COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Newbie Christmas Day Desert Drive - Pink Rock - Sharjah - 25 Dec 2020

[Abilash Madhavan]

@Srikumar

@Vanessa8580

Thankyou both for the hardwork you have to get me going. Taking it as part of the leading curve which will make me only better.

Big thanks for everyone who had chipped in and will certainly catch u guys in the coming trips.

@Michael Glavanis That drone clip is absolutely scintillating. Will send u a message to get it in whatsapp. Thanks

[Srikumar]

TRIP REPORT

It was truly a Christmas Day Special drive, as we laughed, played and enjoyed each other company while driving through some beautiful red sand at Bidayer.

Everyone reached the meeting point on time and after a quick briefing we were on our way to scale the beautiful Pink Rock. However, with some refusals and some heavily churned up tracks we decided to reroute and go around Pink Rock. We again encountered a lot of churned tracks which honestly for me was a real bummer. And of course the churned tracks did ensure a fair share of refusals. But the further we moved away from Pink Rock, we were able to find some relatively cleaner tracks. With some good Newbies in the convoy, I was very eager to push the boundaries as we zigzagged through the dunes. Throttle response and tight steering control was the order of the day as we went on some nice roller coaster dunes that needed the drivers to take the right approach angle and momentum to get on top.

Ofcourse, these kind of drives would challenge most Newbies and we did have a fair share of refusals and stucks. But, with the wonderful group that we had who were more than willing to jump out of their cars and give a helping hand we all had a blast shoveling and tugging the cars out and that for me is the true essence of Team Carnity Spirit.

@imranaasghar81 was my second lead and he nailed it to perfection. And why I say that is because, wherever he saw that my car hit a bump or was struggling, he kept an eye out for a smoother path by going a meter to the left or right. Superbly done buddy and that's what is expected of a second lead to correct the route of the lead ever so slightly for the rest of the convoy.

@Abilash Madhavan though had a difficult start, but was driving much more confidently as the drive proceeded. Your throttle and steering control improved a lot in the second half of the drive. He also provided us with opportunities for all of us to stretch our backs which I am quite sure everyone enjoyed a lot. Keep practicing by taking the right approach lines and be attentive to how much gas the car in front has given, and you will start seeing a big step in your offroad driving skills.

@Nafiz was driving a mighty Lexus V8 and though it was his second drive, he managed it very well in a route that required more of finesse and less of power. Well done.

@Hassan Almousa managed most of the terrain extremely well with limited refusals and was a very good helping hand in all the shoveling that we did. It was really nice to meet you and hope to catch up on our next drives.

@Sanjay Malik joined with his family and a visitor from the US who was down on his knees every time we needed help to shovel. Hope your visitor had a good time shoveling sand instead of shoveling snow in the US winters. In terms of driving, his experience showed where he had probably zero refusals. Well done.

@Michael Glavanis was the quiet one in our group but was silently going through all the dunes and towards the end brought out his drone to catch the beautiful desert. Been on your first Absolute Newbie drive, and its evident that you do manage the LR3 extremely well. 

@AlexPol was the shovel man of the day. A big help and a fantastic helping attitude through the drive. Really enjoyed your company and look forward to meeting you on future drives as well.

And finally a big thanks to @Vanessa8580 for supporting the drive. She probably did more shoveling and tugging in this drive than most of my recent drives put together, and with the biggest smile as always.

Please ensure that you have the right gear for your offroad rank, and some of the Newbies came without a proper shovel.

 

 

For those who have completed the required number of Newbie drives, you can apply for promotion as mentioned in the below topic

 

 

You all made Christmas Day a very Jolly and Fun day and for that I would like to thank every one of you. Wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2021.