COVID19 Compliant - Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - Lisaili to Qudra Part 1 Ridge Rider - Dubai - 12 Feb 2021

[Chaitanya D]

Convoy numbering for tomorrow 

1. Chaitanya 
2. Jorge @Jorge Stepniak Felippe
3. Gauravsoni @GauravSoni
4. Shaz sha @Shaaz Sha
5. Muhammad kashif @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ
6. Tero valas @Tero Vallas
7. Anand Nataraj  @Anand Nataraj
8. Islam Soliman @Islam Soliman
9. Abu Muhammad @Abu Muhammad
10. Ilya Golubinsky @Ilya Golubinsky
11. Mohamed Seidam @Mohamed Seidam
12. Christian Andras @Christian Andras

 

We will use Chanel 5 for radio communication. 

Please note drive starts sharp 8 am, try to arrive a bit early. But drive safe in view of poor visibility due to fog forecast.

see you all tomorrow morning 

 

[Shaaz Sha]

Hi, and thank you everyone for the drive today. Thank you @Chaitanya Dfor the challenging drive. It was a good one , even though the climate was not in favour of us. It's a fact that we had several refusals and stucks, but all together a different experience for me with my "X". I had I few issues with my tires today and I was expecting a pop out in each serious slides and turns. Thanking all of you for the help and support ( @Anand Nataraj ,  @Chaitanya D and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ  for the help and support in managing the semi pop outs and for the tugs) Thank you @Chaitanya Dfor the advices on improving the driving skills off road and will always be mindful during my upcoming drives. Thank you all and see you soon in the sand. Keep cool 👍

[M.Seidam]

 

[MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ]

What a beautiful & chilly morning it was with nothing but fog around us. I would say the fog made this drive much more adventurous and challenging. Props to @Chaitanya D and his awesome navigation skills for being able to lead a whole convoy in the right direction, despite zero visibility 5 meters away from the windshield. 
This being my 1st proper Intermediate drive, I really enjoyed it to the max. Moreover I got a chance to do a couple of recoveries, which was an addition to my experience.

Thanks everyone, see you all next week.

[Ilya]

2 hours ago, Mohamed Seidam said:

 

Great video, thanks Mohamed

[Chaitanya D]

Trip Report:

@Jorge Stepniak Felippe, @GauravSoni, @Shaaz Sha, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Tero Vallas, @Anand Nataraj, @Islam Soliman, @Abu Muhammad, @Ilya Golubinsky, @Mohamed Seidam, @Christian Andras

Thank you everyone for making it on time and ready at 8 am to start off. The weather was a dampener and the intense fog made visibility poor. But I had to take a call on starting on time as the bunch of drivers today was excellent , and was sure of them to follow the tracks in poor visibility.

We headed along the dirt track and entered the technical areas in Lisaili hoping the fog to clear by the time we come to open dunes. Well, the weather Gods had some other intensions, with fog being pretty severe and getting more intense as we entered deeper into the desert. We drove with utmost precautions, I was relying heavily on GPS to get a cleaner track and get you all along. We did make it to Murqaub, and then to Faqa in decent time considering the long convoy.

I would say we had more than expected share of refusals and stucks, probably the reasons being

- Poor visibility as we are not used to driving in these conditions

- Sand being hard on top due to moistness, and super soft under and dry. Making it difficult for all the cars to come through the same tracks.

- Not a great day on sands - happens when your plans go the other way🤣.

Some learning points  especially for first time intermediates are - drives are fast paced, need your concentration , maintaining safe distance, anticipate (as much as possible) what could happen to the car in front as you drive along ,endurance and self recovery. Considering all this you all did great which was wonderful, and it only gets better from here.

The main intention of this drive was ridge riding as much as possible which we did as soon as the visibility was better , but it could not last long as we were close to the expected finish time - around 12.15 pm and venturing further beyond Faqa could have prolonged the drive by another 1-2 hrs. Some cars exited there considering Friday prayers /other commitments and 5 cars continued along where we could enjoy some massive dunes in Faqa and exited around 1.45pm.

Special mentions and thanks to @Jorge Stepniak Felippe for being a awesome 2nd lead, @Christian Andras for managing sweep to perfection, @Mohamed Seidam and @Islam Soliman for handling some recoveries at the back.

See you all soon and enjoy your week!

[M.Seidam]

IM part 1 : RR ( Ridge Rider ) 

I missed the last patrol station just before the entry to Leslie , but luckily I didn’t miss my drive 😅, as I always keep a wider time margin for unexpected “ complication “ 😉. While I passed the meeting point behind heading toward the next patrol station ,which was just 3 km further ,I wondered what could a densely misty day hide for us today🤔.... fueled fully up , looped back toward Leslie and the surprise that I reached already 15 min before 8 am and every one was deflated and flagged up. Obviously every one was thinking the same 😄👍 thank you for being considerate by giving the enough time to reach safely🙏🏻

Our lead briefed us while taking the dirt track slowly hoping for the fog to give way some more visibility and by the time we entered the sand i could barely see the rare lights of the car in front of me from the safe distance between cars. However there were no tracks around except our foot prints which helped a lot keeping on track.

in the first hour we encountered , and expected , some stucks and refusals, and regardless of the cause be it terrain related ( becoming churned muddy like terrain especially for the back vehicles ) or driver skill related , the most important it was dealt with it in quick professional manner as expected in this level. The drivers of the  back vehicles we’re trying their best to step on more or less a fresh ground and it worked pretty well 😉🚙🙏🏻 
 

moving on the visibility returned to normal but the land was still soaked and not much forgiving. And here we get to the second part of this challenging day especially on riding the long ridges were the speed and fine control is crucial. Well every one did pretty well with one or two crests sideways and again out in couple of minutes 👍

In my opinion all and all was quite challenging drive however every one did very good with big enthusiasm and positive energy. 
 

@Chaitanya D Can’t wait for the second part of this series. Flawless lead buddy as usual 👍🙏🏻
@Jorge Stepniak Felippe  awesome sec lead with you nice white Jeep 👍

@Gaurav Soni I believe you did good considering your first intermediate , keep it up buddy

@Shaz Shah great to see you bro driving your new X  , trust me it won’t take long till you understand it perfectly . Well done 👍

@MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ it’s realy a pleasure meeting you for the first time in person. I liked your approach to the different situations. Calm and attentive well done brother. Regards to you son ( copilot) I hope he enjoyed the challenge.

@Tero Vallas Great driving together again bro well done .

@Anand Nataraj nice seeing again I think it’s our second time if not mistaken, well done my friend 

@Islam Soliman the secret man and true team player of any drive , great to see you bro . Viva 👍

@Abu Muhammad driving with you is always a great pleasure brother. Thanks for the ridge ride clip 🙏🏻😉

@Ilya Golubinsky I remember we drove before long time and if not mistaken it was my first newbie at pink rock with Gaurav. It was real pleasure meeting you again and you really drove well and thanks for leaving a nice clean track for me and@Christian Andras behind you 👍😄, who really swept us effortlessly and flawlessly despite the “fog and mud” 🤣

P.S : some clips I will post in the thread of recoveries check it out please .

cheers 🌷

 

 

 

 

[Shaaz Sha]

5 hours ago, Mohamed Seidam said:

IM part 1 : RR ( Ridge Rider ) 

I missed the last patrol station just before the entry to Leslie , but luckily I didn’t miss my drive 😅, as I always keep a wider time margin for unexpected “ complication “ 😉. While I passed the meeting point behind heading toward the next patrol station ,which was just 3 km further ,I wondered what could a densely misty day hide for us today🤔.... fueled fully up , looped back toward Leslie and the surprise that I reached already 15 min before 8 am and every one was deflated and flagged up. Obviously every one was thinking the same 😄👍 thank you for being considerate by giving the enough time to reach safely🙏🏻

Our lead briefed us while taking the dirt track slowly hoping for the fog to give way some more visibility and by the time we entered the sand i could barely see the rare lights of the car in front of me from the safe distance between cars. However there were no tracks around except our foot prints which helped a lot keeping on track.

in the first hour we encountered , and expected , some stucks and refusals, and regardless of the cause be it terrain related ( becoming churned muddy like terrain especially for the back vehicles ) or driver skill related , the most important it was dealt with it in quick professional manner as expected in this level. The drivers of the  back vehicles we’re trying their best to step on more or less a fresh ground and it worked pretty well 😉🚙🙏🏻 
 

moving on the visibility returned to normal but the land was still soaked and not much forgiving. And here we get to the second part of this challenging day especially on riding the long ridges were the speed and fine control is crucial. Well every one did pretty well with one or two crests sideways and again out in couple of minutes 👍

In my opinion all and all was quite challenging drive however every one did very good with big enthusiasm and positive energy. 
 

@Chaitanya D Can’t wait for the second part of this series. Flawless lead buddy as usual 👍🙏🏻
@Jorge Stepniak Felippe  awesome sec lead with you nice white Jeep 👍

@Gaurav Soni I believe you did good considering your first intermediate , keep it up buddy

@Shaz Shah great to see you bro driving your new X  , trust me it won’t take long till you understand it perfectly . Well done 👍

@MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ it’s realy a pleasure meeting you for the first time in person. I liked your approach to the different situations. Calm and attentive well done brother. Regards to you son ( copilot) I hope he enjoyed the challenge.

@Tero Vallas Great driving together again bro well done .

@Anand Nataraj nice seeing again I think it’s our second time if not mistaken, well done my friend 

@Islam Soliman the secret man and true team player of any drive , great to see you bro . Viva 👍

@Abu Muhammad driving with you is always a great pleasure brother. Thanks for the ridge ride clip 🙏🏻😉

@Ilya Golubinsky I remember we drove before long time and if not mistaken it was my first newbie at pink rock with Gaurav. It was real pleasure meeting you again and you really drove well and thanks for leaving a nice clean track for me and@Christian Andras behind you 👍😄, who really swept us effortlessly and flawlessly despite the “fog and mud” 🤣

P.S : some clips I will post in the thread of recoveries check it out please .

cheers 🌷

 

 

 

 

Yes bro, I am still studying the machine.. and I have  seen it performing in the off road. Still on my honeymoon with "x" 🤪🤪 (hope wifee doesn't miss understand.😂

[M.Seidam]

@Shaz Shah don’t worry bro the honeymoon of X won’t take long till you figure it out 🤣