COVID19 Compliant - Mid-week Night Fewbie Desert Drive - Pink Rock under the Waning Crescent Moon - Sharjah - 7 Jun 2021

[Shaaz Sha]

,hello guys. Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for yet another super drive and thanks to @Chaitanya D for guiding us all from the back. @PaoloMaraziti, i belive it was a bad day for you and was unfortunate to exit you earlier. hope you are good now. Being at the center of the convoy I didn't have much troubles today coz @PaoloMaraziti, @Russ, @Werno, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil did a great job 🤪👍. @Thomas Varghese played his role to perfection as the second lead. @Darren Brookedid  really good in managing his Chevy , @Lakshmi Narasimhanand  @Danish Mohammad did great with their pajeros. 👍👍. About the tail end we had a strong team at the back. @M.Seidam, and @Gaurav Soni did very well at the  back  and thanks  for all your guidance from the back @Chaitanya D😀🙏🙏. thank you and join you guys soon.

[M.Seidam]

6 hours ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

Apologies to the convoy for my abrupt leave today. I am safely at home, and well enough to write all few lines

in a nutshell , the nausea build up had me on the dunes after pink rock and I started making many mistakes and lose depth perception, which led to a lot of stress which increased the nausea etc….

I am sorry it became a ‘save private Ryan’ mission from being an enjoyable evening out, I was really looking forward to it as well

i want to thank you the team and especially @Chaitanya D , @Lorenzo Candelpergher , @M.Seidam and @Shaaz Sha for driving me out and all the guys that helped me out , I felt that there were many people around and I recall even a pillow appeared ! Believe, I could not remember all that helped , but I am really thankful
 

As precautionary measure, I will stop for a while the night drives. I feel less comfortable in reading the ground during night and discovered that the scenery is an integral part of what I enjoy in our drives. I will also be careful with the cold water, I think a very cold bottle might have caused my nausea/block my digestion

thanks all for the support , I just wanted to apologise to all for tonight befor hitting the bed . Hopefully I don’t steal all the fun away….

Ps: as I felt the world revolving around me while laying on the sand…. I swore I saw a drone, Feel free to blackmail for that footage, I could pay well !

Hi @PaoloMaraziti first of all really happy to hear that you are better . Definitely there is nothing to apologise for at all . We all get in together and we never leave any one behind . Take care and we see you soon pal 🙏😉👍

[M.Seidam]

 

[Darren Brooke]

@PaoloMarazitiglad to hear that you got home safely and feeling a bit better. Everyone helps everyone else, as you will remember from our last drive together 🤣 (Thank you again for the help you gave me). This is what makes @Carnity such a great club. 

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergherfor a brilliant drive, loved the trip back through all the bowls. In the dark I had not quite realised just how high we must have climbed. Thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to joining the next drive you lead.

Thanks as always to the support team @Shaz Shah,@Chaitanya D, @Thomas Varghesewithout you all these drives would not run as smoothly or be anywhere near as much fun.

See you all on the next drive

[Russ]

Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for organising a mid-week drive, and my first night drive which I thoroughly enjoyed!

To echo others, really glad to hear @PaoloMaraziti is feeling better, you had us worried there for a while buddy, I was expecting a helicopter ride home for you!

Also thanks to @Chaitanya D, @Shaz Shah for the support and making these drives possible.

Until the next time..

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

9 hours ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

As precautionary measure, I will stop for a while the night drives. I feel less comfortable in reading the ground during night and discovered that the scenery is an integral part of what I enjoy in our drives. I will also be careful with the cold water, I think a very cold bottle might have caused my nausea/block my digestion

Thank God you recovered and also know the reasons for your situation. It all happens and nothing to worry, take care and hope to see rocking when you are back on sands.

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Chaitanya D, @Shaz Shah and all the seniors in the drive for such a wonderful evening drive. Except for few cresting and minor refusals all were self recovered. Kudos to the entire convoy.

Have to mention the importance of Dr. as the presence of @Chaitanya D and @M.Seidamwas reassuring safety of @PaoloMaraziti and was glad to see the effort taken by team in dropping out @PaoloMarazitiby taking long route to ensure his safety. Hats of to @Carnity team. Way to go!!!

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for extending the drive as a token of acknowledgement of the entire team who were waiting patiently and concerned about the safety of the fellow men and crew.

Looking forward for another wonderful drive. Have a nice week ahead.

[Danish Mohammad]

Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this lovely night drive in such a nice weather that everyone enjoyed. 

Appreciate team work, help and support given by @Chaitanya D @Thomas Varghese @Shaaz Sha & @Gaurav Soni  

@PaoloMaraziti Hope you are feeling well now .... Get well !! Stay Safe 🙏 

Salute to team Carnity that proved our safety in their first priority and we are really in safe hands.

Thanks to entire Convoy for your patience.

Everyone stay safe... InshaAllah see you in next drive  

[M.Seidam]

1 hour ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

when you fall from the horse, you ride back on

Very well said Paolo , we fall always to raise again much stronger determined knowing how to play it safely 👍

happy to hear that you are in good health 

probably it’s time for me to post a new thread 😄

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

One of the facts about off-roading is that, no matter how well things may have been planned, drives are often happening in their own unpredictable way and with unexpected challenges. But that is one of the reasons why I like off-roading so much, because indeed when facing the unexpected one usually gets to see and live completely new situations and is called to adapt and react quickly to what is happening around. Yesterday's drive was one of those unpredictable drives, but for this exact reason was also a drive that I really loved. 

Everyone was extraordinarily on time, actually ahead of time, to the extend that we could hit the sand in advance (1st time ever in my drives, and this was already something unexpected..) There was something different in the air: everyone was happy, smiling and joking before departing and it reminded me of the feeling of the day those old times school trips, when everyone was excited by the upcoming "adventure". 

We moved by 6:57pm and we quickly made our way to the nearest tallest dune in the surroundings of 2nd December Cafeteria. The purpose was to get there just before 7:09pm and to have the chance to watch the sunset, but the horizon was too foggy and the sun unfortunately had faded away with no chance to see the red sky over the red dunes that I was hoping for.

We then moved on the west side of Pink Rock, riding for a while along the mid-sized dunes and the rounded ridges alternated with sharp crests, in a short stint aimed at getting everyone progressively acquainted with the reduced light and then the darkness on one side and, on the other site, at checking the convoy's response to tune the drive level accordingly.

As the sky became dark blue, we turned back towards Pink Rock, which the convoy easily climbed, enjoying a great view from the top, with a soft, warm wind blowing steadily at over 36°C of temperature.  

After crossing the pass, we headed along the eastern hillside, reaching the two spines of rocks that emerge from the sand on the south side of Pink Rock, which led us into an area of tall dunes and huge bowls where we started playing as we progressively gained altitude. 

It was at this point that @PaoloMaraziti, after having tried to resist probably too long, eventually surrendered to his motion sickness and asked the convoy to have a break. We stopped in a large elevated bowl, equally far from Tawi, 2nd December ad Al Badayer, with no easy and immediate way out to flat grounds nor an easy dirt track to exit. Despite the amazing support by everyone (including a pillow) and the fantastic care of everyone in the convoy, as it became evident that Paolo was in no condition not only to continue the drive but also to conduct his own vehicle to the nearest exit, it was decided that @Chaitanya D would take the driver's seat in Paolo's FJ Cruiser and, with a small convoy consisting of @Shaaz Sha, @M.Seidam and myself, to drive down to the lower grounds and from there to 2n December Road through the nearest flat track. On the face of it, it looked like an easy task, but Paolo was feeling so bad that we had to reroute and stop as needed, trying to find the smoothest way down so that our suffering friend could not get worse than he already was. Once we reached the tarmac, we agreed that Paolo would rest for a while to see if he would get well enough to drive or not.

We quickly made our way back to the convoy, who had been waiting for quite some time in the bowl. From what I gather, while driving might have been preferable, a stop in the middle of nothing under a sky full of stars was anyway and enjoyable diversion for a short while. 

As we restarted, we progressively headed south, wandering around two subsequent  areas with beautiful huge dunes and large bowls, where we really had fun, climbing as high as we could get and riding on top of as many round ridges we could find. After Paolo texted me that he was OK and safely driving back home, I could fully focus on leading, relieved.

Everyone did well: a few (expected) stucks and refusals, largely self-recovered with the great support of @Shaaz Sha as Center Forward and @Chaitanya D as Sweep, who both surely and calmly guided everyone out of trouble. I can't say I saw much of what happened in the back, but I can say that, given the night driving conditions and the technical level of the drive, the convoy did very well last night. I had eyes only on my great second lead, @Thomas Varghese, who had a hard time in finding what was the right distance to keep from my back bumper to allow for enough enough space to compensate my sudden decelerations while figuring out which way to go and to avoid finding himself too far away so as to lose the benefit of seeing my lines and having his way lit up by my lights. A couple of  crested situations and a small but deceiving pocket required tugging and winching, but overall Thomas did magnificently.

@Russand @Werno followed smoothly in the convoy, as did @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil except for a deflated tire which required a quick air top up. @Shaaz Sha was literally running to support whenever needed: I was amazed by his enthusiasm and energy. I really didn't have a chance to see how @Darren Brooke, @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @Danish Mohammaddid at the back, but from what I gathered while chatting at the exit point, they had their good part of challenges and fun, as did @GauravSoni and @M.Seidam. The latter - on top of the rest - got to enjoy the °night chase run° on our way back from the tarmac back to the convoy after we left Paolo and I pushed a bit, while @Chaitanya D, to whom I'm thankful for the great help, was my passenger.

We eventually made our exit at Al Badayer intersection on the E44 Hatta Road by 10:55pm, a good hour later than planned, but, having received unanimous consent to extend the drive a bit more, we all exited with plenty of good memories of the night, above all (surely for me) the good feeling of belonging to a great off-road club, @Carnity, where solidarity, teamwork, patience and understanding are championed, as Paolo's story demonstrated yesterday. 

We drove approx. 35km (with another 10km to lead Paolo out) with an average moving speed of 16.9km/h (maybe a bit less excluding the detour to the tarmac) with, most notably, an ascent of +315/-280m which tells about how much we climbed and descended throughout the drive.

Congratulations to everyone for another great drive and see you soon in the sand, especially @PaoloMaraziti, who has even a doctor's prescription to go off-road!!