Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Super Technical - Qudra - Dubai - 24 Sep 2023

[Looper]

DRIVE PLAN

The objective of the drive is to learn how to avoid refusals. This area, being super technical with uneven dunes, will give us a lot of situations where we find ourselves facing refusals or worse a stuck. We will start our drive from Bab Al Shams with a brief on why and how refusals happen, why those refusals turn into stucks and how to avoid them. We will also try to find some nice dunes and practice ridge riding and crisscrossing. After that, we will enjoy a drive that will take us back to where we started.

Request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities.

MUST READ AND COMPLY

• Environmental Policy
• Offroad Flag Guideline
• Two Way Radio Guideline
• Off road Driving Etiquettes
• Emergency details for all off roaders
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities

DRIVE DETAILS

Level:  Fewbie and above
When: 24 September 2023, Sunday
Meeting time:  6:00 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions)
Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/f782dd5PLRj9sRV36
Approximate finish time: 9:30 AM
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, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn.

MANDATORY OFF-ROAD GEAR:

• Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge
• Compressor
• Walkie-talkie radio
• Off-road flag
• Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles
• First-aid kit
• Fire extinguisher

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday
• If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list.
• RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list.
• Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• 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 BELOW CALENDAR

 

[Looper]

@Pacific, @Deepak Eswar, @Juan R, @Mahmoud Taha, @Juzer Gandhi, @Haneef Thayyil, @Bjoern

Thank you all for signing up for this drive.

Winter is almost here; I could see the early morning winter fog today while driving to the office. But I think it will be another week before it is going to have winter temperatures. For this week expect it to start at 28-29 degrees and by the time we finish it should be around 35 degrees.

When I was here last time a couple of weeks ago, I found this area technically challenging yes, but did not find this area to be super soft as I anticipated. We drove on a track that would take us to the Last Exit, but the area is so bushy towards the later part of the drive that we were just trying to find sand and drive.

This time around, however, we will spend a lot more in the sandy technical dunes and then go towards north and trace our way back to the Bab Al Shams exit near the cycle track. It won't be a long drive and we will be exploring every bit of the small patch of sand and increasing the pace as we keep driving in this area.

Just a mid-week reminder that you make sure that your calendars are free to drive this week and there are no planned late-night activities causing you to have emergencies exits from the drive late in the night.

[Lala G]

@Looper brother I have to tender my apologies. Just came from a Saturday drive led by Hisham Massad and faced overheating issues at the last part of the drive. Thanks fully reached my mech directly without issues but the mechanic has held the car, so have no options in hand. 
Again, sincere apologies. May you all have a great and safe drive. 🙏🏻

[Juan R]

@looper, going to have to drop off unfortunately.  Moving Villa mid week and still too many loose ends.  Catch you  for the next ride. Sorry for late response

[Looper]

following is the convoy order.

we will be on channel 6

[Looper]

Prologue:

I crave at least two drives a week. This morning when I was driving to the meeting point just before the Last Exit fuel station, I had a thought that I could have slept this morning after a very long previous day. But I must confess that after the drive I felt like it was a worthy end to the week and all the fatigue that I had was lost. I met @Bjoern at the fuel station, and we started together. I saw @Haneef Thayyil overtake me and then @Rk ram and @Deepak Eswar overtake me and @Bjoern. On the way to the meeting point I felt the chill for the first time for the season. It was a cool 27 degrees when we reached the meeting point and I had my windows down and my hand outside, I experienced the wind hitting my face. 

I posted the same track a couple of weeks ago and 4 of us were driving again today as well. In the morning, just before the start I pondered on how the track was going to be today - easy? difficult? Lots of refusals or none? I threw all those out of the window and started to take a new track. At the briefing I took more time explaining the reasons for refusals and how to tackle them.

Drive Report:

I have now got a good understanding of the track. We drove mostly on the northern side of the area, which has taller, softer, and difficult to drive dunes. At every dune crossing I was like now we were going to have a refusal, but the convoy drove very well. Everyone behind me was super focused and I felt that the briefing had rubbed on all. After we completed the super technical part, it was time to rest a bit. We reversed back on a southern track from the previous and were a bit faster. This is when @Pacific put on some music and tried to relax, and promptly got stuck. @Bjoern was all ready for a tug offering the choices of pull or winch, meanwhile @Deepak Eswar and @Rk ram dug under the car to recover the fellow doctor. It all paid off when @Pacific was able to self-recover. Then we again drove east toward the larger dunes and did a few flying sidee laps on a few of those dunes. After that we took a break at Crescent Lake, and I must thank @Deepak Eswar for the croissants he offered as breakfast.

After the break we moved towards Richie's bar. Just before reaching there, we saw a lone driver stuck in his TJ and gave a helping tug. Last time I was at Richie's bar I remember all the bushes were only a few millimeters tall but now they are tens of centimeters tall. Then we went west towards the exit. 

At the end to summarize it was a great drive. Good mix of technical and fast paced dunes. For a Sunday, a shorter amount of drive and great fun. 

Credits:

@Mahmoud Taha you were an excellent second lead. I, however, noticed that you used to fall back a little more than you should.

@Haneef Thayyil impressed by your driving today. There were parts that I would be scared to bring even a FB+ convoy but you managed all sections quite well - well done 👍.

@Pacific thanks for joining the drive. In case we had refusals I knew I could trust you to recover the stuck cars and you kind of did that today by self-recovering yourself very nicely. 

@Deepak Eswar you did a great job today and hope you enjoyed the drive.

@Rk ram You had a flawless drive, and it is always good to see your enthusiasm that you bring to the drives.

@Bjoern back-to-back drives for you as well. Thank you very much for the support at the back and helping with both the refusals. 

See you all in the next installment of Looper's loops.

[Mahmoud Taha]

Thanks looper for giving the chance.

And my pleasure to see you all guys.

[Deepak Eswar]

15 hours ago, Looper said:

Drive Report:

I crave at least two drives a week. This morning when I was driving to the meeting point just before the Last Exit fuel station, I had a thought that I could have slept this morning after a very long previous day. But I must confess that after the drive I felt like it was a worthy end to the week and all the fatigue that I had was lost. I met @Bjoern at the fuel station, and we started together. I saw @Haneef Thayyil overtake me and then @Rk ram and @Deepak Eswar overtake me and @Bjoern. On the way to the meeting point I felt the chill for the first time for the season. It was a cool 27 degrees when we reached the meeting point and I had my windows down and my hand outside, I experienced the wind hitting my face. 

I posted the same track a couple of weeks ago and 4 of us were driving again today as well. In the morning, just before the start I pondered on how the track was going to be today - easy? difficult? Lots of refusals or none? I threw all those out of the window and started to take a new track. At the briefing I took more time explaining the reasons for refusals and how to tackle them.

I have now got a good understanding of the track. We drove mostly on the northern side of the area, which has taller, softer, and difficult to drive dunes. At every dune crossing I was like now we were going to have a refusal, but the convoy drove very well. Everyone behind me was super focused and I felt that the briefing had rubbed on all. After we completed the super technical part, it was time to rest a bit. We reversed back on a southern track from the previous and were a bit faster. This is when @Pacific put on some music and tried to relax, and promptly got stuck. @Bjoern was all ready for a tug offering the choices of pull or winch, meanwhile @Deepak Eswar and @Rk ram dug under the car to recover the fellow doctor. It all paid off when @Pacific was able to self-recover. Then we again drove east toward the larger dunes and did a few flying sidee laps on a few of those dunes. After that we took a break at Crescent Lake, and I must thank @Deepak Eswar for the croissants he offered as breakfast.

After the break we moved towards Richie's bar. Just before reaching there, we saw a lone driver stuck in his TJ and gave a helping tug. Last time I was at Richie's bar I remember all the bushes were only a few millimeters tall but now they are tens of centimeters tall. Then we went west towards the exit. 

At the end to summarize it was a great drive. Good mix of technical and fast paced dunes. For a Sunday, a shorter amount of drive and great fun. 

Credits:

@Mahmoud Taha you were an excellent second lead. I, however, noticed that you used to fall back a little more than you should.

@Haneef Thayyil impressed by your driving today. There were parts that I would be scared to bring even a FB+ convoy but you managed all sections quite well - well done 👍.

@Pacific thanks for joining the drive. In case we had refusals I knew I could trust you to recover the stuck cars and you kind of did that today by self-recovering yourself very nicely. 

@Deepak Eswar you did a great job today and hope you enjoyed the drive.

@Rk ram You had a flawless drive, and it is always good to see your enthusiasm that you bring to the drives.

@Bjoern back-to-back drives for you as well. Thank you very much for the support at the back and helping with both the refusals. 

See you all in the next installment of Looper's loops.

HI Gautam, Thank you for the comprehensive drive report. It's well-written and covers all the details.

The drive was exciting! We all had an exhilarating time! Thank you, Gautam,  Taha, Bjoern & Pacific, for the support and also other team members for making it such an enjoyable and memorable experience and looking forward to the next Looper's loops adventure!

[Pacific]

On 9/24/2023 at 6:10 PM, Looper said:

Drive Report:

I crave at least two drives a week. This morning when I was driving to the meeting point just before the Last Exit fuel station, I had a thought that I could have slept this morning after a very long previous day. But I must confess that after the drive I felt like it was a worthy end to the week and all the fatigue that I had was lost. I met @Bjoern at the fuel station, and we started together. I saw @Haneef Thayyil overtake me and then @Rk ram and @Deepak Eswar overtake me and @Bjoern. On the way to the meeting point I felt the chill for the first time for the season. It was a cool 27 degrees when we reached the meeting point and I had my windows down and my hand outside, I experienced the wind hitting my face. 

I posted the same track a couple of weeks ago and 4 of us were driving again today as well. In the morning, just before the start I pondered on how the track was going to be today - easy? difficult? Lots of refusals or none? I threw all those out of the window and started to take a new track. At the briefing I took more time explaining the reasons for refusals and how to tackle them.

I have now got a good understanding of the track. We drove mostly on the northern side of the area, which has taller, softer, and difficult to drive dunes. At every dune crossing I was like now we were going to have a refusal, but the convoy drove very well. Everyone behind me was super focused and I felt that the briefing had rubbed on all. After we completed the super technical part, it was time to rest a bit. We reversed back on a southern track from the previous and were a bit faster. This is when @Pacific put on some music and tried to relax, and promptly got stuck. @Bjoern was all ready for a tug offering the choices of pull or winch, meanwhile @Deepak Eswar and @Rk ram dug under the car to recover the fellow doctor. It all paid off when @Pacific was able to self-recover. Then we again drove east toward the larger dunes and did a few flying sidee laps on a few of those dunes. After that we took a break at Crescent Lake, and I must thank @Deepak Eswar for the croissants he offered as breakfast.

After the break we moved towards Richie's bar. Just before reaching there, we saw a lone driver stuck in his TJ and gave a helping tug. Last time I was at Richie's bar I remember all the bushes were only a few millimeters tall but now they are tens of centimeters tall. Then we went west towards the exit. 

At the end to summarize it was a great drive. Good mix of technical and fast paced dunes. For a Sunday, a shorter amount of drive and great fun. 

Credits:

@Mahmoud Taha you were an excellent second lead. I, however, noticed that you used to fall back a little more than you should.

@Haneef Thayyil impressed by your driving today. There were parts that I would be scared to bring even a FB+ convoy but you managed all sections quite well - well done 👍.

@Pacific thanks for joining the drive. In case we had refusals I knew I could trust you to recover the stuck cars and you kind of did that today by self-recovering yourself very nicely. 

@Deepak Eswar you did a great job today and hope you enjoyed the drive.

@Rk ram You had a flawless drive, and it is always good to see your enthusiasm that you bring to the drives.

@Bjoern back-to-back drives for you as well. Thank you very much for the support at the back and helping with both the refusals. 

See you all in the next installment of Looper's loops.

Thanks buddy @Looper, it was like dream to getting in such refusal and with of guys like you all ,self recovering is like attainment of quite a needed boost. @Gaurav Soni buddy I got a break in Looper's drive. 🤪🤪

[Looper]