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COVID19 Compliant - Afternoon Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - D66 (Desert Highway to Faqa) - Dubai - 3 Aug 2021


Ale Vallecchi

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This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines.

MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: 

 

Drive Details

Level:  Fewbie plus and above 

Meeting time: 3:30 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions)

Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Qja7M6at3P9TBMbA

Action Plan: Always in search of new tracks, this time we'll make our own "highway" (Desert 66), driving parallel to the real E66, from Lisaili to Faqa's outskirts (exiting on the sabkha just before the actual Faqa town gates, well clear of the AD border). Both segments, from Lisaili to Murqab and on to Faqa, have only been driven once, in different drives. This will be the opportunity to join them together, in a semi-exploration drive, where the skills we'll practice will mostly be those needed to cross technical areas (finesse driving, bowl management, as well as some ridge-riding and short criss-crossing).

Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM

P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive.

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE:

  • Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Monday - 9 AM.
    • If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list
  • Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
  • Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
  • Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list.
  • Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others.
  • Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.

 

PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR 

 

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  • Gaurav changed the title to COVID19 Compliant - Afternoon Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - D66 (Desert Highway to Faqa) - Dubai - 3 Aug 2021

Dear Desertnauts.

Just a few more info about this weekday drive. While we are always looking for new routes, sometimes the easiest, and yet interesting solution, is to join dots from previous drives, to draw a new itinerary. This time we'll take a track from Lisaili's "Backdoor" drive, leading to Murqab, and we'll join it with the track leading from there to Faqa's sabkha. The result is an itinerary roughly parallel to E66, except not as straight as the highway, which we may call Desert 66, a "sandway" from Lisaili to Faqa.  Some of you may have driven one or the other segment, even though both have been done only one time (so they are almost brand new), but none has done both together. The terrain will be a mix of mostly technical dunes, and a few long range cordons. Especially the second half of the drive, from Murqab, will be quite challenging: with very unpredictable cordons, surrounded by extremely tight technical dunes, this section has been tested only once with an Intermediate drive, and will require that all drivers give it their best, and rise to the occasion.

We'll expect to drive for around 3:30 hours, hence the plan is to start a little earlier (3:30 PM) and reach the exit just in time for a sunset shot.

Convoy order to follow tomorrow afternoon. @Russ, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @Ranjan Das, @Gaurav Soni, @Chinthaka Ruwan and @Craig Finlayson, have a nice evening, and see you on Tuesday.

 

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Dear Desertnauts,

as promised, this is tomorrow's convoy order:

@Lakshmi Narasimhan will be Second Lead

@Zixuan Huang - Charlie will be #3

@Ashok chaturvedi at #4

@Chinthaka Ruwan at #5

@Craig Finlayson will take Center Forward

@Alain Canivet-Abikhalil will be #7

@Ranjan Das is #8

@Sunil Mathew will be #9

@GauravSoni #10, and 

@Russ will Sweep.

The position have been given in order to alternate Intermediate leading Fewbie Plus drivers, and tutor them along the drive.

Meeting time will be 3:30PM, with the goal to leave as soon as possible. The radio channel will be picked at the meeting place.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a nice evening

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Thanks @Ale Vallecchifor yet another wonderful mid week drive. Mix of technical, criss cross, ridge riding, side slopes.

Drive was well supported by @Craig Finlayson and @Russ. Every one in the convoy performed very well. Thanks @Ashok chaturvedifor the perfect tug out of the struck.

Special thanks for extended ridge riding @Ale Vallecchi which is been a highlight on most of your drives!!!

Few pics posted in gallery. Nice meeting you all and see you all soon!!!

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A nice and engaging mid week drive, and perfect for my debut FB+ !!! Thanks to @Ale Vallecchi, mid week drives are back at @Carnity. I was missing these drives for the past couple of weeks!! and here comes a fully signed up drive, with no drop outs!!

We rode lot of low ridges which gave lot of opportunities to practice and correct my approach and exit lines and angles, boosting my confidence in ridge riding. 

Thanks to all the IM drivers who joined us @Lakshmi Narasimhan  as SL, @Ashok chaturvedi for the recoveries and radio guidances, @Craig Finlayson for the anchoring position, @Ranjan Das who was driving in front of me making life easy- to follow his lines as a fellow wranglerino, and @GauravSoni for the words of encouragement.

 

Kudos to fellow FB+ debutante - @Zixuan Huang - Charlie and other fellow FB+ drivers @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil - who loves being tugged :-) ,  and @Russ for the prefect sweep and recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you @Ale Vallecchi Beautiful Tuesday drive ! We're lucky to have those, especially that you took us again on a new path.

I really felt it was a challenging drive but enjoyed every part of it. And when we lost focus, you made sure to put us back on track (pun intended). Felt way more confident by the end of the drive - which made me get crested right after sunset as I was trying too follow @Craig Finlayson's lead ( I did get tugged twice during this drive @Sunil Mathew 😅 ). @Russ please be more gentle with your tugs (no pun intended 🤣 ).

Thank you @Lakshmi Narasimhan for SL and @Ashok chaturvedi for being so helpful with everyone, @Russ for sweep and @Craig Finlayson as I said, really enjoyed following your lines.

@Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Sunil Mathew very well done for a first FB+

@Chinthaka Ruwan @Ranjan Das  @Gaurav Soni pleasure to see you as always :)

 

PS : @Russ didn't get your number right, here is mine +971 55 145 2816

Edited by Alain Canivet-Abikhalil
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Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the excellent drive yesterday. It was challenging but we made it to the destination as planned. Thanks  @Lakshmi Narasimhan @Craig Finlayson and @Russ for the support.  @Sunil Mathew @Ranjan Das @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Ashok chaturvedi @Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Gaurav Soni  always happy to drive with you guys. See you all soon. 

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Hi Everyone, was an absolute pleasure, as always, driving with you guys again. Thanks to @Ale Vallecchi, didn't have to wait for the whole week to return to the desert; guess the mid-week drives may be more sought after since they not only bring a good break to the work week but also make it seem shorter. the drive was fascinating, requiring our complete focus. thanks Ale once again. Thanks are also due to @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @Craig Finlayson and @Russ for the support.

Hope you see you during the weekend drives. 

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Desert Highway 66: Lisaili to Faqa - Drive Report

"Veni, vidi, vici" - Julius Cesar 

We came, We saw, We conquered.

Indeed, we drove swiftly, accomplishing the goal of reaching Faqa through almost uncharted terrain, mainly enjoying the silence, with minimal "casualties" (i.e. refusals and stucks), especially in the first segment (Lisaili to Murqab). It was then necessary to find again the concentration and focus, lost probably due to a longer break than necessary, in order to face the second stretch of the drive. This presented a variety of terrains, requiring to drive skillfully, mixing multiple criss-crossing with careful navigation of some soft crests and bowls. We reached the intended exit point with uncanny precision, exactly 3 minutes before the setting of the sun. The beautiful light at dusk, infusing the yellow sand with a warm reddish glow, allowed us to continue for a few extra minutes, to complete some long ridge-riding of the low but sharp and soft dunes, that border the northern side of Faqa'a sabkha, just before reaching the tarmac.

I was very happy with the performance of the whole convoy, where especially the new Fewbie Pluses drove without flinching, and everybody came to the rescue of whoever was in need of support, showing great readiness, competence and care for each other. Following up the drive, my only reminder, and recommendation, is to never break convoy order, unless strictly necessary for safety purposes, and always announce it, if the need arises. Even though nothing serious happened, I issued a couple of warnings during the drive, which I am sure will be remembered and will come useful in the future.

Special thanks go to @Lakshmi Narasimhan for his great Second Lead, @Craig Finlayson for a commanding anchoring role, @Russ for his first, clean Sweep, and to @Ashok chaturvedi and @GauravSoni for their readiness and availability to assist at the front and back of the convoy, with suggestions and recoveries. Extremely well driven drive also by the debuting Fewbie Pluses - @Zixuan Huang - Charlie and @Sunil Mathew. Very good driving also by @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil (your stucks happened at the beginning and the end of the second part, and may have been caused by loss of concentration), as well as a very silent, hence perfect drive, by @Chinthaka Ruwan and @Ranjan Das.

The drive ended after 2:26 hours of driving (plus 1:10 min of breaks, for a total of 3:36 hours), covering 67.4 Km, driven at a fast average moving speed of 28 Km/h (19 Km/h total). 

Well done to all of you, and see you soon again out there.

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It's really a good start of fewbie + for me, and wonderful week breaker. Thank you so much @Ale Vallecchi for the drive.

I haven't been this focused in a drive for a while already (Maybe because of the 2-3 hrs quality sleep on Thursday night 😎), as a great portion of the drive was challenging my limits.

Got stuck twice, thanks to help from @Ashok chaturvedi @Lakshmi Narasimhan and @Chinthaka Ruwan and ofc the guidance from @Ale Vallecchi, I could get back on track. I should have considered more on my car's steering radius before taking the attempts really.

 

I did pray to God for safety specifically to my debut fewbie+ drive, and God has answered surely:

I actually had my front left tire flatted out during the second tug given by Lakshmi, after getting back on track, I felt a little bumpy but didnt think the tire would be flat. Untill at the end of the drive when @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil  had too much fun on the ridge, I had the chance to stop and immediately @Ashok chaturvedi found out that flat tire. Inflated it up, and the HT tire was all good all the way home, with no visible damage nor bubble.

 

Thank you all the seniors and support team for supporting this drive  @Craig Finlayson @GauravSoni @Ranjan Das @Russ, especially @Lakshmi Narasimhan and @Ashok chaturvedi for covering my front and back.

didnt hear much from @Sunil Mathew I guess you did better than I did,

and nice to see and drive with @Chinthaka Ruwan @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil.

 

See you all soon! 

Edited by Zixuan Huang - Charlie
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