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COVID19 Compliant - Tuesday Afternoon Short Intermediate Desert Drive - The Slip Side of Al Qudra (reloaded) - Dubai - 13 Apr 2021


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5 hours ago, Wrangeld said:

Not correct. You have already driven as an intermediate, but perhaps not driven in an intermediate rated drive. Enjoy, Thomas. You worked hard to get to this level. 

Thank you Richard @Wrangeld for your kind appreciation.

Todays drive was real adventurous. Yes your drives were exciting too. 15 minutes into the drive I was wondering what have I got myself into. I was contemplating whether to gracefully exit by giving some lame excuse as @Lorenzo Candelpergher was like riding an Unicorn instead of driving a Rubicon. I was going easy on the suspensions of my Xterra and was lagging a little behind @Shehab Alawadhi. As it is his F150 is like a tank destroying everything in its path. Most of the time I had to slightly deviate from his tracks when climbing uphill and had to change the angle of approach. The advantage is, that beast flattens any ridge it treads on. Still I managed to get stuck twice. The support from @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Ale Vallecchi & @GauravSoni made these stucks looking like nothing serious. Once the feel of the fast paced desert driving started to slowly creep into my brain then it was easy and fun. By the time I warmed up completely the drive was over 😢. It was a surprise to me that @Ali Abas was also a debutante as I could see he was matching every move I make with the same steps and closely following behind me. I actually thought he had much experience in Intermediate drives.  The rest of the team were all experienced Intermediate drivers and performed what was expected of them.

Thank you all the lead marshals who I have driven with and have trained me into these desert driving skills. I had to use all that knowledge gained while driving with them to keep pace with @Lorenzo Candelpergher. My only suggestion is that the drive could have extended little more into the evening which would have made us drive under our lights. After the last few night drives I really enjoy them. 

One thing I kept hearing over the radio today was gain more height from Prof @Ale Vallecchi. I still remember @Frederic instructing us to the extent of even screaming the same during our Absolute Newbie drive. I always remember that advice and follow them like its the essence of all slide sloping. Of course don't fight gravity and lose fatally is another important lesson. Whenever driving a ridge try to keep the wheels on both sides. I don't remember exactly who told this first but its etched in my brain. Every time I think of @Rahimdad his stern class on throttle control crosses my mind and puts a smile. I was wondering what is he trying to teach me in throttle control when I have over 40 years experience driving on tarmac. @Rahimdad I think now I have made you proud by practicing it. (Secret- it was the best lesson and advice I got). In fact the whole essence of sand driving is merely throttle control.  

Thank you all again for your professional classes to turn a novice like me into an Intermediate driver over sands. 

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DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

after a long period of forced abstinence from leading, today's drive was for me a great opportunity to get back in the game and feel once again the mix of adrenaline, fun and freedom that leading an off-road drive offers, so I couldn't be more grateful to all those who joined today and made this drive enjoyable, fast and smooth. 

All convoy members were sharp on time at the meeting point, so by 3:48pm we were already moving after the briefing: the best possible start for a drive meant to be all about speed and pace.

A warm wind welcomed us on the sand. Maybe annoying during the very few recoveries, but perfect to grant us a virgin terrain, with ridges and crests perfectly reshaped in the anticipation of our passage. 

Less than a minute in the drive, we were already riding the first ridges at high speed: two wheels on one side of the crest, two on the other side, it became immediately clear this was going to be the leitmotif of the day. 

The name of drive became clear as well quite soon, as we systematically criss-crossed the ridges/crests, deep diving on the slip faces of dunes of all heights, to the extent that only once we did a straight up / straight down crossing. 

The convoy responded to my challenging routing far beyond my expectations. 

@Shehab Alawadhi was a perfect 2nd lead. Cautious enough to hold when I showed some hesitation, fast in response to my slight rerouting instructions, never hesitant to follow through, even in the most daring passages. Being crested in a couple of occasion only shows Intermediate level is now the right rank for him to polish even more his driving driving skills. 

@Thomas Varghese demonstrated beyond doubt how deserved his fresh promotion to Intermediate was. The drive pace and technical level were definitely a step up, but Thomas' response was excellent. A couple of stucks are to be considered part of the game, proof that even when one deservingly makes it to Intermediate, there is still more to learn. 

@Ali Abas led his Landcruser beautifully on all those crests. The only moment of hesitation (and a bush too much, probably) caused an unfortunate pop-out, which was however fixed in record time. I felt very sorry when I heard his daughters were a bit scared during the drive and that the little one got even car-sick in the end... Maybe a fast paced Intermediate drive was not the best occasion to bring the family along. 

@Gaurav Soni, despite driving in churned up sand, showcased the great wealth of experience built up over the many intermediate drives done with Carnity. 

@Rob Harper's Tundra was a beauty to watch.. I often looped back to keep an eye on the convoy and see how everyone was doing along the crests: everytime I looked, Rob's all black monster rode with two wheels past the crest in a very authoritative way. 

@Jack Thomasundoubtly had fun today, as he knew already what he had signed up for... He was indeed with me on my first "Slip face of Al Qudra" drive: I'm curious to read his views on this "reloaded" version, when compared to the first one. 

Last but not least, my appreciation and gratitude go to @Ale Vallecchi, an unusual sweep, who made my life a lot easier in the few recoveries we had to manage. I am glad to read he enjoyed the drive though churned up sand. 

Overall, we drove 52.3km in 2h 51', of which we spent in movement 2h 16', with only 34' stopped time. This resulted in a very fast pace at 23.4 km/h average moving speed. 

Not bad, but nothing to be compared with the running speed of the beautiful gazelles that crossed our path in the sabkha at sunset on our way out... I couldn't have planned a better gran finale

Thank you everyone for a great midweek drive and kudos for an outstanding performance. 

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@Thomas Varghese it is throttle and steering control. Always proud to see the team managing the drives so well at different levels, sharing their knowledge and experience. With the size of our club growing its impossible to be everywhere, but the occasions I get to drive with the amazing members I'm always proud of the safety and strong basics all drivers show including you @Thomas Varghese.

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Dear @Lorenzo Candelpergherthank you so much for the wonderful drive. as my first intermediate drive, it was Quite challenging for me at the beginning, I had to focus on steering wheel control and acceleration.   I was Sweeting for the First thirty minutes. then I got used to it. I enjoyed  fast pace driving on the dune crest, . I was feeling the heaviness of my car on some higher dunes and soft sand I got stuck a couple of times, fortunately I was Able to self recover with help of @Ale Vallecchiand @Gaurav Soni I see that there are fewer refusal and stuck in Intermediate level, which add more fun to the drive. I had Memorial drive as my first Intermediate level. every one Had nice car with suited pumpers for intermediate level. I was worried about my front pumper, which may had Interfered in my driving skills. and I skipped with few damages on it. 

As I didn't want to bring My family with me, but they insisted that I couldn't refuse it. I had my two daughters And my sister with me, It was fun For them as well, but it was little bit scary for my little ones, and got motion sickness at the end. They were fine once we stopped for inflating. 

Once again I want to thank and appreciate Mr @Lorenzo Candelpergherfor helping me to fix my popped out tire. and Thank you very Mr @Ale Vallecchi for helping me with my self recovery. 

 

1 hour ago, Thomas Varghese said:

Thank you Richard @Wrangeld for your kind appreciation.

Todays drive was real adventurous. Yes your drives were exciting too. 15 minutes into the drive I was wondering what have I got myself into. I was contemplating whether to gracefully exit by giving some lame excuse as @Lorenzo Candelpergher was like riding an Unicorn instead of driving a Rubicon. I was going easy on the suspensions of my Xterra and was lagging a little behind @Shehab Alawadhi. As it is his F150 is like a tank destroying everything in its path. Most of the time I had to slightly deviate from his tracks when climbing uphill and had to change the angle of approach. The advantage is, that beast flattens any ridge it treads on. Still I managed to get stuck twice. The support from @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Ale Vallecchi & @GauravSoni made these stucks looking like nothing serious. Once the feel of the fast paced desert driving started to slowly creep into my brain then it was easy and fun. By the time I warmed up completely the drive was over 😢. It was a surprise to me that @Ali Abas was also a debutante as I could see he was matching every move I make with the same steps and closely following behind me. I actually thought he had much experience in Intermediate drives.  The rest of the team were all experienced Intermediate drivers and performed what was expected of them.

Thank you all the lead marshals who I have driven with and have trained me into these desert driving skills. I had to use all that knowledge gained while driving with them to keep pace with @Lorenzo Candelpergher. My only suggestion is that the drive could have extended little more into the evening which would have made us drive under our lights. After the last few night drives I really enjoy them. 

One thing I kept hearing over the radio today was gain more height from Prof @Ale Vallecchi. I still remember @Frederic instructing us to the extent of even screaming the same during our Absolute Newbie drive. I always remember that advice and follow them like its the essence of all slide sloping. Of course don't fight gravity and lose fatally is another important lesson. Whenever driving a ridge try to keep the wheels on both sides. I don't remember exactly who told this first but its etched in my brain. Every time I think of @Rahimdad his stern class on throttle control crosses my mind and puts a smile. I was wondering what is he trying to teach me in throttle control when I have over 40 years experience driving on tarmac. @Rahimdad I think now I have made you proud by practicing it. (Secret- it was the best lesson and advice I got). In fact the whole essence of sand driving is merely throttle control.  

Thank you all again for your professional classes to turn a novice like me into an Intermediate driver over sands. 

Thank you Mr @Thomas Varghesefor encouraging me.

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1 hour ago, Thomas Varghese said:

IMG_3139.jpg

Amazing pictures @Thomas Varghese 👍

1 hour ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

Drive Report 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

after a long period of forced abstinence from leading, today's drive was for me a great opportunity to get back in the game and feel once again the mix of adrenaline, fun and freedom that leading an off-road drive offers, so I couldn't be more grateful to all those who joined today and made this drive enjoyable, fast and smooth. 

All convoy members were sharp on time at the meeting point, so by 3:48pm we were already moving after the briefing: the best possible start for a drive meant to be all about speed and pace.

A warm wind welcomed us on the sand. Maybe annoying during the very few recoveries, but perfect to grant us a virgin terrain, with ridges and crests perfectly reshaped in the anticipation of our passage. 

Less than a minute in the drive, we were already riding the first ridges at high speed: two wheels on one side of the crest, two on the other side, it became immediately clear this was going to be the leitmotif of the day. 

The name of drive became clear as week quite soon, as we systematically criss-crossed the ridges/crests, deep diving on the slip faces of dunes of all heights, to the extent that only once we did a straight up / straight down crossing). 

The convoy responded to my challenging routing far beyond my expectations. 

@Shehab Alawadhi was a perfect 2nd lead. Cautious enough to hold when I showed some hesitation, fast in response to my slight rerouting instructions, never hesitant to follow through, even in the most daring passages. Being crested in a couple of occasion only shows Intermediate level is now the right rank for you to polish even more his driving driving skills. 

@Thomas Varghese demonstrated beyond doubt how deserved his fresh promotion to Intermediate was. The drive pace and technical level were definitely a step up, but Thomas' response was excellent. A couple of stucks are to be considered part of the game, proof that even when one deservingly makes it to Intermediate, there is still more to learn. 

@Ali Abas led his Landcruser beautifully on all those crests. The only moment of hesitation (and a bush too much, probably) caused an unfortunate pop-out, which was however fixed in record time. I felt very sorry when I heard his daughters were a bit scared during the drive and that the little one got even car-sick in the end... Maybe a fast paced Intermediate drive was not the best occasion to bring the family alone.

@Gaurav Soni, despite driving in churned up sand, showcased the great wealth of experience built up over the many intermediate drives done with Carnity. 

@Rob Harper's Tundra was a beauty to watch.. I often looped back to keep an eye on the convoy and see how everyone was doing along the crests: everyone I looked, Rob's all black monster rode with two wheels past the crest in a very authoritative way. 

@Jack Thomasundoubtly had fun today, as he knew already what he had signed up for... He was indeed with me on my first "Slip face of Al Qudra" drive: I'm curious to read his views on this "reloaded" version, when compared to the first one. 

Last but not least, my appreciation and gratitude go to @Ale Vallecchi, an unusual sweep, who made my life a lot easier in the few recoveries we had to manage. I am glad to read he enjoyed the drive though churned up sand. 

Overall, we drove 52.3km in 2h 51', of which we spent in movement 2h 16', with only 34' stopped time. This resulted in a very fast pace at 23.4 km/h average moving speed. 

Not bad, but nothing to be compared with the running speed of the beautiful gazelles that crossed our path in the sabkha at sunset on our way out... I couldn't have planned a better gran finale

Thank you everyone for a great midweek drive and kudos for an outstanding performance. 

Great report . Although I wasn’t in the reloaded version , reading this made me feel in especially I sensed live the original version few weeks back 👍

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Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this new level of driving, when we started to drive I was sweating bullets not going to lie. It was a challenging drive for me and the pressure was further increased because I was in second lead. No matter other than the crests I think I did pretty well. 

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for the support wish to be your second lead soon! 

Good job everyone else for the small chit chat and advice during the drive! 

See you all soon!

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