COVID19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Tawi Nazwa to Big Red via Pink Rock - 19 Feb 2021

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Dear @bassel el rafei, @Arun Mathew, @imranaasghar81, @Hennie Schoeman, @Franco Swart, unless I'm mistaken you have not yet confirmed that you "totally agree" with the new Carnity Covid-19 precautions.

If you have, disregard this message. If you haven't, please read the post below and click on" totally agree" emoji at the bottom right of the post. As stated in previous posts, as a matter of policy, anyone joining a Carnity drive must have first read and totally agreed to the new rules.

 

Thank you for your kind cooperation. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Lorenzo Candelpergher

[Arun Mathew]

Totally agree 

[bassel el rafei]

Total agree 

[Hennie Schoeman]

Done, see you guys in the morning... 

[Franco Swart]

Totally agree

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

@Arun Mathew, @bassel el rafei, @Franco Swart, thanks for responding.

My instructions were not clear enough, apologies for that: you need to click on the post about the Covid-19 precautions, read it until the bottom and click on the "totally agree" emoji on the bottom right of the post (see below). 

Apologies for being so pedantic.. I remember I did the same mistake the 1st time I was asked to "totally agree" to a post. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Lorenzo Candelpergher

[Imran Asghar]

3 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

Dear @bassel el rafei, @Arun Mathew, @imranaasghar81, @Hennie Schoeman, @Franco Swart, unless I'm mistaken you have not yet confirmed that you "totally agree" with the new Carnity Covid-19 precautions.

If you have, disregard this message. If you haven't, please read the post below and click on" totally agree" emoji at the bottom right of the post. As stated in previous posts, as a matter of policy, anyone joining a Carnity drive must have first read and totally agreed to the new rules.

 

Thank you for your kind cooperation. 

Hi @Lorenzo Candelpergher I typed totally agree 😕 ive now realised and also hit the emoji also. Ps last week's video has been rendered and now adding some music and will be published tomorrow evening! See you tomo morning 

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

41 minutes ago, imranaasghar81 said:

Hi @Lorenzo Candelpergher I typed totally agree 😕 ive now realised and also hit the emoji also. Ps last week's video has been rendered and now adding some music and will be published tomorrow evening! See you tomo morning 

Looking forward to watching it! 

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

What a drive, today! And what a convoy!! 

We were just 7 cars including myself: this was already a very well promising start, as less cars mean less problems and more driving time. 

Everyone was ready by the agreed time and by 7.10am, having completed our briefing, we immediately headed North-East, while a very shy sun was rising in a partially clouded sky. This meant that the first 45 mins were characterised by alternating lighting conditions: clear and sharp shadows and highlights when the sun was shining and more flat and soft contours when the sun was hidden.

The convoy found immediately a good harmony with my sinuous wandering and went through the first stint with very few refusals. 

Unfortunately @bassel el rafei's Pajero, for the third week in a raw, showed again transmission overheating problems just 40' into the drive. After cooling the transmission a bit, we decided to try going a bit further towards Pink Rock to see how the car would behave. 10 mins later the problem was there again, so we decided to escort @bassel el rafei out at 2nd November Cafeteria, exactly 1h after our departure from Tawi Nazwa, but it should be said that until then he had done very well as my 2nd lead.

We then headed back South, aiming at climbing Pink Rock, but the queue at the bottom was longer than those for Covid-19 PCR Tests, so we kept cruising around the South West end of the Rock, peeking from time to time to see if the way up was eventually clear. 

When the 2nd last car of the other convoy that was heading to the top gave it a go, we descended to the departure area as fast as falcons to secure our slot. 

Climbing Pink Rock is always a remarkable experience, as it has all the characteristic moments of drama: the waiting, which creates the suspence, then the action, when excitement, fear and focus mix up, and finally the overwhelming view on the other side, where a sense of achievement is brushed by the wind. 

Everyone made it to the top on their first attempt, but a special badge of honor goes to @Arun Mathew, who had attempted the maneuver in past drives multiple times without success. 

The adrenaline levels had just normalized, when, after circling around Pink Rock from the East Side, we reached the 1st play area of the day, the well known Pink Rock Bowl, where the convoy spent at least 20 minutes attempting to cross the bowl from the South side, ie the steepest and longest one. Here @Hennie Schoeman and @Aus Alzubaidi showcased a brilliant straight down - straight up performance, whereas @imranaasghar81, @Franco Swart and especially @Arun Mathew had to learn the hard way how to get out of a bowl by building momentum spinning in higher and higher circles.

A few minutes earlier, @Aus Alzubaidi, when asked a feedback on the 1st portion of the drive, had expressed the desire for a faster pace... At this point he was going to get satisfaction. 

We indeed started our descent South towards Big Red (and the famous "Other Big Dune Before Big Red") increasing our pace and bumping up the technical level along our winding lines. To my surprise and great pleasure, the convoy stood to the challenge and did incredibly well during this demanding stint: not a single stuck and a few refusals, brilliantly handled by the concerned persons, under the supervision and with the support of @Hennie Schoeman and @Franco Swart, perfect Center Forward and Sweep, respectively. 

The fun was great and we all got carried away, however @imranaasghar81's daughter brought us all back to reality, signalling that she was starting to feel car sick. After a short break and some fresh air, it was decided that we would let @imranaasghar81 exit on Hatta Road and we would then go back in for the last hour of the drive around Big Red. 

After greeting our friend and favourite 360 degrees video maker, we fiercely turned our noses North once again. We bypassed Big Red by the West side, wandered around the the Second Big Dune after Big Red, then, with 30 mins to go, we tackled the ascent to the last challenge of the day. 

In an amazing performance, way beyond my expectations, to be honest, we were able to seamlessly climb our way all the way to the top. @Franco Swart asked for the height of Big Red and I couldn't respond: what I know, however, is that we went from 132m above sea level to 209m in a matter of a few minutes, in a spectacular ascent that took us all the way to the highest point, which was not more than 5 meters higher that were we left our tracks. Kudos to all, but above all to @Arun Mathew, who had the extra challenge of some apparent malfunction of his engine, which was not revving up as a 265hp 3.8L engine should do on a Jeep Wrangler. 

You would think we had enough at this point, right? No way! We circled down to the play area on the East Side of Big Red where everyone gave it a final go, climbing straight to the top, where @Hennie Schoeman and @Aus Alzubaidi could have probably crossed the crest and reached the other side, given the incredible ease which they displayed...

At 11am sharp we reached the tarmac at Al Badayer roundabout on Hatta Road: 3h 50' total drive time, of which 3h net moving time, having covered 59.7km at an average moving pace of 3 min/km. 

What a drive, today! And what a convoy!! 

Thank you all, Desert Wanderers: your smiles at the end of the drive made my day more than any dune we crossed.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Lorenzo Candelpergher

[Imran Asghar]

Absolutly first class drive and convoy!!!!! My daughter was forever grateful for all your understanding, I guess I'll have to conquer big red (again) next time and dose her up on the sea sickness pills!!!!

What a drive!!!!! Thrilling X 10!!!