javier M who guided me at some sticky spots.

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