Leaderboard

Dear @Thomas Varghese, You've made it to the promised land - intermediate status in the club. My heartfelt congratulations, becuase without a shadow of a doubt, you have earned this rank. Through all the disappointment, frustration, commentary and feedback, you have shown your true potential. As many of the comments here reflect, with this rank comes responsibility and accountability. It's your responsibility to continue to follow the instuctions of the drive lead (and not unless invited engage or investigate), it's your responsibility to self recover whenever you can without the assistance of other drivers or just as importantly accept when you ended up in a situation you should not and need assistance [no more excuses that because of this, this happened and otherwise it would not ....]. Intermediate implies you can control the vehicle and your emotions in check, no matter what. You've shown that's possible. Accountability comes with the rank as well. You will be seen as more senior by drivers of ranks with less experience. Seniors may have higher expectations of you. I am sure you will not let yourself down and hope that you can now start to enjoy rides again without this monkey of promotion on your back. And a reminder to you and ALL drivers with ranks higher than Newbie - our drives are open to multiple ranks and not just the rank of the drive. Those who really want to learn about off roading automatically know where their learning is going to be the best. See you soon in the sand.

Thanks @Carnity club and special thanks to @Gaurav. Thanks to @VipinShetty, @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @varunmehndiratta, @kolin, @Mario Cornejo, @Mohamed Seidam, @Lawrence_Chehimi, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Shehab Alawadhi, @Kalahari & @Hisham Masaad for congratulating me. Looking forward to have more fun in the sands in the future. Special thanks to @Frederic who gave me the 1st class into sand driving along with @sertac. I still remember my first day with you both and the instructions given. I have always stuck to importance of momentum and gaining higher ground when approaching a dune lesson which was taught to me and follow it to this day. I stared in horror @sertac when he helped me to reduce the tire pressure to 14 psi and I wished he would just leave my car tires alone. Now I constantly drive at 12 psi once the fear of damaging my tire got vanquished from my mind after a few drives as newbie. How could I forget @Foxtrot Oscar who inducted me into my 1st fewbie plus drive with her. I instantly became a fan of her when I saw the way she handles the car and her total control on her XTERRA. @Rahimdad even though I only drove once or twice with you I always remember your advice on throttle control to keep momentum and not to fly over dunes when crossing. Thank You for that valuable lesson. Everytime I move forward in a drive from the start these 2 words ring in my head. THROTTLE CONTROL. I would love to join you in one of your newbie instructional drives as a help for me to learn more about this phase of desert driving. @Ale Vallecchi no words to describe your efforts in making me a better driver and I just bow down to you in respect. Words are not enough to thank you for your valuable lessons and moreover watching your drive. I have only 1 complaint about you recently. As soon as @Ale Vallecchi commented on the vehicle ECU learning the driver's style and adapting my car started to listen to him. Now even on the highways as soon as I press the accelerator the car thinks I'm attempting to climb a dune and downshifts even when not necessary. Please advice my car to obey you only in the sands. In highways ask him to follow my wishes. @Chaitanya D what shall I say about driving on your leads. Its pure fun. Down to earth marshal. The precision of a hand surgeon is reflecting on your style of lead and drives. I'm happy you have suggested to assist you with newer drivers in your drives. More than happy to do that. I felt bad when you were shoveling my car out when @Wrangeld was taking classes for blip blip, left right crawl out. I'm ready to return the favor you showed me that day. My only request is be gentle with me and teach me as I'm an absolute newbie intermediate. @Wrangeld thanks for all your help in making me a better driver with your timely advices. Anyone ask me which was the best drive I had I would instantly say it was the last drive as your 2nd lead. I could drive so confidently behind you and at the speed I always wished for. It was like a hurricane going wherever it wished. Wow. @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Tbone, @Vanessa8580, @Jeepie, @Kailas, @sertac I enjoyed the drives with you. Thank you for your feedback and the lovely drives you have given. Once again thank you all. LOOKING FORWARD FOR MORE FUN IN THE SANDS.

Watteau @Watteau Ehab @Ehab Hardik Mody @Hardik Mody Sinol @Sinol Pacific @Pacific Thomas Varghese @Thomas Varghese Shehab Alawadhi @Shehab Alawadhi Arman @Arman Ahab Shamaa @Ahab Shamaa Gaurav Soni @Gaurav Soni You're all in and confirmed for the inaugural Carnity night drive of the season. Myself and @Alexander Alcala are lookign forward to the enjoyment and excitement of a night drive around the challenges of Al Qudra. As this is the last drive opportunity before Ramadan, we are starting earlier and planning to finish earlier than the night drives that will follow during the year. A few things to keep in mind: Arrive well rested - if you come to the drive after a long day of busy activity and think that you can concentrate at the levels at which you will have to in the dark, think again. In the dark all your senses have to react differently and more acutely. Stay alert during the drive - we cannot have big gaps in the convoy at night and in the same way, you cannot tailgate. You go off track here ... that's it. Back tracking is much more challenging. Be prepared for the unexpected - we will come across sleeping gazelle, camels and potentially humans during the drive. It will be cooler - if you suffer in the cold of Dubai, then make sure you bring extra protecion with you. There's not a lot worse than being freezing cold digging someone out. Check your vehicle and your equipment - basics, like having a torch are obvious. Because it's dark we need to be sure you can deflate, and that your car is in good working order before we leave. We really cannot do desert side maintenance in the middle of the night. I'll be sharing more around the plan, radio frequencies and the responsibilities in the convoy later in the week, but it looks to me like we have enough intermediates to run a pretty tight buddy system for the fewbies ... See you soon in the sand.

Well done Thomas, @thomasvarghese, well deserved, Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the the courage to continue that counts." See you this weekend for the night drive, it is going to be epic.

Thank you @Chaitanya D

Dear Friends Warren Flay @Warren Flay Mus_hus78 @Mus_hus78 Zed @Zed Farouq Owdeh @Farouq Owdeh Karthikeyan Govindarajan @Karthikeyan Govindarajan Mikhail Lukichev @Mikhail Lukichev @Hasan Wahlan @Craig Finlayson Thanks for signing up on this drive. Please note the mandatory gear required for joining this drive 1. Programmed Radio 2. Shovel 3. Off Road Flag 4. Deflator 5. Compressor Not having any one means you will not be riding on sands this Friday. Please arrange them for your and everyone's safety. Please make sure your cars are in best of conditions and all fluids topped up. Kindly go through the newbie briefing video in the drive thread, very important advises there for desert driving from the experts at Carnity. Meeting /Start Point Updated on the Drive and Calendar Nearest Gas station is ADNOC Al SAAD (854) We plan to drive from Yahar and head North ( #asfaraswego 🤣). . Personally I am excited to be back in Sweihan , you all in AD are blessed with some amazing desert areas with absolutely stunning dunes to play and learn. Cheers!

No need for "sir", we are all friends here. Yes would love to see those Baja designs of yours in dark lit the whole convoy and make it like afternoon in Lisaili 🤣 with a cool breeze Not the forget the fantastic members signed up with great cars - well groomed FJCs , SWB Wrangler's, F150, Tundra TRD, LC Prado , X- OR and a SWB super safari. I wish I had all of them one day 😜🤩😍

Congrats @Ali Abas !!

Yes sir Dr. @Chaitanya D; I’ll keep you informed! I know you just wanna use me for my auxiliary lights, and I’m cool with that 🤣 Seriously though, if they deliver the car as promised on Thursday morning, I will certainly join. I even took Thursday off from work so that they don’t bother me 😀

Thanks for informing. Keep me posted as the drive is in evening at 5 pm , you should be able to join hopefully.

Congrats @Thomas Varghese 🎉

@Ali Abas congratulations , well done.

Sounds great Richard @Wrangeld 😀 I’ve never driven at night in the desert, although I’ve attended a few Carnity afternoon drives that extended to the night...

I'm already prepared for the drive by cleaning out the air filter, checking all the fluids, checked the computer for any error codes from my garage. Already changed the stock headlight bulbs on my XTERRA to LED's and checked them out in the night and looks enough to drive in the desert at night.

@Mario Cornejo congratualtions on the new rank. Looking forward to seeing how high you will fly in Carnity. I think you'll be there in the stratosphere with your desire to continue learning.

Good morning everyone, sorry for the delay in sharing this with you but the videos took a while to be ready. @Anish S @Goutam @Hennie Schoeman @Trekado @Ahmad Shaker @Lawrence_Chehimi @William Fernandes @topgear @Dodi Syahdar @Arun Mathew Enjoy watching the trip in 4K, here is a short version and here is the complete recording

Congratulations @Thomas Varghese

Congratulations @Ali Abas hope you enjoy your new rank to the full.

Thank you @Yousef Alimadadi

Hello doc @Chaitanya D, I would love to join. My only caveat is that I took my car to the garage because I thought this drive was postponed 😀 They promised to finish it Thursday morning, but you never know with mechanics... With that, I leave it up to you to decide whether to include me or not. I’m fine with whatever you decide 🙏🏻

Would love to Dr. @Chaitanya D but such drive needs 5 years plan😀. Driving to Abu Dhabi to start off-road drive is a challenge.

Congratulations @Thomas Varghese

Thank you @Wrangeld for your kind words of appreciation. Some things was not clear to me like not jumping into situations and making them more worse. I will surely remember your advice. Thanks @Jeepie and @Niki Patel

Congrats @Mario Cornejo 🎉

Congratulations Thomas, I hope you will keep enjoying the drives in this new fase.

Congratulations @Mario Cornejo, See you on thursday. Well done!

@Mohamed Seidam Salaam alaikom thank you brother how are you? I had sold my 4Runner on October so, I was afraid of damaging my other car, but could not resist not have fun in the desert so, I seldom join desert drives. Thank you @Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader

Yes @Kalahari I waited and waited for long. I always value driving with all the members than the promotion but of course a recognition for my efforts when appreciated counts. My weekends were all boozing sessions before I got into @Carnity. I swear I haven't even thought about buying another bottle after I joined the drives. Basically I'm a driver from my childhood. The drivers in our house used to put me in their laps and give me the steering when they drove when I was 5. My father seeing he could no longer control my passion and enthusiasm sent me to a driving school to train when I was 12 so that my passion will not hurt me or others on the road. His greatest advice to me was as a driver my primary duty is to keep my passengers and others on the road safe from my antics which I follow to this day. 2nd advice was my passengers shouldn't be subjected to sudden acceleration or braking and they should feel they are floating smoothly. I'm not saying I never had accidents. I had my fair share of them when I was young whenever I disobeyed his instructions. The most important of them was never take my eyes of the road while driving. If tired or sleepy park the car on roadside and take enough rest and then continue. I have seen my friends falling off in life when they disobeyed this 1 instruction. Some got paralyzed for life, some ended up in a coffin. By the Grace of God I'm still here driving with you all. Most importantly these machines are to enhance our abilities and not to be abused. Treat them with respect and they reciprocate well.

@Rob Harper congratualtions on the promotion to this rank. I am sure you'll enjoy the new challenges of the drives and the opportunity to contribute even more to the drives than you already do.

Hi guys, @Thomas Varghese and @Shehab Alawadhi are now both signed in to the drive so it's @Ahab Shamaa and @Gaurav Soni currently on WL. 1st let's congratulate Thomas on his promotion to Intermediate. It's been long waited and worked for. What it means at the moment is that the convoy is quite experienced and that should permit pushing the envelope a little further on this first night drive of the season. This will be special because of the timing. Most night drives during the season will sit between the window of 10pm to 2am to facilitate prayers and eating times for our club members ... so make the most of being up late, instead of being up through the night. Qudra has great white sand that can be a blessing or a curse depending on the light thrown on to it. Let's see what our night brings out ... and how many unsisprecting campers we find along the way!

Congrats @Mario Cornejo!

Thank you @Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader

Congrats @Thomas Varghese, Well deserved... enjoy your progress and new challenges but very safely 👍👏👏

Good morning @Chaitanya D, yes I confirm. Thank you.

Congratulations @Ali Abas well done pal 👍 long time no see buddy

Well done @Thomas Varghese - you always value something more if you have to wait a bit. Enjoy the new rank.

If you noted the parentheses ... You and shehab challenging for sweep. Or maybe 2nd lead.

Congratulations @Thomas Varghese. Well earned, but now is the time to put all back and focus on enjoying, improving and supporting drives. Please remember with progress comes more responsibility and how you respond /behave counts .

@VipinShetty there is also the small chance that there is a build up of sand on your wheel from the desert. My tires (like Ahab) feel unbalanced from time to time. A bit of a shakedown later and some speed bumps to shake out the desert from under the car and we as a good as gold.

Wait...w're competing for those now? I want 2nd lead duties then! Small car power!

Dear @Thomas Varghese, I'm very happy to see you finally made it to intermediate. You, more than others, deserve to be congratulated for the great motivation and commitment which you have put in pursuing your objectives, even when things didn't go the way you had been hoping for and when ambitions had to come to terms with reality. For you, more than others, the Carnity journey has implied a great and positive transformational challenge, and - as @Wrangeld noted - now with the rank now come responsibilities and accountability. I look forward to have you with me in one of my next IM drives!! Have fun!

Thank you Richard @Wrangeld and hope to join one of your drives soon!

Congrats @Ali Abas!

Well done @Thomas Varghese !

Hello @Luca Palanca Falsini could you please waitlist me for my second drive! Thank you!

Great job @Thomas Varghese!! Well deserved!!

Congratulations...! @Thomas Varghese

Sounds very exciting, I also can't wait to try the new shoes on my Y62. Changed my 20" wheels to 17" Braid, street H/T tires to Bfg Ko2.. So expecting to see some gain( hopefully😃)

Dear Desertnauts, as you know by now, I like to alternate different drives, from relaxing (the Newbie ones) to more focused (Fewbie and Intermediates). All of them aim to visit areas which are as "new" as possible to off-roaders (at least from the international community), where it's still possible to find virgin dunes, and a limited number of old tracks. After a few times, even these areas start to look a bit "old" to me: that's when I start to mix things up, pasting a few tracks together, joining dots of two or more previous drives, to stretch the itinerary into a new challenge. This is how this Long Range Patrol drive came to be. A medley of three previous drives: Faqa Arboretum/The Other Side, Little Sweihan, and Ganhtoot Blitz. The philosophy of this drive stems from my old days as a desert guide (a hobby, not a job 😅), when the convoys were driving for days at the time, from place to place, joining dots on the huge map of Northern Africa, doing the best to simultaneously show our visitors all the beautiful sites, and always reaching the next destination in the smoothest and safest way. Hence, this will be a long drive, broken down in 3, or 4 parts (with a short, relaxing break each time), with the goal to find the most direct, yet enjoyable, route, to reach our final destination (either Bab al Shams, or Solar Park). Our driving skills will not be used to "show off", but to overcome obstacles and cover diverse terrains, in the most effortless and effective way. Great concentration, will be required. Water and some food will be necessary, to keep our attention at its peak. We are aiming to cover more than 100Km, on different terrains, mostly skirting the AD border, until we'll eventually veer toward Dubai, and our planned exit points. No frills are planned, but rather, gritty determination will be our most valuable tool. By the way, the drive's title not only explains its approach, but is also inspired by a real life, long gone, group of true explorers. Some of you, in fact, may know their story. The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during WW2. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt, in June 1940. The group was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions from behind Italian lines, although they sometimes engaged in combat operations. Because the LRDG were experts in desert navigation, they were sometimes assigned to guide other units Check out this link, to know more about the LRP: Long Range Desert Group - Wikipedia. @Niki Patel, @varunmehndiratta, @Mario Cornejo, @Abu Muhammad, @GauravSoni, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Archibald Jurdi, @Tariq Carrimjee, @Rob Harper and @Ilya Golubinsky, welcome to the unit. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday. Enjoy your week.