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Afternoon Newbie Desert Drive - Qudra - Dubai - 29 Oct 2021


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DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

I was a bit skeptical this morning after so many dropouts from the RSVP.. It felt like this drive was not meant to happen, after all! 

I was so wrong!! In fact it was a beautiful drive, with a great convoy, across a wonderful landscape. 

After a quick briefing in the early afternoon warm sun, we started our drive by 2:35pm. 

The short convoy ultimately had only 6 cars, of which two Newbies, @Omar ElGamal and @Patrick van der Loo, driving  their first Newbie Drive after an Absolute Newbie and a Masterclass drive respectively, one Fewbie, @Larry Cadden, and more senior members. 

A shorter and stronger convoy usually means less stucks and refusals, more fun, more distance, more driving time. We actually ticked all the boxes, as we had only one stuck with @Omar ElGamal at the very beginning and very few refusals later on again with Omar and with @Patrick van der Loo

@Melenany managed well the only recovery of the day,  towing@Omar ElGamal out of a soft patch he had unfortunately ended in after correctly steering down on a slide slope where he had lost momentum. After this single episode our ropes (and shovels) never left our trunks until Moon Lake, when @Melenany lended his rope to help some sports car get unstuck nearby. 

As we headed west and then progressively south into the desert along a zig-zag route, we started practicing first some small slideslopes, then progressively bigger ones, alternated with smaller and bigger half circles, which allowed our Newbie friends to get the feeling of what it takes to climb up the windside of those long dunes and stay up there, sidelsloping for longer and longer distances, keeping the car afloat on the sand thanks to the right combination of speed (ie momentum), full or gentle throttle, and smooth and round steering up and down. 

Sidelsloping was indeed the leitmotiv of the day. What in the first 30 minutes seemed almost impossible to achieve, became progressively more doable as a result of extended practice: going just outside the comfort zone, in a safe and controlled way, eventually leads to realize how quickly the comfort zone gets bigger! 

It should be said that, while honing our driving skills we went through beautiful dunes and amazing views. 

We crossed multiple rocky formations which were so stunning to deserve a photo stop:

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We then made it to the famous Richie's bar, a must-photograph location in Al Qudra for any offroader.. 

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.. especially @Melenany:

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We then continued across amazing long range dunes, where, besides sidelsloping, we could practice straight up - straight down dune crossing. We first started with some small ones .. 

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.. but we quickly built up the confidence of our newbies to do way more challenging attempts:

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We got to see oryxes and gazelles, some running just a few meters away, too fast to be captured in a photograph, but we also got to see amazing views in the "golden hour" before the sunset, when the light of the sun becomes warmer and more inclined, painting the sand with amazing colors and shades:

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It was at this point that @Omar ElGamal's Pajero started having some apparent overheating problems. Weird case, though, as the temperature gauge showed normal values, the fluid in the tank was well within normal levels and the car was driving perfectly fine. Possibly an electronic malfunction, a faulty sensor or an issue on the radiator fan. As nothing indicated a real problem it was decided to allow Omar to complete the drive while keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge. 

As the sunset time was about to be reached, we made our move towards our last stop, Al Qudra's Moon Lake, where we enjoyed a well deserved, refreshing chill-out:

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In the twilight after the sunset, we quickly made our way out through the sabkha, reaching the dirt track to Bab Al Shams and eventually the tarmac by 5:50pm.

Overall we drove the amazing distance of 55.2km over a total time of 3h 13' from start to end, of which 2h 29' spent in motion and 44' stopped, mostly for photos and a quick break as we certainly didn't lose much time on stucks and refusals.

Great kudos to @Omar ElGamal (let us know how your cooling problems got sorted) and @Patrick van der Loo for an excellent performance today, especially considering that, in a couple of places we surely reached good technical levels for a Newbie drive. For both of you the key takeaway today is keep up the momentum and never fight gravity (I must have repeated it a hundred times!). 

Great thanks to @Larry Cadden, an impeccable 2nd lead today, to @Melenany for an excellent support during stucks and refusals and to @Looper for a quiet but yet reassuring sweeping at the back. 

It was a pleasure being with you all, thanks for your company and see you soon again on the sand! 

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Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for such a great lead and support. It was so much fun and adrenaline rush! 

I feel like i just broke new grounds today thanks to your guidance.

@Melenany, thanks for towing me out. You were really a great help :)

Looking forward for my next off-road adventure.

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Thank you so much @Lorenzo Candelpergherfor a great ride. Aside from being great fun it really felt safe with no unnecessary risks at any time. For a first timer I felt super excited and motivated to keep going. This ride proves I joined the right club. I am just not sure why I dreamt about gravity all night ;-)

Thank you also to @Looper for the help and especially  @Melenany for the help with my flag problems and general advice. Super day out! 

Edited by Patrick van der Loo
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22 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

As the sunset time was about to be reached, we made our move towards our last stop, Al Qudra's Moon Lake, where we enjoyed a well deserved, refreshing chill-out:

Dear @Larry Cadden, @Omar ElGamal, @Melenany, @Patrick van der Loo and @Looper, here's the drone shot of Moon Lake kindly taken by the newly made friend Lojain (met there on the spot) who might soon become a new @Carnity member:

See you soon! 

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