COVID 19 compliant - Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - 100 KM CHALLENGE: Faqa/Little Sweihan/Qudra - 18 Sep 2020

[Chaitanya D]

2 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Hi @Chaitanya D. What happened to the car? Hope it gets fixed soon.

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi. Engine Mounts need replacement there is some noise from rear axle or wheels which is being checked for. I will join drives only if car is fixed.  

[Ale Vallecchi]

7 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi. Engine Mounts need replacement there is some noise from rear axle or wheels which is being checked for. I will join drives only if car is fixed.  

Of course @Chaitanya D. Makes sense. Looking forward to seeing you soon. 

[Ale Vallecchi]

Dear Desertnauts.

As usual, time for the convoy numbering, and the last minute info about the drive.

The convoy will travel with @Foxtrot Oscar in Second Lead, followed by @J J at #3, @Lorenzo Candelpergher in the #4 spot, and @Junaid Sayeed in the Sweep position. As far as recovery duties are concerned, as usual in my Intermediate drives, I'd like all drivers to be involved, so each will take care of the car either in front or behind, depending on the best position to recover from. Junaid, or myself as second option, will always assist the attempted recoveries.

Regarding the drive itself, as we are planning a long excursion, I would like to complete each sector in approximately 1 hour (barring any difficult situation we may encounter). The sectors we look to complete at the end of each hour are 1) Faqa (Northern Side) to Little Sweihan, 2) from here to the edge of Solar Park, then on to 3) complete the Bab al Shams area, and finally 4) the Qudra segment, from Bab al Shams (western side) to Qudra proper and the parking area.

I am hoping to depart as soon as there is sufficient light (officially at 5:43), so please be as punctual as possible at the meeting point, proceeding with deflating as soon as you reach it. We will tune into Carnity Channel 2 (446.031).

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, have a great end of the week.

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Dear @Ale Vallecchi,

Thanks for the nice and very smooth drive today. 

This 100km marathon was my 1st intermediate drive and, as announced, we had a lot of criss-crossing and ridge riding, which made it particularly fun, while exploring very different landscapes. 

Driving in a small and well experienced convoy makes the ride much more enjoyable as it rolls out uninterrupted. I really look forward to the next one.

[Ale Vallecchi]

The Longest Drive (not the movie) - 100 Km Challange

As exlpained in the drive's preview, an accidentally long Fewbie drive, of just more than 94 Km (due to an extension for exiting a troubled car), had wet my appetite for an even longer drive: why not 100 Km, at least? Luckily, within the Dubai emirate there is ample choice of long stretches of desert, connected by small and medium sabkhas, to allow the drawing of a drive plan of at least 100 Km.

Departing at 5:50 from the northern Faqa area, the convoy moved rapidly along, heading west through the lightly forested area which I call "the Arboretum" (due to the presence of numerous trees, exploiting the existence of subterranean water seeping through the neighbouring sabkha area) . Temperature at departure was the coolest recorded so far this summer (26 C.), and the terrain was still wet from the night-time and early morning humidity, which made the drive easier. As planned, we managed to cover this first stretch in 1 hour and 8 minutes. 

After a short water break, we headed toward the area of "Little Sweihan", reachable through a mix of sabkhas and more technical dunes. This is an area of long corridors of higher dunes (more like canyons in my opinion), quite close to one another, and filled with bowls full of soft sand, that deposits here after being carried by the wind through the large northern open plain (the one going toward Solar Park). After running to its western end (indicated by a metal fence running along a sand track), we doubled back for half of Little Sweihan length, before we headed north, toward the limit of the Solar Park plain. We concluded this second leg of our drive in exactly another hour.

The third leg of the long range drive took us through some lower technical dunes, then, using the faster track along the bike path, eventually to reach the Bab al Shams sector of Qudra. This is a location which we have recently explored quite a bit, enjoying its mix of open and tighter long range dunes, separated very often by flat surfaces from which emerge a jungle of fantastically shaped clay rock formations. The sand in this area turns from the yellow of the two previous places to a bright, almost blinding white, which makes reading the dunes quite challenging. Crossing this area has taken us precisely another hour.

The final part of the long trek saw the convoy navigate the western and the northern sections of what is properly known as Qudra. We moved north along the western border, toward a big farm visible from the Qudra-Bab al Shams tarmac road, then turned east to drive along the northern border, until we reached our exit point. As many know about this favorite Carnity paly-ground, the area has a mix of long range, very open white sand dunes, and tighter technical dunes. Due to the nature of the drive we avoided the latter as much as possible, and exploited the former, taking every opportunity to ride the long ridges. In the end we reached the planned exit point, at Qudra Lakes, after an additional hour.

The short convoy of @Foxtrot Oscar, @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @J J and @Junaid Sayeed managed to drive in perfect unison, with almost no refusals, and only a couple of stucks (on of mine, on a ridge, which luckily was solved by a bit of A-Trac action), and completed a flawless drive of 106.2 Km in 4:03 hours (of which 3:27 moving), at an average speed of 26 Km/h (and 31 Km/h while moving). As the drive was conceived to cover a lot of ground, we purposefully avoided a lot of specifically marked play areas, and did not purse the goal of climbing the highest dune, but concentrated on moving as quickly as possible through the designated areas. The challenge, therefore, was to face and manage obstacles on the way with speed and control, to reach each way-point in the shortest (and safest) possible time.

Hats off to the whole driving crew, for crossing most of the dunes from the slip-face side, which is certainly more tricky than from the harder wind-swept side. This should serve as a footnote to anybody planning a similar drive. The advantage of following this same itinerary in the morning, is to drive without the sun in the face, with the disadvantage of crossing the dunes from the slip-side (except the first half of the Faqa segment). If driving in the afternoon, it should be easier to reverse the itinerary, and drive still with the sun behind the back, plus crossing from the dunes' hard-side.

[J J]

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for a great drive. It was a chilled out cruise in the desert. Yes , as always a smaller experienced convoy made the 100km objective much easier to attain. 

[Foxtrot Oscar]

Thanks for your great leadership as always @Ale Vallecchi the effort that it takes to plan these routes for us is always greatly appreciated .

 

i had lots of fun, given that the X had been somewhat problematic on previous drives it was nice to test it out without ripping the engine in first gear . 
 

I especially enjoyed the cross crossing and ridge riding, I was only gone for a few weeks but you absolutely do get rusty so it was good for me to hone those skills again. 
 

I agree re the Bab Al Shams sector , blinding white sand made it incredibly difficult to see the dunes. Might need to invest in a pair of Aviators ....this off roading hobby is an expensive business haha 

 

cheers to all the guys on the drive , it was good to drive with you all. 

[Junaid Sayeed]

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi. It was a very chilled out cruise for the perfect Friday drive! the route plotted was very well thought of. Slip Face side always challenging but hey we don't want the sun in our eyes! Fun drive, excellent vibe and best of all new learnings.

Thanks @J J for the pics of Ariana.

Ciao!

@Foxtrot Oscar try Clifden from Oakley.

 They balance the color and helps in reading dunes. tried and tested.