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Absolute Newbie Desert Drive - Al Qudra - Dubai - 29 Jan 2022


Brette

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Thank you @Brette for the beautiful drive this morning. Perfect introduction to the desert driving !

Thanks everyone for reaching the meeting point on time. Unfortunately  @Krishna R could not join the drive. Hope you can rapidly fit a rear tow point and join soon.

We started slowly crossing the shabka and reaching the first dunes. With smooth arches on the  slope, we could experience this feeling of the car being sideways, or even sliding a bit despite the good grip provided by the wet sand. 
Then you have introduced some dune crossings, always a bit impressive, as we don’t know what is behind. This is when we had the first serious stuck of the day, with @Luiz Nóbrega being blocked on a crest, with one wheel in the air. After some attempts of self recovery, we decided to help with a small tug from the rear. Good opportunity to practice for me, and experience the feeling for Luiz. 
The group was driving very well, and @Brette has increased the pace, leading us through bigger dunes, for higher side sloping and dune crossings. It was then @Haitham Khattab turn to be stuck in a tricky position, on top of a steep slope. @Brette managed the recovery with great control, and it was impressive to see the two JGC tided with the rope, one supporting the other. The rest of the drive was a smooth continuation, and we crossed a more technical part with dunes closer to each other, before reaching the exit point.

@Paolo Morresi and @Samer Najm where very comfortable in the drive, ready for more adventures, @Taimur Khan gained rapidly confidence to push the Prado to the top of the dunes, @Haitham Khattab and  @Luiz Nóbregaenthusiastic  and eager to learn. It was a pleasure to drive with all of you!

20220129_162559.jpg

Edited by JeromeFJ
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Thank you so much @JeromeFJ for the detailed description of the Trip today. It was really amazing driving & Learning experience. We felt safe in your hands and @Brette did an excellent job leading us and created an exciting route for us to experience different dunes, while being patient and supportive. His instructions was very clear and precise when i got stuck which made me feel confident that we will recover smoothly.

Thanks to all my convoy colleagues who made it fun and gave it a family feeling.

See you all in future trips, stay safe.

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@Brette @JeromeFJ..Thank you!  it was such a wonderful experience today and I am glad I could join this drive after 2 quick trips to DM to pick up a compressor , radio and flagpole! 😜. Learnt so much about desert driving and could see myself getting the hang of it after some guidance from both Marshalls and other more experienced colleagues. I realised the reason I was sliding sideways on the slope was coz I was lifting my leg off the gas when reaching the stage where we drove parallel to the base. Once I kept the momentum going at that stage, I could manage to complete the loop with more confidence. @Bretteplease correct me if this isn't right:). 

The words of encouragement radioed by @JeromeFJ after we completed each manouvre were motivating. 

Thanks to all the convoy colleagues for their support and readiness to always assist. 

PXL_20220129_050116515.jpg

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@JeromeFJ thank you for the detailed trip report. 

@Krishna R sorry you could not join due to the missing rear tow hook and I appreciate that you understood the importance of it and why we could not let you drive today. Hope to see you in the sand soon. You should be able to get a tow point for the hitch receiver at ACE or online at Amazon. 

image.png.fb628e031cb7ecbb15d176e09ce0fd10.png

@Paolo Morresi @Samer Najm @Taimur Khan @Haitham Khattab @Luiz Nóbrega all of you did brilliantly and I could not have asked for a more enthusiastic bunch. 

 

@Paolo Morresi you did really well and I could tell that you have driven in the desert before. 

@Taimur Khan you were a bit hesitant at the start but as we progressed I could see you were really trying and with each climb/ sidey you were getting better. To answer your question above, when doing a side slope, I always look at it in 3 stages. 1st, for as long as you are climbing, you need to give it enough of gas and don't be afraid to push the car. Once you stop climbing and start driving parallel to the ridge, you have to stop pushing it, but maintain the momentum that got you there. If you slow down, gravity would come into play and will start pulling you down. 3rd, when exiting you let go of the gas but don't allow the vehicle to free roll down, be gentle on the brakes and make sure you are completely in control of the descent speed. As you get more confident and learn the way your vehicle reacts in different situations, you can tweek the way you approach different dunes.

@Haitham Khattab was I glad to see another JGC. I was impressed with the way you managed today and trust me, I know what it takes to tame the JGC. With all the computers controlling the car, it will not always allow you to do what you want but the more you do it, the system learns and adapts to your driving style and in time you will master it. Your stuck today is part of the game and it will not be the last time, these are all the learning experiences that come as part of offroading. Overall very well done. 

@Luiz Nóbrega what can I say, it was impressive that you got through the first 30 minutes on 2WD. Always remember, when you switch to 4 Hi or low, if it is blinking, it is not engaged. After your stuck when we actually got you into 4Hi, you did really well. My only feedback to you would be to control the speed on descents. Other than that, you did great. 

@Samer Najm you too drove really well today and the only feedback would be to not stop on the crest when crossing a dune. I could see you were hesitant and would come to a complete stop on the crest before you descend. The sand was hard today so it did not matter but as the sand starts drying, it becomes less forgiving and you will end up cresting yourself. 

@JeromeFJ thank you for the exceptional support and clear instructions throughout. 

 

Moving forward you all will be joining the Newbie drives and not an Absolute Newbie drive anymore. Drives are announced every Monday at 11 am, and they go live on Monday at 7:00 pm. Due to the high demand, these drives get full in about 10 minutes, so please be online at 7 pm to book your spot. If you miss a spot, put your name on the waitlist asap. Generally, by Friday with dropouts everyone does get a spot if they have waitlisted. 

For the next drives, please bring along a deflator, pressure gauge, flag, compressor and radio as a minimum. 

  • Learn to deflate your tires and checking them precisely
  • Learn to fix a flag on your car
  • Learn to program and fully charge your radio

You can join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives, so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive.

Please have a look at below topic which describes the tools needed for every level. There is a separate tutorial inside which explains which radio we recommend and how to program them: (Please do not buy the Baofeng 888S spare radio we gave you, as these cannot be programmed without a special cable and software).

 

Please have a look at below grading structure that explains various off-road levels:

 

 

Thanks again and see you'll in the sand.

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On 1/29/2022 at 8:02 PM, Brette said:

@JeromeFJ thank you for the detailed trip report. 

@Krishna R sorry you could not join due to the missing rear tow hook and I appreciate that you understood the importance of it and why we could not let you drive today. Hope to see you in the sand soon. You should be able to get a tow point for the hitch receiver at ACE or online at Amazon. 

image.png.fb628e031cb7ecbb15d176e09ce0fd10.png

@Paolo Morresi @Samer Najm @Taimur Khan @Haitham Khattab @Luiz Nóbrega all of you did brilliantly and I could not have asked for a more enthusiastic bunch. 

 

@Paolo Morresi you did really well and I could tell that you have driven in the desert before. 

@Taimur Khan you were a bit hesitant at the start but as we progressed I could see you were really trying and with each climb/ sidey you were getting better. To answer your question above, when doing a side slope, I always look at it in 3 stages. 1st, for as long as you are climbing, you need to give it enough of gas and don't be afraid to push the car. Once you stop climbing and start driving parallel to the ridge, you have to stop pushing it, but maintain the momentum that got you there. If you slow down, gravity would come into play and will start pulling you down. 3rd, when exiting you let go of the gas but don't allow the vehicle to free roll down, be gentle on the brakes and make sure you are completely in control of the descent speed. As you get more confident and learn the way your vehicle reacts in different situations, you can tweek the way you approach different dunes.

@Haitham Khattab was I glad to see another JGC. I was impressed with the way you managed today and trust me, I know what it takes to tame the JGC. With all the computers controlling the car, it will not always allow you to do what you want but the more you do it, the system learns and adapts to your driving style and in time you will master it. Your stuck today is part of the game and it will not be the last time, these are all the learning experiences that come as part of offroading. Overall very well done. 

@Luiz Nóbrega what can I say, it was impressive that you got through the first 30 minutes on 2WD. Always remember, when you switch to 4 Hi or low, if it is blinking, it is not engaged. After your stuck when we actually got you into 4Hi, you did really well. My only feedback to you would be to control the speed on descents. Other than that, you did great. 

@Samer Najm you too drove really well today and the only feedback would be to not stop on the crest when crossing a dune. I could see you were hesitant and would come to a complete stop on the crest before you descend. The sand was hard today so it did not matter but as the sand starts drying, it becomes less forgiving and you will end up cresting yourself. 

@JeromeFJ thank you for the exceptional support and clear instructions throughout. 

 

Moving forward you all will be joining the Newbie drives and not an Absolute Newbie drive anymore. Drives are announced every Monday at 11 am, and they go live on Monday at 7:00 pm. Due to the high demand, these drives get full in about 10 minutes, so please be online at 7 pm to book your spot. If you miss a spot, put your name on the waitlist asap. Generally, by Friday with dropouts everyone does get a spot if they have waitlisted. 

For the next drives, please bring along a deflator, pressure gauge, flag, compressor and radio as a minimum. 

  • Learn to deflate your tires and checking them precisely
  • Learn to fix a flag on your car
  • Learn to program and fully charge your radio

You can join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives, so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive.

Please have a look at below topic which describes the tools needed for every level. There is a separate tutorial inside which explains which radio we recommend and how to program them: (Please do not buy the Baofeng 888S spare radio we gave you, as these cannot be programmed without a special cable and software).

 

Please have a look at below grading structure that explains various off-road levels:

 

 

Thanks again and see you'll in the sand.

Thank you for the feedbacks! It was an amazing experience, I've already got the rest of the equipment for the next ride! I will be ready to get a spot for the newbie drive. Thank you so much. See you very soon.

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