COVID19 Compliant - Thursday Night Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Fossil Rock and Faya under waxing crescent moon - Sharjah - 17 Jun 2021

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

37 minutes ago, Abdul Rahman AK said:

@Lorenzo Candelpergher  I do remember joining you on one of your Intermediate drive.... but you still remember me as Fewbie+ 

Yes, my bad. I have to make at least one mistake every time, to keep the thread alive.. 😂😂

[GauravSoni]

@Lorenzo Candelpergher thanks for adding me… my schedule cleared up!!! M just on my way to pickup my car from garage as it had some repairs identified yesterday… hopefully should be on time at the starting point!

[Darren Brooke]

2 hours ago, Abdul Rahman AK said:

@Lorenzo Candelpergher  I do remember joining you on one of your Intermediate drive.... but you still remember me as Fewbie+ 

No excuses for me getting stuck tonight as I will be following a pro 🤣

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

Thanks is not enough for this drive @Lorenzo Candelpergher, such an action packed, challenging drive pushing every ones limits and exiting with a huge smiles on every ones face!!! Amazing lead in challenging night, making sure every one is crossing safe and recovering when needed and allowing to take multiple attempts till we take the correct track and cross over the obstacles and rerouting when needed. Thanks for taking us through track which we ( at least for me) have not tried earlier.

Thanks to @Gaurav Soni and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ for being wonderful CF and sweep keeping the convoy moving safely.

@Wernodid an amazing second lead role which is not an easy task to follow Lorenzo at night. I believe you enjoyed and learnt a lot!!!

@RooRzOn did very well with your monster

@Abdul Rahman AK you managed the Pajero very well most of the times except for few refusals and cresting in tricky area.

@Darren Brooke you managed your Tahoe very well on all the challenges thrown except for the side track on Fossil rock where most of our cars struggled on the very soft patch incline on the top. Hope you fix your bumper soon.

@Gaurav Soni you kept the center keep moving constantly and guiding the team in self recovery which was amazing.

@JeromeFJ it was amazing watching you drive in the front and easy for me to follow your track. 

I had my share of cresting at one spot where Gaurav tugged me in no time. Also I was able to take most of the challenges with out much sweating except for few minor refusals and once again thanks Gaurav for trimming my mud flap which was rubbing and slowing me down. The best part for me was on climbing Faya which was the best on my Pajero till date. 

@Danish Mohammad I could see you driving behind me effortlessly in the churned up areas with very few minor refusal all self recovered.

@Russ you were not heard on the radio and I believe you took all the challenges just like that with your monster. 

@MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ you were instrumental in sweeping the convoy safely and communicating always on the radio helping us to keep moving.

Over all it was a fantastic drive outstanding team effort and great learning for all. Literally I didn’t want the drive to end. Yet it was a perfect drive to start a week end.
 

Thanks to entire convoy for such a wonderful drive well started and exited on time. Have a nice week end drive and see you soon.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Lakshmi Narasimhan
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[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Lakshmi Narasimhan
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[JeromeFJ]

Many thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this exciting drive ! In some occasions it was a bit daring to push full throttle in the dark reaching a high ridge, but your calm guidance on the radio was helping us to do so in confidence. 

Thank you to all the convoy, in particular @Gaurav Soni and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ for the support. 

... and yes, it was a moon drive 😀

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers,

I have always loved the Fossil Rock - Faya daytime drive, but I must say its night version exceeded by far my expectations.

The whole convoy was extremely punctual at the meeting point at Khatam, so by 7:04 we were already in the sand.

We immediately made our way up east, to reach the highest possible viewpoint from the rocky hillside of Fossil Rock, but once again our expectations to have a glance at a red sunset on red sand had were not satisfied, as the horizon was foggy (the great heat of the season doesn't help) and the sun had already disappeared.

Climbing up didn't prove that easy: nasty bushes and tricky ridges, turning all of a sudden from round and fat into thin and sharp crests made very soon the first victim, @Darren Brooke who had to be winched down as there was no space for a proper rope tug.

We then moved down, crossed the pylon track and ventured into the stretch of Khatam Desert on the east side of Fossil Rock. We made our way through a bushy area and found our next (one of many...) challenge of the day in steep climb that, with the churned sand and the unfortunate upshifting problem of earlier Pajero, forced @Danish Mohammad to give up after several attempts. After a quick reroute we could start again, only to stop a bit later to manage, one by one, with a few attempts, a daring criss crossing following a long side sloping inside a big bowl. Fun stuff, but not obvious to manage as it is difficult for everyone to build momentum to cross on top of a dune you can't really see: this is why, after the first struggles, I decided to lit up the way with my car lights, so the top ridge could be seen from below.

As we moved further west, we reached the famous Long Dune, whose majestic lenght could only be guessed by a careful look at its shilouette against the dark blue sky. It was quite a view for me, once I turned around at the southern end of the dune, to see the lights of the convoy lighting up the long hillside. 

After having satisfied our side sloping ambitions for the evening, we quickly made our way to the top of Fossil Rock, where we had a regenerating break before throwing ourselves in the dark along the steep east side. What an adrenaline shot! 

When everyone made it to the bottom, since our timing was very good, we opted for a short digression to a very nice buch challenging area located on the east side of Fossil Rock requiring a very long ascent on soft sand. Climbing to the higher grounds, just below the rocky cap proved to be very difficult for everyone, so we split the convoy in small groups, so that each group could benefit of following the best line behind me. Almost everyone made it to the top, which was an amazing achievement. Those who struggled, @Darren Brooke, @Danish Mohammad and @Lakshmi Narasimhan, were limited mostly by the capability of their cars in the churned uphil sand. 

At this point we had quite a clear idea of the convoy's excellent capabilities, so, after cooling down @Lakshmi Narasimhan's transmission oil which had overheated during the many attempts made to climb up, kwe could head south heading full throttle into another great deal of challenges

We reached the southern edge of Fossil Rock, climbed up the nearby 1st and 2nd rock, quickly reaching Camel Rock, where we took a 360 panoramic view of the imposing bright rock over the red sand. 

Night time driving is all but easy: one wants to be close to the car in front to have his way lit further ahead and a better idea of the line to follow, but he constantly ends up being too close as every driver tends to hesitate more in the dark, slowing down unespectedly. Also, when hesitating, one lifts the foot from the throttle and momentum is unavoidably lost. This explains the many refusals and the a couple of crested stucks by @Abdul Rahman AK and @Lakshmi Narasimhan, all promptly recovered with the precious help and radio guidance by @GauravSoni and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, perfect Center Forward and Sweep.

Thanks to their support moving/stopped time ratio remained very favourable as we proceeded south, reaching Camel Rock first, then The Sphynx, both viewed with a complete 360.

I won't forget the thrill of driving along the edge of the most eastern crest of dunes leading to Faya: on the right side we had the relatively reassuring dunes landscape, one the left a dark abyss, the sabkha at the bottom and the shilouette of the saw-toothed crest of rocky mountains in the distance. 

Reaching Faya from the north is everytime an inspiring crescendo. As my lights pointed high while crossing some dunes, I could have glimpses of the next tall dunes ahead, while we kept on riding one round ridge after an other. 

We played around a couple of huge bowls, climbing the back side of Faya, until we reached the last big bowl from where a daring criss crossing was needed to make it to the other side. To make it easier, I placed my car a few meters after the target criss-crossings point and radio guided everyone across. Big kudos to all, as this maneuver was definitely a very challenging one, as pushing full throttle into the absolute dark while criss crossing is definitely not something that comes natural!

Once on the other side, we descended at the bottom of Faya's renown big dune, where everyone had their fair share of attempts to make it to the top. Congratulations to all those who succeed (included @GauravSoniand @Lakshmi Narasimhan, who decided to head back to try again after the drive end) but equally to those who didn't, as, once again,  it was mostly their car who stopped them.

By 11:35pm we were out on the tarmac. We drove for 4h 31', of which 3h 25' moving and 1h and 6' stopped, covering 48.6km at an average moving speed of 14.3km/h and an astounding descent of +562/-551m which tells a big story about how daring climbs and descents. 

Everyone did extremely well. I only had eyes on @Werno, a perfect, ice-cold, 2nd lead, not a single time in trouble, and on @RooRzOn, who handled his Y62 extremely well in all situations. 

Congratulations to everyone else: @Abdul Rahman AK (ouch, what a pocket you hit!), @Darren Brooke (the right distance at night will come with practice) @JeromeFJ (week done not hesitating on your  @Lakshmi Narasimhan (4h 30' drive were not enough for you 😂) @Danish Mohammad (hard time with your Pajero's upshifting problem) and @Russ (2nd last in the convoy without any problems!). 

Great thanks to @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ and @GauravSonifor their great help. 

See you soon in the dark again! 

 

[Danish Mohammad]

Dear @Lorenzo Candelpergher Thanks for this wonderful drive , nice selection of route (loved it)

Thanks to @Gaurav Soni & @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ for your great support & help.

Stay safe ... See you in next drive  

 

 

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

On 6/18/2021 at 3:06 PM, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan (4h 30' drive were not enough for you 😂)

Thats how addictive off-roading is and equally your leading!!!