COVID 19 compliant - Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Faqa Loop "The Arboretum 101" - 2 Oct 2020

[Ale Vallecchi]

13 minutes ago, Rizwan Waheed said:

@Ale Vallecchi Well noted. Could you please also advise for the Tyre pressure? or shall we follow the standard 15 PSI.? Thx

Hello @Rizwan Waheed. It will depend on your tires. If they are not low profile, and have a ratively high and robust wall I would go to 12 or 13. As the drive progresses they will also tend to re-inflate due to heat. Low profile (low wall) tires should go to around 15. 

Dear @Baskaran P.R, dear @Gok Krish, I still cannot verify that you have acknowledged the Covid rules from the website. Can you please re-confirm that you have read them and marked the post with "Totally Agree" before this evening? Members who have not complied will not be allowed to participate in the drive (or any drive). Thanks a lot for letting me know.

[Gok Krish]

 @Ale Vallecchidone   regards 

[Baskaran P.R]

2 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Hello @Rizwan Waheed. It will depend on your tires. If they are not low profile, and have a ratively high and robust wall I would go to 12 or 13. As the drive progresses they will also tend to re-inflate due to heat. Low profile (low wall) tires should go to around 15. 

Dear @Baskaran P.R, dear @Gok Krish, I still cannot verify that you have acknowledged the Covid rules from the website. Can you please re-confirm that you have read them and marked the post with "Totally Agree" before this evening? Members who have not complied will not be allowed to participate in the drive (or any drive). Thanks a lot for letting me know.

@Ale Vallecchi done

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Baskaran P.R

[Andrei]

@Ale Vallecchi - can you please advise what time will be finishing? I have some plans for lunch tomorrow and wanted to know how to arrange...

 

thanks in advance

[Ale Vallecchi]

22 minutes ago, Andrei said:

@Ale Vallecchi - can you please advise what time will be finishing? I have some plans for lunch tomorrow and wanted to know how to arrange...

 

thanks in advance

Hi @Andrei. The plan is to finish around 10AM (Inshallah) 😅🍀

[SureshVNair]

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi
for the wonderful drive... Enjoyed the dunes.

[Mikhail Lukichev]

@Ale Vallecchi and the whole team, thanks for the wonderful drive! We all managed to maintain a good pace with only a few stucks and a bit more refusals. All of that kept us involved and granted a lot of fun! 

 

[Ale Vallecchi]

NOT SO NEWBIES - Faqa Loop "Arboretum 101" Report

As mentioned in the drive's preview, Faqa is not our first "go-to" location for a Newbie drive. Nonetheless, its northern part presents a very interesting terrain, with many copses of trees (hence the "arboretum", and long range, smooth dunes, very approachable by a Newbie convoy. Still, once the convoy gets into the heart of Faqa the dunes become taller and closer together, presenting also frequent technical areas, that may prove to be a challenge to unseasoned drivers.

After a timely departure, between a moonset and a sunrise, we entered the long range dune from the backside of a large camel farm, warming up the convoy on a few side slopes, before directing ourselves toward the heart of Faqa. This is where the convoy proved to be not so Newbie, dealing extremely well with the technical dunes in between the tall cordons. All the few refusals and stucks were dealt with quite easily, so that we made very good time. Rather than driving all the way to Faqa town we chose to double back toward the low, open dunes, close to the northern sabkha, where the convoy, having gained confidence and coordination, managed to practice ridge riding and criss-crossing (in the safest possible way).

The drive lasted 3:30 hours, and covered 48.1 Km, at the average speed of 14Km/h (21 Km/h while moving). 

Special thanks to @Ashy for a cleanly executed Second Lead, @Mikhail Lukichev for anchoring the convoy, and @Kailas for a smooth Sweep. Well done to @Athula Dharmadada, @Hardik Mody, @Baskaran P.R, @Rizwan Waheed, @Syed Raza Hussain, @Andrei, @Yasas Dharmadasa, @SureshVNair and @Gok Krish for managing with great control and skill the toughest, central, part of the drive, and for diving in with gusto into the last minute ridge riding and crossing.

Have a great week, and see you soon out there.

Special thanks to 

[Syed Raza Hussain]

@Ale Vallecchi Thanks for another great drive, u managed it really well , and we learned a lot from the briefing. Hope to see u soon on the next drive.

[Ashy]

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the exciting drive. Excellent briefing with clear explanations on approaching & passing of dunes and ridges. Looking forward for the next drive