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I was going to start this message with a time travel joke, but you guys did not like it, so instead, the convoy numbering for tomorrow. Apologies to the waitlisted - I felt we could not let one driver in without letting all three and then we would have had a monster convoy. Those still on the list. I like telling dad jokes - sometimes he even laughs. See you in the morning and remember, the early bird catches the worm ... maybe I will sleep in until the pancakes arrive.

As I sit here this morning feeling a bit of an astronaut I realize that my favorite part of a computer is the space bar. Anyhow, enough of my musings. It's early Wednesday morning. If you're signed in to the drive, there are 3 people in the waitlist desperate for your space if there is any chance you are not turning up. That includes anyone thinking there is a doubt you'll be able to come or those of you with niggling technical issues in the car. This is, unusually, a drive where I do not plan to extend the convoy length because each additional vehicle adds to the likely stops and delays. So, please, sign out early if you are a doubt - you'll make zero friends by not turning up in the morning unannounced. Anyhow, rest of my day will be spent at on a Maths Vacation at Times Square

@Lorenzo Candelpergherit was a perfect mid week night drive. I started loving Rubicon just by looking at the way you handle it on soft patch and wanted to drive one on sand!!! And your patience throughout the drive is very much appreciated!!! Thanks for trusting me for support role which I love the most. Driving in the back helps me understand where I need to focus more. Thanks @Gaurav Sonifor the tug, it would have been better for me if your warning was clear on radio before I had to stop on the crest. All fewbie drivers did very well and those who took their first drive in the night. Even though this terrain was well know, the track we took was exciting and gave opportunity to learn a lot on the way. Thanks to every one in the convoy for joining this drive. I loved my 50th drive very much and see you all soon!!!

Oh, no! Sorry to hear that. We will certainly repeat the route soon. @Francois Germishuys, you are next in line, I've added you to the drive.

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for organising a mid-week drive, I know we all appreciate the opportunity to break up the week and reduce the time between drives! Thank you also for the opportunity to sweep, the quality of the drivers ahead kept me fairly quiet but I still had fun! Well done to the Fewbie Plus ‘newbies’ @Zixuan Huang - Charlie and @Sunil Mathew, everyone else who attended, supported and @GauravSonifor the chats and kind words. See you all soon 🌵

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!

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.

Drive RSVP is now closed. Convoy order below. Please go through the tutorial videos and make sure your cars front and rear tow hooks are in order. Hope all of you also have the required gear for the Newbie level drives. We will be using Radio channel 1, 446 006 25. One you reach the meeting point, please switch on your radios and for those who have AT tires, you can deflate to 12 PSI and those on HT tires deflate to 14 PSI. See you all tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM. 1 Brette Lead Black JGC 2 @Damien Ranjit Silver Pathfinder 3 @Kaile Barrameda Wrangler 4 @manoj nair Pajero 5 @Joji varghese Fortuner 6 @Joseph Sebastian Green Wrangler 7 @munkybizness CF White Y61 8 @Rsjiv Samuel FJ 9 @Adam James FJ 10 @Hilal Sharafudeen White Y62 11 @Alex Hollands Wrangler 12 @Gilbert Khalil FJ 13 @Hisham Masaad Sweep FJ

Dear @Abu Muhammad, yes it is OK. I recall here the waitlisted: For 1st drive @Francois Germishuys. For 2nd drive @GauravSoni, @Watteau.

Dear @Lorenzo Candelpergher I’ve added myself to the drive as a place became available and I was first on the waitlist. I hope it’s ok 😂

@Damien Ranjit @Shama Zamora @manoj nair @Joji varghese @Pieter Potgieter @Gilbert Khalil @Joseph Sebastian @Rsjiv Samuel @Adam James @Hilal Sharafudeen @Alex Hollands @munkybizness hope all of you have gone through the training and briefing videos on the links of the drive post. Also, make sure you have the required gear for the newbie drives without which you would not be allowed to join. The convoy numbering and radio channel will be updated by 8 PM tonight.

Dear @JamesThorn @Tareck @Jeepie @Daniel Yang @TT_Dubai @Hardik Mody @Rjducos @FARAZ MOHAMMED @Zixuan Huang - Charlie Pre-drive details below: 1- It is already hot and we want to have an early start hoping to cover majority of the track by 8:30am before heading to the exit to inflate by 9:00am before we get roasted. 2- This requires prompt presence at the meeting point by 4:30am and be ready to move max by 5:00am (deflated, flag erected, 4H on, radio on and set, airbags/traction/abs all set....) 3- Please ensure your radio is on, fully charged, and set to the right frequency: channel 2 (446,031.25) upon arrival to do a quick radio check 4. when you arrive, pls try to take your position (if possible) based on the below convoy order 5- briefing will be done on the radio as we start moving 6- please ensure you come with a full tank (as much as possible) in addition to all necessary gear for this drive level See you all on the sand 😎 Convoy order:

Please find your convoy numbering for tomo night drive. We will use Radio Channel: 1 In case of emergency, you can reach me at 050 5258706. @Charbel @Brian Dev @Enrico Biscaro @Mohammed Azar @Tbone @munkybizness @GauravSoni @Janarthan Gaurav Silver Pajero Charbel Silver Xterra Brian Dev Gray Grand Vitara Enrico Biscaro Silver Pajero Mohammed Azar Gray Pajero Tbone Green Xterra munkybizness White Patrol GauravSoni Gray Pajero Janarthan Silver Xterra

My wife just broke up with me. She's sick and tired of my constant Zodiac puns. It Taurus apart. I'm in Pisces typing this.

Enjoy guys !

@Hasan Wahlan and @Naveen Raj thanks for joining this drive. The Fayah terrain has lots to discover and with the help of @Lorenzo Candelpergher we will be able to stretch our legs a bit and put some miles on the odometer We will be using channel 2: 446.03125 Mhz See you guys at 6AM tomorrow morning. Be careful not to access the roads before 5AM as to not break the curfew rules in AD.

@Adhir Saxena congratulations

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for a great drive, and @Lakshmi Narasimhan @Danish Mohammad and @Gaurav Soni for the support. Great weather, especially when starting off... It's always good to be in peace of the desert, leaving the city behind. I had around 3 refusals, but was happy managed to get myself out - due to work commitments I haven't been able to join any drive for around 6 weeks, and this drive was a bit of re-learning. I also learned that there was a dine called "little red" 🤣 @Lakshmi Narasimhan congrats again on your 50th drive! Have a good day everyone.

Are you carrying 20 socks, but not the shoes???

Hi @Lorenzo Candelpergher waitlist me for 1st drive thanks

Sad stuff 😟 I always love seeing the mighty VTC in the desert gliding on all the dunes.

Hello 😊 can I be added also on the waiting list? Big thanks

Convoy Numbering 1. Srikumar - Lead 2. S Jacob 3. ShereenMK 4. Erik Ean 5. Jerry Han 6. Ahmed Mattar 7. Mustafa - Sweep We shall be using Carnity Channel 3 for tomorrow's drive. Best sure to make it by 6:30 AM, but don't start moving before 5 AM. If you reach early start the deflation and put up your flag. All drivers should bring in their own radios.

Thanks @Chaitanya D - looking forward to joining one of ur drives very soon

@Daniel Yang congratulations

Congratulations @Sunil Mathew

Thanks @Russ .. hopefully we have another opportunity to drive together soon Dear @Sunil Mathew@darren thompson @Matt.T you are all confirmed and added to the drive.

Congrats @Sunil Mathew!

This is exhausting already....

That's a Fuel of thumb

Hey @Niki, what kind of car does an egg drive? A Yolkswagen!

Thanks @Janarthan

Congratulations @Adhir Saxena well done

Yes

Yes, I do have a radio. I picked up a suction cup flag and a UHF radio from Dragon mart yesterday.

Thanks @Islam Soliman confirmed see you Saturday

congratulations @Sunil Mathew well done , keep it up buddy

Thank You!! @Anish S and @Janarthan

Marathon Runners darren thompson @darren thompson Russ @Russ Sunil Mathew @Sunil Mathew GauravSoni @Gaurav Soni Nithin Vaidir @Nithin Vaidir Niki @Niki Watteau @Watteau Matt.T @Matt.T Ahab Shamaa @Ahab Shamaa MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ You've made it to the list. What does that mean - Friday, we will be looking to travel Westwards as far as the fences, terrain, petrol tanks and time limit allows. The challenges? Finding a way from Big Red to Margham or Murquab as the next starting point for the drive. There's a big fenced off natur reserve in the middle ... So please bear with me if the plan changes a little and we start at a different place - or we will need to go onto tarmac during the drive [I will let you all know if that's going to be the case - not the end of the world, but still....] It's a Fewbie Plus drive (not IM or Extreme). I see from the above list that we've got a lot of very experienced drivers in the convoy - we also have almost half at F+ so we need to respect that. If we can take it up a notch - great. Inevitably, some of the drive will be exploration (see above) which will be good for us all, because finding our way through new unexplored areas is all part of the game. Otherwise, looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday. With a 5am start it means around 30 minutes of dark to gloom if we head off on time. That's always fun and a good way to start the drive. See you soon in the sand.

Please waitlist me for the first drive @Lorenzo CandelpergherThanks.

Hi Can you add me to the WL 1st Drive