COVID 19 Compliant - Afternoon Fewbie Desert Drive - Lahbab to Qudra Marathon: Part 2 - Dubai - 29 Oct 2020

[Frederic]

27 minutes ago, Gok Krish said:

Hello @Ale VallecchiVallecchi  greetings. Is there a link to the location or am I the one missing to see it. Thanks. 

https://goo.gl/maps/kb6bRjm4TKpuCr57A

 

[asifk]

Hi @Ale Vallecchi looking forward to this afternoon. now that dubai has lifted a lot of restrictions on movements / gatherings, any chance we can allow more than 2 passengers, especially if we are all from the same household ? Thanks

[Ale Vallecchi]

16 minutes ago, asifk said:

Hi @Ale Vallecchi looking forward to this afternoon. now that dubai has lifted a lot of restrictions on movements / gatherings, any chance we can allow more than 2 passengers, especially if we are all from the same household ? Thanks

Hello @asifk. As per our rules (and the Gov.t's) more than 3 people are allowed, as long as they come from the same household. Thanks

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

https://goo.gl/maps/kb6bRjm4TKpuCr57A

 

Thanks Fred. @Gok Krish, see the link above. In case of more issues, please look for Murqaab's mosque. We'll be just a few meter past it. Thanks

[Ale Vallecchi]

LAHBAB - QUDRA MARATHON DRIVE - PART 2 Report

As winter approaches, long drives lasting the whole day, will soon become possible. This excursion was planned as one such drive, but was broken into 2 parts, firstly due to the lingering heat in the middle of the day, and secondly to allow more members to join, in this past long weekend.

This route aims to join one of the least driven areas of Dubai - Lahbab - to the most popular one - Qudra - covering most of Dubai's desert from East to West. The whole drive covers 108 Km of sand, with a break between the end of the first half at Skydive and the start of the second leg at Murqaab (but it could also be Lisaili). 

The second leg of this marathon started just past Murqaab's Mosque, and took us through an initial area of tall and wide (almost flat topped) dunes, then on a sand track (cutting through an unfriendly technical area) to the long range dunes of Lisaili, ending in a gentle cascade at Solar Park, where we exited as the sun went below the horizon. It was great fun scaling the tall, camel back, dunes of Murqaab, which are really a great treat and a wonderful surprise, being so close to other well beaten locations, and yet so devoid of other convoys. And it was almost hypnotizing, the driving on Lisaili's easternmost dunes, which again immaculate, as much less driven than those closest to the pylons toward the north-west part of Lisaili.

This Marathon Part 2 also saw @Foxtrot Oscar (Angela) making her debut in the Lead, executing an extremely clean, smooth as silk, follow the sun drive, from the heart of Lisaili all the way to Solar Park. Congrats Angela!!

Great thanks also go to @Alexander Alcala for anchoring the convoy in the center position, and to @Pancho for sweeping it to safety, both assisting the few refusals of the day. Very well done to @Abu Muhammad, @Gok Krish, @Kailas, @Piotr Kolodziej, @VipinShetty, @topgear, and @asifk (I hope your family enjoyed the drive).

The second part of the Marathon saw the convoy drive for 49.5Km, in 2:34 hours, at an average speed of 19Km/h (25Km/h while moving). 

Thank you all for coming, and see you soon in the sand.

 

 

[Alexander Alcala]

I want to thank @Ale Vallecchi for the incredible route and especially @Foxtrot Oscar for the last part (it was extremely fun).  I enjoyed very much the pace and the zigzag in the final dunes.

I also want to mention that it was noticeable the improvement during the ride for some of my comrades in the way they tackled the dunes and managed to avoid getting stuck.  I enjoyed very much helping those that had issues and got stuck (no shame on that), but in the second leg there were few of those.  Special mention to @Abu Muhammad that was way more confident in the end than it looked in the beginning (good work).

I only regret that being by myself I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked it.  Next time I will try to attach a GoPro to my jeep (jajaja)

See you soon

[Abu Muhammad]

21 minutes ago, Alexander Alcala said:

I want to thank @Ale Vallecchi for the incredible route and especially @Foxtrot Oscar for the last part (it was extremely fun).  I enjoyed very much the pace and the zigzag in the final dunes.

I also want to mention that it was noticeable the improvement during the ride for some of my comrades in the way they tackled the dunes and managed to avoid getting stuck.  I enjoyed very much helping those that had issues and got stuck (no shame on that), but in the second leg there were few of those.  Special mention to @Abu Muhammad that was way more confident in the end than it looked in the beginning (good work).

I only regret that being by myself I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked it.  Next time I will try to attach a GoPro to my jeep (jajaja)

See you soon

Yes indeed it was pleasure driving with @Ale Vallecchi and everyone. Thank you @Alexander Alcala for the help and advise. 
 

[asifk]

20 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

LAHBAB - QUDRA MARATHON DRIVE - PART 2 Report

As winter approaches, long drives lasting the whole day, will soon become possible. This excursion was planned as one such drive, but was broken into 2 parts, firstly due to the lingering heat in the middle of the day, and secondly to allow more members to join, in this past long weekend.

This route aims to join one of the least driven areas of Dubai - Lahbab - to the most popular one - Qudra - covering most of Dubai's desert from East to West. The whole drive covers 108 Km of sand, with a break between the end of the first half at Skydive and the start of the second leg at Murqaab (but it could also be Lisaili). 

The second leg of this marathon started just past Murqaab's Mosque, and took us through an initial area of tall and wide (almost flat topped) dunes, then on a sand track (cutting through an unfriendly technical area) to the long range dunes of Lisaili, ending in a gentle cascade at Solar Park, where we exited as the sun went below the horizon. It was great fun scaling the tall, camel back, dunes of Murqaab, which are really a great treat and a wonderful surprise, being so close to other well beaten locations, and yet so devoid of other convoys. And it was almost hypnotizing, the driving on Lisaili's easternmost dunes, which again immaculate, as much less driven than those closest to the pylons toward the north-west part of Lisaili.

This Marathon Part 2 also saw @Foxtrot Oscar (Angela) making her debut in the Lead, executing an extremely clean, smooth as silk, follow the sun drive, from the heart of Lisaili all the way to Solar Park. Congrats Angela!!

Great thanks also go to @Alexander Alcala for anchoring the convoy in the center position, and to @Pancho for sweeping it to safety, both assisting the few refusals of the day. Very well done to @Abu Muhammad, @Gok Krish, @Kailas, @Piotr Kolodziej, @VipinShetty, @topgear, and @asifk (I hope your family enjoyed the drive).

The second part of the Marathon saw the convoy drive for 49.5Km, in 2:34 hours, at an average speed of 19Km/h (25Km/h while moving). 

Thank you all for coming, and see you soon in the sand.

 

 

this was an amazing drive and the fact we were the only convoy despite being a long holiday weekend made it that much more special. my family had a great time ! hope to see you all in the dunes again soon. Thanks @Ale Vallecchi and @Foxtrot Oscar and everyone ! 

[topgear]

thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the drive. It was my first exploration drive and I felt challenged with the constant change of terrain, dune etc. The pace of this drive was also the fastest that I had participated so far. Despite a few refusals and one 'false-stuck' on the dune where @Pancho @asifk came out with their spades (thanks guys), I enjoyed this thoroughly. The briefing prior to the switch over was helpful as well. Thanks a lot to Pancho for his radio guidance whenever I get refusals.

The second part led by @Foxtrot Oscar was smooth and interesting with a mixture of what the desert has to offer. If it was not mentioned, it did not feel like her debut lead drive at all.