COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Absolute Newbie Desert Drive - Al Qudra - 10 Jul 2020

[Craig Finlayson]

Great fun today! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks guys. 

[Mels Wolf]

Great drive this morning! @Frederic will share the trip report! Hereby already the trip video with some pics I’ve taken during the drive 

[Frederic]

DRIVE REPORT

As Al Qudra is in in my backyard, I arrived around 4:40 and saw during deflation @Gaurav passing by on his way to the Solar Park. I was really happy to see everyone coming on time, and starting deflation by themselves.

After having appointed @marks as my second lead, which he did great, and @Mels Wolf as my trusty sweep, we headed out around 5:30 and the first initial reactions I heard on the first two or three dunes was "I am stuck" from a few guys, as they suddenly came to realize that driving on sand feels totally different than driving on the road.  Just to clarify again, a Stuck is only called a Stuck if we need to recover you with a rope or shovel you out.

A Refusal is when you're able to recover yourself. Which most of our drivers have did amazingly well today.

The first 40 minutes I took the convoy to some small technical dunes, which was actually not my intention but alas on some drives I follow my instincts, and realized that even in this area hardly anyone struggled. 

Later on, we headed deeper into Al Qudra where the long "Seif" dunes allow for mini side-sloping, which we kept on practicing until everyone was confident and I saw huge smiles on their  faces from mastering this essential technique where momentum and steering control is what it's all about. Very nicely done by all !

We covered about 39 kilometers in 3 hours, which is a good average speed and thanks to @Mels Wolf who kept an eye on the entire convoy and deflated some of the vehicles a bit further, we were able to manage this distance by having almost no stucks or refusals.

@Nabil Bishara @Incognitoes @h1fny  were all driving very capable Jeep Wranglers. @Jeandre Bezuidenhout his Wrangler Rubicon finally felt at home doing what it's meant to do. Serious Offroading. Well done guys !

@Taha Elghuel had a bit of a nose dive coming over a dune, no serious damages, but let's say the bumper is now baptized for Desert driving. 

@Sreejith Sreenivasan drove very well with the Landrover LR2. The low profile types meant we could not deflate very low but nevertheless he managed without too much effort today. Great work !

@Melenany is the PERFECT example that it's all about technique. He drives the F-150 with so much finesse that again you have amazed me today. 

@Adam Koster never broke a sweat as his Landcruiser Diesel easily pushed his way through the dunes. 

@Christian Andras you were the only FJ cruiser today, so you had to prove yourself against the Wrangler, Pajero, and Xterra army. But you drove great !

@Ahmed Farghaly and @Mukundan Nair with the Black and White Xterra was providing the Yin and Yang on the drive. Both drove very well too !

We ended the drive from where we started and said goodbye to the people who went to inflate at the Last Exit gas station. @Mels Wolf called me 10 minutes later that he was doing a recovery at the lakes as two guys were standing at the road looking exhausted and in need for help as their sedan got stuck in the soft sand. I am glad to see the Carnity values being carried forward: we never leave anyone behind, and if a person is in need we will always help out. Proud of you Mels !!

Like I always say: Al Qudra never disappoints and the new members I take there never disappoint too: always fun to be had, and always stuff to learn.

We will be back !

 

 

[Incognitoes]

18 hours ago, Frederic said:

DRIVE REPORT

As Al Qudra is in in my backyard, I arrived around 4:40 and saw during deflation @Gaurav passing by on his way to the Solar Park. I was really happy to see everyone coming on time, and starting deflation by themselves.

After having appointed @marks as my second lead, which he did great, and @Mels Wolf as my trusty sweep, we headed out around 5:30 and the first initial reactions I heard on the first two or three dunes was "I am stuck" from a few guys, as they suddenly came to realize that driving on sand feels totally different than driving on the road.  Just to clarify again, a Stuck is only called a Stuck if we need to recover you with a rope or shovel you out.

A Refusal is when you're able to recover yourself. Which most of our drivers have did amazingly well today.

The first 40 minutes I took the convoy to some small technical dunes, which was actually not my intention but alas on some drives I follow my instincts, and realized that even in this area hardly anyone struggled. 

Later on, we headed deeper into Al Qudra where the long "Seif" dunes allow for mini side-sloping, which we kept on practicing until everyone was confident and I saw huge smiles on their  faces from mastering this essential technique where momentum and steering control is what it's all about. Very nicely done by all !

We covered about 39 kilometers in 3 hours, which is a good average speed and thanks to @Mels Wolf who kept an eye on the entire convoy and deflated some of the vehicles a bit further, we were able to manage this distance by having almost no stucks or refusals.

@Nabil Bishara @Incognitoes @h1fny  were all driving very capable Jeep Wranglers. @Jeandre Bezuidenhout his Wrangler Rubicon finally felt at home doing what it's meant to do. Serious Offroading. Well done guys !

@Taha Elghuel had a bit of a nose dive coming over a dune, no serious damages, but let's say the bumper is now baptized for Desert driving. 

@Sreejith Sreenivasan drove very well with the Landrover LR2. The low profile types meant we could not deflate very low but nevertheless he managed without too much effort today. Great work !

@Melenany is the PERFECT example that it's all about technique. He drives the F-150 with so much finesse that again you have amazed me today. 

@Adam Koster never broke a sweat as his Landcruiser Diesel easily pushed his way through the dunes. 

@Christian Andras you were the only FJ cruiser today, so you had to prove yourself against the Wrangler, Pajero, and Xterra army. But you drove great !

@Ahmed Farghaly and @Mukundan Nair with the Black and White Xterra was providing the Yin and Yang on the drive. Both drove very well too !

We ended the drive from where we started and said goodbye to the people who went to inflate at the Last Exit gas station. @Mels Wolf called me 10 minutes later that he was doing a recovery at the lakes as two guys were standing at the road looking exhausted and in need for help as their sedan got stuck in the soft sand. I am glad to see the Carnity values being carried forward: we never leave anyone behind, and if a person is in need we will always help out. Proud of you Mels !!

Like I always say: Al Qudra never disappoints and the new members I take there never disappoint too: always fun to be had, and always stuff to learn.

We will be back !

 

 

Thanks for the amazing drive Freddy and everyone!!