Al Qudra Newbie Desert Drive - 21 Feb 2020

[Frederic]

10 minutes ago, Prajit Sadanand said:

Hey Fred.
 

Thanks a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive today. Hungry for more.

I am sorry, I missed out to reply in the forum as I was not aware that this group strictly adheres to forum for communication.
 

I shall follow the space closely henceforth. 

1) I drive a FJ cruiser. 

2) I don’t have prior driving Experince in the desert. However, I have about 20 years of driving experience and decent off reading experience in India/rough and challenging terrains. I know that does not help when I am in the desert. 
So, I shall term myself a Newbie. 

3) Yes, my vehicle’s front and rear tow points are in good condition. 

Thanks @Prajit Sadanand You'll find tons of information here, and that's why we are using the forum. We have seen multiple WhatsApp groups dying because so much essential information gets lost. 

[Gaurav]

Many thanks @Vanessa8580 for taking wonderful shots of almost all the cars and drivers today.

Very well done in terms of coverage and beautiful compositions. Superb shots.

https://carnity.com/gallery/category/178-al-qudra-newbie-desert-drive-21-feb-2020

 

[Tbone]

I tried to make it today for one last run as a bachelor, but sadly I couldn't make it. Nice to see that everyone had fun. Will catch you guys in three weeks. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Tbone

[Frederic]

8 minutes ago, Tbone said:

I tried to make it today for one last run as a bachelor, but sadly I couldn't make it. Nice to see that everyone had fun. Will catch you guys in three weeks. 

So you’re getting married ?

[bunty_and_pops]

Great drive. thanks all esp Fred.

[Srikumar]

TRIP REPORT

Qudra has always been one of my favourite areas for doing a Newbie Drive as it offers some nice set of broad range dunes compiled with sabkhas that gives Newbies the perfect play ground to master the basics of offroading.

After the newbie briefing we divided the huge convoy of 34 cars into 3 convoys with the first time offroaders being led by Gaurav, and the remaining Newbies being led by me and @Frederic. This time I was in a different situation, as I had only @tjsingh for support in second lead. When I was thinking on whom among the Newbies I could put in Sweep position, my eyes fell on @Nivin and decided that he would be performing the Sweep duties and I must say that he managed it pretty well by communicating with me and TJ on a continuous basis.

As soon as we entered we faced a lot of cross tracks which was unusual for Qudra, so while I was making my way to find some nice virgin dunes, @Jun Zamora mentions on the radio that he had hits his bumper over a small step. Despite his Murano always being borderline with the ground clearance, I was surprised to hear this happen. Upon closer inspection, we found that the under body plastic protection had come off. With a couple of screw drivers we ensured that the remaining under body protection was safely removed. Not sure if that added to the ground clearance of the Murano, but after that incident Jun was flying across the dunes doing everything that the cars in front were doing. Well done buddy. Love your spirit.

While searching for a clean stretch of dunes we came across a tricky patch with soft churned up sand at the bottom of the dune and the only way forward was to crawl yourself out from the other side. And that for me was the best moment of the day, to see 8 cars learning how to manage their throttle with brisk left and right steering to get out of that situation. And I am sure that for everyone, crossing that hurdle must have given immense satisfaction.

Once we crossed that stretch, we reached the broad virgin dunes were we did a bit of side slopping, riding on the top of broad dunes. The entire convoy managed themselves exceptionally well and also for maintaining the pace through this section of the dunes. Except for a few crests that required some intense shoveling the ride was more or less very smooth.

Well done to the entire bunch of Newbies. Look forward to seeing the pictures that you guys took on the gallery. See you on the next drive.

 

 

[Nayan Shenai]

Enjoyed the first off-road drive today. The drive was surely eventful for me   . But overall experience was excellent and left me hungry for more drives.

Thanks to all who helped me during the issues, with special thanks to @Gaurav  and  Abhay .

[Colin Jordan]

@Frederic and convoy 2 Thanks for an awesome drive Cara and I will deffos be back next week. 

 

cant wait. 

[Mostafa Taha]

13 hours ago, Srikumar said:

TRIP REPORT

Qudra has always been one of my favourite areas for doing a Newbie Drive as it offers some nice set of broad range dunes compiled with sabkhas that gives Newbies the perfect play ground to master the basics of offroading.

After the newbie briefing we divided the huge convoy of 34 cars into 3 convoys with the first time offroaders being led by Gaurav, and the remaining Newbies being led by me and @Frederic. This time I was in a different situation, as I had only @tjsingh for support in second lead. When I was thinking on whom among the Newbies I could put in Sweep position, my eyes fell on @Nivin and decided that he would be performing the Sweep duties and I must say that he managed it pretty well by communicating with me and TJ on a continuous basis.

As soon as we entered we faced a lot of cross tracks which was unusual for Qudra, so while I was making my way to find some nice virgin dunes, @Jun Zamora mentions on the radio that he had hits his bumper over a small step. Despite his Murano always being borderline with the ground clearance, I was surprised to hear this happen. Upon closer inspection, we found that the under body plastic protection had come off. With a couple of screw drivers we ensured that the remaining under body protection was safely removed. Not sure if that added to the ground clearance of the Murano, but after that incident Jun was flying across the dunes doing everything that the cars in front were doing. Well done buddy. Love your spirit.

While searching for a clean stretch of dunes we came across a tricky patch with soft churned up sand at the bottom of the dune and the only way forward was to crawl yourself out from the other side. And that for me was the best moment of the day, to see 8 cars learning how to manage their throttle with brisk left and right steering to get out of that situation. And I am sure that for everyone, crossing that hurdle must have given immense satisfaction.

Once we crossed that stretch, we reached the broad virgin dunes were we did a bit of side slopping, riding on the top of broad dunes. The entire convoy managed themselves exceptionally well and also for maintaining the pace through this section of the dunes. Except for a few crests that required some intense shoveling the ride was more or less very smooth.

Well done to the entire bunch of Newbies. Look forward to seeing the pictures that you guys took on the gallery. See you on the next drive.

 

 

Thank you Sri for one of the best rides so far, its an amazing feeling when you are finding out the potentials of your own car and yourself as a driver as you feel that you and your car are bonded through this offloading. I always loved surfing and this time I was surfing on the sand dunes.

[Emad Malaeb]

 Hi 
i would like to thanks all for the first off-road trip for me , many thanks for the team who gave me good experience , hopefully see you next week sure.😃