COVID19 Compliant - Wednesday Morning Short Intermediate Desert Drive - Al Qudra to Lisaili: the 100+ crests ride - Dubai - 30 Jun 2021

[Ashok chaturvedi]

I am always intrigued by @Lorenzo Candelpergher speed to call him admiringly flying Lorenzo.  The continuous ridge riding and criss crossing kept us over alert.  I was glad to be # 3 on the convoy behind @Gok Krish who was superbly tailing the lead. What was surprisingly to have @Wrangeld a Marshall behind me as #4 an added pleasant pressure to ensure that I do not commit any mistakes.  At times the sands loosened up and one has to re attempt the climb, earlier I used to use brute strength and high momentum during my Pajero days, now with my new FJ it it becomes easier also with experience resign to the fact that there is no loss of face if one attempts again as long as the driver behind you is alerted. 

Everyone in the driver pitched in to make this a high paced drive. 

 

[Gok Krish]

3 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

Very nice video @Gok Krish, it really gives a good sense of what the drive was all about: riding ridges/crests.

For sure repeating this over and over again eventually helps polishing your driving skills.

I think the most interesting challenge yesterday was the continuous criss crossing required to stay on top of the crest with two wheels on one side and two on the other side adjusting the side based on the curvature of the crest.

Another challenging drive, very well managed! 

Indeed...more we did the better it got. What I learnt

1) do not over speed on crest and lose control

2) when climbing slip face to reach top of crest with speed to make the climb, make sure to let go gas at the right time to limit speed when reaching to top of the crest.

What follows is good horse riding fun and the car also loved doing it! I took loads of sand from the underside and the radiator fins with a garden hose post the ride. 

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

I've always loved riding ridges and crests, especially when dunes are high, as being able to control the car in such conditions and finding the guts needed to keep pushing it even further gives a great sense of accomplishment. 

Well for sure yesterday, at the end of 3h spent restlessly riding ridges and crests, we certainly felt accomplished... 

The challenge of the day was riding 100+ crests in 3h, that is, on average something like one crest every 100 seconds.. When I set the target I was honestly not sure it could be done, as I had no previous benchmarks from my past drives, but after I spent some time analysing our track, I can tell we went way above 100, as I counted approx 140 crests, not counting at all (as I had originally planned) very long crests as multiple crests on the basis of their actual lenght in multiples of 50m.

We were super punctual, to the extent that by exactly 5:00am we were ready to go, after the briefing. 

We crossed the sabkha on the south east side of the pylon track and made our way into the sand with very minimal light, relying mostly on our own car lights to have a decent visibility of the way ahead. 

Not even 5 mins into the drive, @Gok Krish experienced his first cresting, quickly towed back by @GauravSoniafter we realized shoveling was not the option.. 

As we moved ahead, fiercely riding on top of any rideable ridge or crest, the convoy started to get accustomed to the leitmotiv of the day, and the fun began. 

We went though the initial long range dunes with meticolous precision not to leave behind any crest unridden, which resulted in a very nice zig-zag, making sure we avoided the tricky rock formations that populate the area:

We then moved north east, and reached the two big play areas where I usually like to have a couple of rounds:

It was in this area where we had to winch out @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ's jeep from a bad stuck and soon after @GauravSoni got tricked into a tight bowl from where he had to be winched out by @Kailas. 

As we made our way fourther North, our zig-zag took us to the Mighty Dunes in Lisaili where we kept riding crest, but this time with a view from an elevated position. 

It was soon after that thay we had to say goodbye to @Wrangeld, who had to head out though the nearest sabkha back to Love Lakes as @Jeepie's car, that Richard had stolen overnight, was showing an engine error light.

The several refusals experienced during the drive showed everyone how tricky it can be to ride ridges/crests where all of a sudden you may find with your car on the belly and your wheels in the air.. Luckily all refusals were easily recovered and we could complete our drive all the way north to the long range dunes in Lisaili, before exiting on the pylon track and eventually reaching the tarmac close to Lisaili Fort. 

Riding so many ridges / crests in a raw surely polished everyone's skills, especially when we had the chance of repeated criss-crossings to change the side of the dune while still staying with two wheels on one side and two on the opposite side, depending on the curvature of the dune. All of this while we all definitely had loads of fun. 

Everyone did well yesterday: @Gok Krishwas a perfect 2nd lead, @Ashok chaturvedifollowed with great focus, with the extra pressure of being tailed by a Marshal, @Wrangeld, who in turn seemed to finally enjoy an Intermediate drive after so many Newbie ones.. @varunmehndiratta had a chance to test more deflated tires (it went well apparently), @Ahab Shamaa enjoyed his 3rd drive with me in the lead in the last 6 days, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ once again joined the drive in style, as always with a twin uniform for himself and his son. I didn't have eyes on @GauravSoni and @Dodi Syahdarat the back, so I'll be curious to read their comments here. @Kailas was a great Sweep at the back, allowing me to relax during refusals and recoveries as I knew he had everything under control. 

Great drive, great fun, great convoy. Thanks to everyone and especially the Seniors in support. 

See you soon in the sand again (after a short summer break to Europe, in my case..). 

[Varun Mehndiratta]

1 minute ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

DRIVE REPORT 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

I've always loved riding ridges and crests, especially when dunes are high, as being able to control the car in such conditions and finding the guts needed to keep pushing it even further gives a great sense of accomplishment. 

Well for sure yesterday, at the end of 3h spent restlessly riding ridges and crests, we certainly felt accomplished... 

The challenge of the day was riding 100+ crests in 3h, that is, on average something like one crest every 100 seconds.. When I set the target I was honestly not sure it could be done, as I had no previous benchmarks from my past drives, but after I spent some time analysing our track, I can tell we went way above 100, as I counted approx 140 crests, not counting at all (as I had originally planned) very long crests as multiple crests on the basis of their actual lenght in multiples of 50m.

We were super punctual, to the extent that by exactly 5:00am we were ready to go, after the briefing. 

We crossed the sabkha on the south east side of the pylon track and made our way into the sand with very minimal light, relying mostly on our own car lights to have a decent visibility of the way ahead. 

Not even 5 mins into the drive, @Gok Krish experienced his first cresting, quickly towed back by @GauravSoniafter we realized shoveling was not the option.. 

As we moved ahead, fiercely riding on top of any rideable ridge or crest, the convoy started to get accustomed to the leitmotiv of the day, and the fun began. 

We went though the initial long range dunes with meticolous precision not to leave behind any crest unridden, which resulted in a very nice zig-zag, making sure we avoided the tricky rock formations that populate the area:

We then moved north east, and reached the two big play areas where I usually like to have a couple of rounds:

It was in this area where we had to winch out @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ's jeep from a bad stuck and soon after @GauravSoni got tricked into a tight bowl from where he had to be winched out by @Kailas. 

As we made our way fourther North, our zig-zag took us to the Mighty Dunes in Lisaili where we kept riding crest, but this time with a view from an elevated position. 

It was soon after that thay we had to say goodbye to @Wrangeld, who had to head out though the nearest sabkha back to Love Lakes as @Jeepie's car, that Richard had stolen overnight, was showing an engine error light.

The several refusals experienced during the drive showed everyone how tricky it can be to ride ridges/crests where all of a sudden you may find with your car on the belly and your wheels in the air.. Luckily all refusals were easily recovered and we could complete our drive all the way north to the long range dunes in Lisaili, before exiting on the pylon track and eventually reaching the tarmac close to Lisaili Fort. 

Riding so many ridges / crests in a raw surely polished everyone's skills, especially when we had the chance of repeated criss-crossings to change the side of the dune while still staying with two wheels on one side and two on the opposite side, depending on the curvature of the dune. All of this while we all definitely had loads of fun. 

Everyone did well yesterday: @Gok Krishwas a perfect 2nd lead, @Ashok chaturvedifollowed with great focus, with the extra pressure of being tailed by a Marshal, @Wrangeld, who in turn seemed to finally enjoy an Intermediate drive after so many Newbie ones.. @varunmehndiratta had a chance to test more deflated tires (it went well apparently), @Ahab Shamaa enjoyed his 3rd drive with me in the lead in the last 6 days, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ once again joined the drive in style, as always with a twin uniform for himself and his son. I didn't have eyes on @GauravSoni and @Dodi Syahdarat the back, so I'll be curious to read their comments here. @Kailas was a great Sweep at the back, allowing me to relax during refusals and recoveries as I knew he had everything under control. 

Great drive, great fun, great convoy. Thanks to everyone and especially the Seniors in support. 

See you soon in the sand again (after a short summer break to Europe, in my case..). 

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher awesome.terrain and drive  I have been on this one earlier as well with you (wasn't 100 crests last time though). However it was yesterday that i realized the test of skill it demands. Last time I was SL and all i had to do was try and immitate you (which surely is in itself a big challange). Yesterday being a bit behind in convoy and limited possibility to follow your direct track, i surely struggled a bit staying up some of these crests - especially with soft and hard sides alternating regularly.  Enjoying these challanges and as remains a fact learning continues. 

And i am sure with me struggling would have affected @Ahab Shamaa as well - sorry dear for that. 

In my regular series of experiments further deflating down went well yesterday, though a bit early to confirm so will try it in 1-2 more drives before really making up my mind about it. Was interesting to see how a change of ride can even affect a legend @Wrangeld so have decided to continue for such experiments on newbie and Fewbies drives. 

Thanks @Gok Krish for the lovely video and regularly warning us all about challanges on your way. Wouldn't have been easy on a drive demanding such focus. 

Thanks all for lovely drive. Hope to see you on sand soon.