COVID19 Compliant - Afternoon Fewbie Desert Drive - 100 Drives Celebration: Fun in Murqab and Lisaili - 9 Jul 2021

[Charbel]

thanks @Ale Vallecchifor the amazing drive, was a mix of fun, challenges and a lot of learning. what a way to kick-start my fewbie journey.

big thanks go to the support team and the great group of drivers!

posted few pics for the memories.

see you in the next one ! 

[Chinthaka Ruwan]

@Ale Vallecchi it was a challenging drive but finally we all reached to the end point as planed. It was a great experience. Also thanks for your birthday treat and wish you a happy birthday. Thanks @darren thompson @Chris Wing and all team for the support. 

[Chris Wing]

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the drive! And also happy birthday, i believe it’s today:)

the drive was very challenging and super technical which made it even more enjoyable, thanks to @darren thompson and @Chinthaka Ruwan , would have been difficult to make all these fast recoveries without them👍🏼

[Ale Vallecchi]

100 Anniversary Drive: Fun in Murqab and Lisaili - Report

When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is music – Rumi

First of all, sorry for filing the report with much delay, due to my travelling overseas. I have been busy with business and family matters and have just been able to write up the usual recount of my latest drives.

While July 9^th and 10^th anniversary weekend’s main theme was enjoying my drives with as many Carnity members as possible, to celebrate a milestone I never thought of reaching (100 drives, incidentally, on my birthday’s weekend), two more things, of no less importance, became a common thread that wove my itineraries together: to bring on new challenges, and enjoy long stretches of silence, during the drives.

Since friendly camaraderie, new challenges, and enjoying the silence were shared with all drivers, throughout this triple outing, I will write a similar report for all 3 drives, with just a few specifics, here and there, referring to each.

Friendship and the feeling of being part of a family are the traits that distinguish Carnity from other off-roading clubs. Hence, I was blessed for having part of this enlarged family with me during my birthday and 100 drives’ weekend, sharing the pleasure of driving on surprisingly pristine sand with as many fellow off-roaders as possible. On top of that, the huge number of wishes I have received from members in the last few days has been heart-warming. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer birthday and milestone’s celebrations, filled with fellowship and fun.

Now, on with the part regarding raising the bar, and offering new challenges. All the three drives were upped and pushed beyond the average level of difficulty and skills expected from each rank. So, the Newbie outing slowly became a Fewbie, the Fewbie was pushed at least to a Fewbie Plus, and the Intermediate one turned into an Exploration Drive.

The Murqab/Lisaili Fewbie drive provided the opportunity to explore a new route toward the easternmost boundary of the Lisaili plateau, as well as to cross the technical dunes further away from the pylons, closer to the new Solar Park’s phases (where the infamous “Chimney” looms on the near horizion). While the initial “exploration” of the boundaries between Murqab and Lisaili proceeded with no interruptions whatsoever, the technical dunes leading to the part of Lisaili richer in Ghaf trees, furthest from the pylons, became the terrain for very technical driving, forcing all members to use all their skills, with patience and perseverance. The presence of many trees, with their rooting systems, create a unique terrain, which becomes almost a maze of remarkably close ridges and drops, built and modified in all directions by the action of the wind swirling around the trees. On such an irregular surface, refusals and stucks abounded, forcing the convoy to proceed slowly, rerouting several times, until we finally reached the trees, and were able to direct ourselves toward the wider dunes, and eventually the exit on the Solar Park to Qudra’s tarmac road, just when as the sun dipped below the horizon. The greatest lesson learned during the drive, in my opinion, was the need to have the utmost concentration, and to exert as much patience as possible, to find the right lines around a soft bowl, the proper control down a steep drop and immediately up the following climb, finding that perfect balance between each car’s potential performance and the driver’s touch to achieve it whenever needed. There are clearly limits to the amount of concentration that can be maintained throughout a drive, which explains why the initial exploration of the technical dunes between Murqab and Lisaili was completed faultlessly, while the second technical stretch, which was tackled later in the drive, was faced with a few more issues, and took much longer to conquer. Nonetheless, the convoy completed the drive brilliantly, with grit and determination. Great job by @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Ammar Naji, @Charbel, @Anoop Nair, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @darren thompson, @Abdul Rafay-S, @Pierre de Maigret, @Adhir Saxena and @Chris Wing.

The drive took 3:06 hours (only 1:49 moving, to testify its level of difficulty), covering 50.4 Km, at an average speed of 16 Km/h (but a brisk 28 Km/h while moving).

In each drive, silence was loudly heard most of the time. Except for my briefing, redirections, and driving tips, all three itineraries had prolonged spells of no communication whatsoever. This is usually the sign of a drive proceeding super smoothly, during which the convoy falls into a perfect, yet silent, rhythm, each member both exploiting their skills to perfection as well as enjoying the route, its landscape, and the performance of the rest of the convoy.

What a pleasure it was to celebrate with as many of you as possible, all rising to the challenge, fully enjoying our beautiful desert. Thanks to all and see you soon in the sand.