Ale Vallecchi

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and above Meeting time: 3:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/44Pv1URngCTW9TKeA Action Plan: After a few movie themed drives, here comes the "double-lettered" drive. L like Lisaili & L like Lahbab. A fast drive from one side of the Dubai-Al Ain road to the other. From the outskirts of Solar Park, acrosso Lisaili's plateau, through the highway, into Margham's yellow and red sand dunes, all the way to E44. All kinds of terrains for more than experienced drivers, looking to get as close to Intermediate driving as possible. 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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 THE CALENDAR

Scorch Trials Part 1 - Drive Report "By perseverance the snail reached the ark" - C. Haddon Spurgeon While the drive was planned to have heat as its protagonist, it was actually the quality of the sand, due to the dump weather of the past days, that became the main "villain" of the day. In fact, it was only after my third stuck in a matter of 1 hour that I was made to realize that it was the treacherous conditions of the sand that would rule the day, and that we definitely would have to plan for, and overcome it, if we were to have a smoother drive. From the beginning of our itinerary I had noticed the, by now, typical tall "step" on the hard-face of the dunes, which forms when the wind blows counter to its prevailing direction, pushing soft sand from the slip-face on top of the ridge and onto the harder side. Nonetheless, even when I found a proper place to cross onto the other side, I ended up getting stuck on the ridge, no matter how much I pushed. And even with A-Trac, and a car weighting heavily on the side of gravity, I still couldn't get off the ridges. The reason brought to my attention by some members who had helped shoveling and eventually tugged me out, was that just under the initial powdery layer of freshly blown sand, there was a caked and hardened layer, produced by the recent rains, which slowed the car down, produced the stuck, and prevented it from being able to get free of it. The only other critical situation worth noticing was when 4 other cars ended up in trouble, induced by my own third stuck, with 2 more cars stuck on my same crest, another with a temporary electrical problem immobilized on the other side of the dune, after crossing it, and the car trying to tug me off the crest also stuck on soft sand, with the rope fully stretched. In the confusion that arose, one of the cars stuck on the crest was almost tugged from both sides, as two drivers, one on each side of the dune, had attached their ropes to both front and back tow-points, and almost played tug-of-war with the unfortunate and bewildered crested driver. The takeaways from this situations were: 1) always bring the radio with you once out of the car, as lack of communication was the reason for the tug-of-war; 2) do not always cut the slack completely on the rope, but use it to give more power to the tug, when the stuck is deep. Having said this, once understood the unusual and unfriendly nature of the sand, and having taken the necessary counter-measures (finding a less sharp and tall step to approach the criss-crossing, and actually preferring crossing from the slip-face (sufficiently sturdy) to the hard-face (excessively powdery), then the drive progressed, with perseverance, to its planned end at Faqa. Indeed, we were able to enjoy the cool weather, and the beautiful "virgin" status of the sand, smoothed out by the recent winds, completing a the rest of the drive with speed and no further situations. As promised, we did cross the Middle Earth (that land between Solar Park and Little Sweihan, we did laps along Little Sweihan's triangle of tall dunes and deep bowls, we reached the Faqa Plateau, and we traversed it diagonally, almost to its E44's boundary, before exiting in Faqa's northern sabkha. The drive covered 81 Km, in 2:33 of driving (3:36 total), at 32 Km/h moving average speed (22 Km/h total). My thanks go to @Zixuan Huang - Charlie and @Davie Chase, who alternated in Second Lead, adapting patiently to my search for the proper lines, to @Thomas Varghese, @Vaibhav and @Zed, who alternated at Center Forward, and to @Gaurav Soni, @Chinthaka Ruwan and @Gok Krish, who took turns at Sweep. I hope that all had the opportunity to get comfortable with their respective positions. See you all soon out there, and have a nice, "cool" Sunday.

Hello @Thomas Varghese. Please join the drive tomorrow. No problem opening up the waitlist. I'll increase the RSVP to 11 so you can sign up if you wish. Thanks

Sorry to hear that @Beide Worku. @Ashok chaturvedi will you confirm your presence? Thanks

Thanks @Morshedi for informing. @AlexM you have been added to the drive from the WL. Can you please confirm you'll attend? Thanks

Just to give you all Maze Runners a heads up, convoy positions will be switched, every hour, as follows:: @Davie Chase and @Simon Dawood will take Second Lead position after @Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Vaibhav and @Zedwill take a Center Forward position after @Thomas Varghese @Gok Krishand @Chinthaka Ruwan will alternate in Sweep. Let's all start warming up 😁

Hi @Thomas Varghese. Thanks for your considerations. As you know from past drives, and considering the couple of drop-outs we've had, I'll try to mix up positions, so that as many members as possible will have the possibility to enjoy different roles/places. See you tomorrow.

Minus the monsters.....we hope @Haitham Khattab 😅

Thanks for noticing my oversight @Daniel Yang. Welcome to the drive @Gok Krish.

Dear Desertnauts while the weather seems to have gotten in the way of a scorching trial this weekend, we'll still do our best to enjoy the cooler spell among the dunes. We don't expect this drive's theme to change into The Big Chill. So we'll warm up by crossing the technical dunes just after the camel track into Lisaili's plateau, we'll bring up the temperature of the drive a notch, by venturing out to the sabkhas close to Murqaab, and will keep the drive hot by turning back toward the Lisaili pylon track, perhaps driving through the tight, soft dunes close to Solar Park, where the Carnity Desert Trophy was decided. The convoy will line up as follows: @Prakash Anoop in Second Lead @Imran Kashif at #3 @Haitham Khattab #4 @Trekado at #5 @Shaker at Center Forward @salah2u will be #7 @Amr Aydin #8 @Gertjan #9 @Beide Worku #10, and @Morshedi in Sweep. The radio channel will be chosen at the meeting point. Have a great end of the week, and stay cool!!

Dear Desertnauts while the weather seems to have gotten in the way of a scorching trial this weekend, we'll still do our best to enjoy the cooler spell among the dunes. We don't expect this drive's theme to change into The Big Chill. So we'll warm up by crossing from Solar Park to Little Sweihan, we'll bring up the temperature of the drive a notch, by navigating the soft, tall and tight dunes of this triangular shaped formation just north of the eponymous AD area, and will keep the drive hot by speeding through the Faqa plateau, before reaching our exit. The convoy, truly quite an experienced one, will line up as follows: @Zixuan Huang - Charlie in Second Lead @ASAD. at #3 @Waqas Parvez #4 @Davie Chase at #5 @Simon Dawood #6 @Thomas Varghese at Center Forward @Vaibhav will be #8 @Zed #9 @Daniel Yang at #10, and @Chinthaka Ruwan in the Sweep position. The radio channel will be chosen before starting the drive. In the meantime, enjoy the evening, and stay cool.

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and above Meeting time: 3:30 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/GmwJTkPkgV2cPTQf9 Action Plan: My most vivid, earliest, memories of my going in the desert are...heat, heat, more heat (and some dust). Unless one is going into an artic desert (yes, there are some), that's what everyone expects from a desert: to be hot. Coupling this with my distaste for early morning wake-ups, here come The Scorch Trials - summertime afternoon desert drives, as hot as they can be. The reward will be the a beautiful sunset, and a slowly cooling temperature, before heading out to a nice dinner with your loved ones. 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM (with the possibility of a 30 minute extension to reach the exit) P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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 THE CALENDAR

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Intermediate and above Meeting time: 3:30 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/ATc8SASUigiP8xo28 Action Plan: My most vivid, earliest, memories of my going in the desert are...heat, heat, more heat (and some dust). Unless one is going into an artic desert (yes, there are some), that's what everyone expects from a desert: to be hot. Coupling this with my distaste for early morning wake-ups, here come The Scorch Trials - summertime afternoon desert drives, as hot as they can be. The reward will be the a beautiful sunset, and a slowly cooling temperature, before heading out to a nice dinner with your loved ones. 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM (with the possibility of a 30 minute extension to reach the exit) P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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 THE CALENDAR

@ASAD. wish her all the best. See you next time,

Welcome to the drive @Ashok chaturvedi. See you later.

Dear Desertnauts there is a saying in Italian that goes "meglio pochi ma buoni", that is "better few but good ones". This is certainly the case for this drive, with 2 Support Team members - @munkybizness and @Ranjan Das - and an experienced Intermediate @ASAD., taking on the majestic star-dunes between Shuwaib and Madam/Badayer. A small pack of off-roaders thirsty for climbs, dips, criss-crossing and side sloping, on sand that seems to have returned to an almost pristine state, thanks to the dramatic drop in drives in this often overcrowded area, and the help from some strong winds. Departure is from the Bezhad Ranch site, just off of E55, connecting Al Madam with Shuwaib. Meeting time should be as close to 3:30PM as possible, with the goal of leaving well before 4:00PM. The challenges offered by this area may be compounded by the softness and depth of the layer of sand freshly blown by the recent winds. We'll start the drive with the following posse order: @munkybizness in Second Lead @ASAD. at #3 @Ranjan Das in Sweep. Positions wil be shuffled throughout the drive. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a restful night.

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Intermediate and above Meeting time: 3:30 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/Mzdvc57r6otCUsDdA Action Plan: After Star Trek: First Contact Part 1, that marked my return after a very long time to Badayer, where star dunes dominate the desert landscape, feeling encouraged by the great, almost pristine conditions of the sand, I could not wait to post Part 2. The second installment of the series of "Star Trek" drives will be in Shuwaib side. Moving South to North, we'll try to avoid the bad refraction that made reading the dunes quite difficult, and go from Bezhad Ranch toward Iftar Bowl, across several beautiful sets of pyramid shaped star dunes. 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM (with the possibility of a 30 minute extension to reach the exit) P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 8 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Wednesday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. 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 THE CALENDAR

Lisaili to Qudra: The Hot Stuff - Drive Report "Most people will not change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat." - Rumi I did not have this Rumi quote in mind when organizing the drive. Nonetheless, perhaps the drive managed to "change", hopefully for the better, some of the members' driving habits, especially referring to hot whether conditions on soft sand. As @Sunil Mathew, @Joseph Sebastian, and @Paolo Pellegrini have already reported, all members interpreted the spirit of the drive to perfection, rising to the challenge posed by the heat of the later summer morning departure. The terrain selected for the drive went from quite technical at the very beginning, on the short and packed dunes left of Lisaili's camel track, to more open long range dunes, for most of the Lisaili plateau. Actually, having entered much closer to the camel track than usually, that is more to the north-east, the track proved ideal to cross mostly untouched dunes, in a southern direction, heading toward the sabkhas between Lisaili and Murqaab. This area was perfect for practicing side sloping, ridge riding and criss-crossing, with an uninterrupted drive, until a double pop-out stopped the convoy for a short while. The situation provided the opportunity to demonstrate the need for proper tools, such as a sturdy board and e hydraulic jack (2 tons min.), which I would recommend to any Fewbie and above, just for these kind of easily encountered occurrences. After resuming the drive, all went as well as expected, with a few detours from the usual track, and a minimum number of stops to solve some refusals and stucks (nothing out of the ordinary). Having reached the Solar Park area in good time, we all agreed to prolong the drive to Qudra's Last Exit. The new access to Qudra from the end of Lisaili's pylon track proved a bit tricky: the loose sand from the abundant road works, as well a a very bushy area led to a couple of complicated refusals, within a few meters from the tarmac. After solving them, we managed to enter Qudra's southern quadrant, driving shortly along the bike track, and then through the very long and open dunes, dotted with some nice bowls, between the bike track and the pylons. From there it took no time to zip north toward the Last Exit. @Sunil Mathew, which I thank very much for both his role as Anchor, has already been very explicative in his report of the drive's main takeaways report, so I will not linger with any further recommendations. I thank @Andrew McCarthy for his clean Second Lead, @TT_Dubai for his Sweep, and @Joseph Sebastian, @Imran Kashif, @Paolo Pellegrini, @Federico Galbieri, @Gurcharan Mehta, and @Gerrit Bus for joining and bearing the heat of the drive. As intended, the heat did not take anything away from the drive. The itinerary covered 80 Km. in 2:46 hr of driving (out of total of 4:23 hr), moving at a very brisk (better...hot) average speed of 29 Km./hr. See you all soon in the desert.