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 Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie plus and above Meeting time: 5:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Qja7M6at3P9TBMbA Action Plan: Shooting for Lisaili's easternmost reaches, all the way to Murqab's tall dunes and bowls, and back to Lisaili's plateau through the "Highway to Solar Park", that is the sand track that will take us back to the heart of the plateau, and out toward Solar Park's pylons. A mix of long range and technical dunes and bowls that will test our ability to drive fast and slow, in total control of the different terrains. 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: 9:30 AM 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 Thursday - 9 AM. 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

100 Drives Anniversary: Long Range Patrols - Drive Report When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is music – Rumi First of all, sorry for filing the report with much delay, due to my travelling overseas. I have been busy with business and family matters and have just been able to write up the usual recount of my latest drives. While July 9th and 10th anniversary weekend’s main theme was enjoying my drives with as many Carnity members as possible, to celebrate a milestone I never thought of reaching (100 drives, incidentally, on my birthday’s weekend), two more things, of no less importance, became a common thread that wove my itineraries together: to bring on new challenges, and enjoy long stretches of silence, during the drives. Since friendly camaraderie, new challenges, and enjoying the silence were shared with all drivers, throughout this triple outing, I will write a common report for all 3 drives, with just a few specifics, here and there, referring to each. Friendship and the feeling of being part of a family are the traits that distinguish Carnity from other off-roading clubs. Hence, I was blessed for having part of this enlarged family with me during my birthday and 100 drives’ weekend, sharing the pleasure of driving on surprisingly pristine sand with as many fellow off-roaders as possible. On top of that, the huge number of wishes I have received from members in the last few days has been heart-warming. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer birthday and milestone’s celebrations, filled with fellowship and fun. Now, on with the part regarding raising the bar, and offering new challenges. All the three drives were upped and pushed beyond the average level of difficulty and skills expected from each rank. So, the Newbie outing slowly became a Fewbie, the Fewbie was pushed at least to a Fewbie Plus, and the Intermediate one turned into an Exploration Drive. The Long Range Patrol Intermediate drive became an Exploration drive from its very inception. As soon as I started reviewing the itinerary, I realized there was an area of desert, between Murqab and Faqa, which I had never visited. It was supposed to be a complex, technical area, but the analysis of the satellite maps showed enough passages among some extremely tight dunes, with occasional stretches of more open and longer dunes, that reassured me about the possibility of bringing experienced drivers through it, unharmed. After all, wasn’t the mission of the LRP that of reconnoitering, opening new passages, and preparing the ground for troops to come? After entering Murqab from the traditional meeting point, and warming up on its tall, long dunes, we entered the uncharted territory, finding it quite complex, but full of opportunities to cross the dunes in the North to South direction, zig-zagging our way along the cordons. The greatest obstacle was represented by a wide step of very soft sand, blown on top of the ridges, on the dunes’ hard-face side, by an unusual wind, coming from the South, instead of the usual North direction. This made the access to the top of the ridges very shifty and uncertain, limiting the amount of criss-crossing we were able to do from the hard-face (literally too soft to climb), and forced the convoy to patiently drive along the cordons, until a “door” opened onto the next line of dunes, or the ridge provided a lower, and practicable, climb and crossing. Once we reached Faqa in 1 hour and 30 minutes (record time, considering the lack of experience in driving through the area), we obviously continued through Faqa, with the goal of reaching Solar Park (as initially planned). As usual, this area never fails to provide a great stage for off-roading: tall, clean, long dunes, with plenty of bowls, climbs, and ridges to shoot for. Another great driving experience, which brought the convoy to reach the area of Little Sweihan, where we chose to exit on the sand track to Solar Park, due to a mechanical issue with one of the cars. Many thanks to @Mario Cornejo, @Ashok chaturvedi, @Thomas Varghese, @Kalahari, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Melenany and @Jorge Stepniak Felippe. We concluded the drive after 3:27 hours (2:47 moving time), covering 94.2 Km, at an average moving speed of 34 Km/h (27 Km/h total). In each of these drives, silence was loudly heard most of the time. Except for my briefing, redirections, and driving tips, all three itineraries had prolonged spells of no communication whatsoever. This is usually the sign of a drive proceeding super smoothly, during which the convoy falls into a perfect, yet silent, rhythm, each member both exploiting their skills to perfection as well as enjoying the route, its landscape, and the performance of the rest of the convoy. What a pleasure it was to celebrate with as many of you as possible, all rising to the challenge, fully enjoying our beautiful desert. Thanks to all and see you soon in the sand.

100 Anniversary Drive: Fun in Murqab and Lisaili - Report When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is music – Rumi First of all, sorry for filing the report with much delay, due to my travelling overseas. I have been busy with business and family matters and have just been able to write up the usual recount of my latest drives. While July 9th and 10th anniversary weekend’s main theme was enjoying my drives with as many Carnity members as possible, to celebrate a milestone I never thought of reaching (100 drives, incidentally, on my birthday’s weekend), two more things, of no less importance, became a common thread that wove my itineraries together: to bring on new challenges, and enjoy long stretches of silence, during the drives. Since friendly camaraderie, new challenges, and enjoying the silence were shared with all drivers, throughout this triple outing, I will write a similar report for all 3 drives, with just a few specifics, here and there, referring to each. Friendship and the feeling of being part of a family are the traits that distinguish Carnity from other off-roading clubs. Hence, I was blessed for having part of this enlarged family with me during my birthday and 100 drives’ weekend, sharing the pleasure of driving on surprisingly pristine sand with as many fellow off-roaders as possible. On top of that, the huge number of wishes I have received from members in the last few days has been heart-warming. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer birthday and milestone’s celebrations, filled with fellowship and fun. Now, on with the part regarding raising the bar, and offering new challenges. All the three drives were upped and pushed beyond the average level of difficulty and skills expected from each rank. So, the Newbie outing slowly became a Fewbie, the Fewbie was pushed at least to a Fewbie Plus, and the Intermediate one turned into an Exploration Drive. The Murqab/Lisaili Fewbie drive provided the opportunity to explore a new route toward the easternmost boundary of the Lisaili plateau, as well as to cross the technical dunes further away from the pylons, closer to the new Solar Park’s phases (where the infamous “Chimney” looms on the near horizion). While the initial “exploration” of the boundaries between Murqab and Lisaili proceeded with no interruptions whatsoever, the technical dunes leading to the part of Lisaili richer in Ghaf trees, furthest from the pylons, became the terrain for very technical driving, forcing all members to use all their skills, with patience and perseverance. The presence of many trees, with their rooting systems, create a unique terrain, which becomes almost a maze of remarkably close ridges and drops, built and modified in all directions by the action of the wind swirling around the trees. On such an irregular surface, refusals and stucks abounded, forcing the convoy to proceed slowly, rerouting several times, until we finally reached the trees, and were able to direct ourselves toward the wider dunes, and eventually the exit on the Solar Park to Qudra’s tarmac road, just when as the sun dipped below the horizon. The greatest lesson learned during the drive, in my opinion, was the need to have the utmost concentration, and to exert as much patience as possible, to find the right lines around a soft bowl, the proper control down a steep drop and immediately up the following climb, finding that perfect balance between each car’s potential performance and the driver’s touch to achieve it whenever needed. There are clearly limits to the amount of concentration that can be maintained throughout a drive, which explains why the initial exploration of the technical dunes between Murqab and Lisaili was completed faultlessly, while the second technical stretch, which was tackled later in the drive, was faced with a few more issues, and took much longer to conquer. Nonetheless, the convoy completed the drive brilliantly, with grit and determination. Great job by @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Ammar Naji, @Charbel, @Anoop Nair, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @darren thompson, @Abdul Rafay-S, @Pierre de Maigret, @Adhir Saxena and @Chris Wing. The drive took 3:06 hours (only 1:49 moving, to testify its level of difficulty), covering 50.4 Km, at an average speed of 16 Km/h (but a brisk 28 Km/h while moving). In each drive, silence was loudly heard most of the time. Except for my briefing, redirections, and driving tips, all three itineraries had prolonged spells of no communication whatsoever. This is usually the sign of a drive proceeding super smoothly, during which the convoy falls into a perfect, yet silent, rhythm, each member both exploiting their skills to perfection as well as enjoying the route, its landscape, and the performance of the rest of the convoy. What a pleasure it was to celebrate with as many of you as possible, all rising to the challenge, fully enjoying our beautiful desert. Thanks to all and see you soon in the sand.

100 Drives Celebration: Fun in Qudra - Drive Report When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is music – Rumi First of all, sorry for filing the report with much delay, due to my travelling overseas. I have been busy with business and family matters and have just been able to write up the usual recount of my latest drives. While July 9th and 10th anniversary weekend’s main theme was enjoying my drives with as many Carnity members as possible, to celebrate a milestone I never thought of reaching (100 drives, incidentally, on my birthday’s weekend), two more things, of no less importance, became a common thread that wove my itineraries together: to bring on new challenges, and enjoy long stretches of silence, during the drives. Since friendly camaraderie, new challenges, and enjoying the silence were shared with all drivers, throughout this triple outing, I will write a similar report for all 3 drives, with just a few specifics, referring to each. Friendship and the feeling of being part of a family are the traits that distinguish Carnity from other off-roading clubs. Hence, I was blessed for having part of this enlarged family with me during my birthday and 100 drives’ weekend, sharing the pleasure of driving on surprisingly pristine sand with as many fellow off-roaders as possible. On top of that, the huge number of wishes I have received from members in the last few days has been heart-warming. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer birthday and milestone’s celebrations, filled with fellowship and fun. Now, on with the part regarding raising the bar, and offering new challenges. All the three drives were upped and pushed beyond the average level of difficulty and skills expected from each rank. So, the Newbie outing slowly became a Fewbie, the Fewbie was pushed at least to a Fewbie Plus, and the Intermediate one turned into an Exploration Drive. In the Qudra Newbie drive, starting from the big farm/villa (cum security, chasing after the early coming drivers stopping at the roundabout exit), after enjoying the sunset on the nearby low dunes, we immediately attacked the long-range dunes, with ever higher side-sloping, running west to east, and back. When this first playground ended on the first technical area, we pushed through the tighter dunes, to reach an area of small bowls and canyons, from which we reached an unusually “green” area, with many Ghaf trees. Then on again, across the higher dunes of central Qudra, managing well a few steep climbs and escaping deep bowls (not without a couple of stucks, and some more advanced maneuvers). Considering the strength of the convoy, I used the tall and long cordons bordering the southern Qudra bike track, to launch into some ridge riding, and criss-crossing. At first on and across large, hump-back dunes, progressing slowly toward slightly sharper ridges, and higher crossings. All went well, with the exception of an early exit onto a slip-face’s small and hard bump, which caused a pop-out, and induced a few of the following cars to also exit early, on the same bumpy area. Lesson learned about following too closely, and not exiting on the safer, gentler, hard face of the dune. The remain if the drive was spent south of the bike track, in that beautiful area leading to the Solar Park’s pylons, with plenty of tall, wind-swept cordons, lonely trees, clay rock formations, and a variety of playable, as well as technical dunes. A small mechanical problem prompted the convoy to exit a few minutes early, yet with more than the planned itinerary behind us. An overall great performance by the convoy, rising higher than my expectations, even in facing and overcoming the few technical issues we had during the drive. Well done to @Senthil Kumar, @Alexander Holodny, @YOGG30, @Damiru Dharmadasa, @Jason Grima, @FARAZ MOHAMMED, @Super Safari Girl, @Yawa, @James Thorn, @TT_Dubai, @Daniel Yang, as well as to @Kailas and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ for their great support. The drive lasted a long 3:58 hours, covering 61.6 Km, at an average speed of 15.5 Km/h (and 26Km/h while moving). In each drive, silence was loudly heard most of the time. Except for my briefing, redirections, and driving tips, all three itineraries had prolonged spells of no communication whatsoever. This is usually the sign of a drive proceeding super smoothly, during which the convoy falls into a perfect, yet silent, rhythm, each member both exploiting their skills to perfection as well as enjoying the route, its landscape, and the performance of the rest of the convoy. What a pleasure it was to celebrate with as many of you as possible, all rising to the challenge, fully enjoying our beautiful desert. Thanks to all and see you soon in the sand.

Dear Carnity community, forgive me for my late reply, with which I thank you for your wishes from the bottom of my heart. I am looking forward to many more drives together, and to the opportunity to share more fun, stories, and camaraderie. See you soon on the hot, magic sand!!

Thanks @Srikumar. Watch out.....your 200th drive is coming up. Now, that will be worthy a celebration!

Sorry to hear that @Craig Finlayson. Wish him well, and see you soon.

@GauravSoni are you still interested in joining? Thanks

Hi @Gok Krish. After Wednesday you are free to sign up on your 2nd drives. You are welcome to join as driver #10. I will add you to the drive,

@YOGG30 sure you can.

Dear Desertanuts, let's get ready for the closing of this weekend of drives. As already posted, this will be another episode of the Long Range Patrols (also known as the Long Range Desert Group). We'll move from Murqab to Qudra, skirting, but not breaching, the Carnity no-go zone, driving through Lisaili's eastern border (on a new track crossing the previously avoided technical dunes), and from Solar Park, hopefully, to Bab al Shams. The sunset will decide how far we reach. The Patrol's driving order will be as follows: @Mario Cornejo @Kalahari at #3 @Rizwan Waheed at #4 @Thomas Varghese at #5 @Craig Finlayson at #6 @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ will be #7 @Melenany is #8 @Amir Amiri at #9, and @Jorge Stepniak Felippe will Sweep at #10. Our radios will be tuned on Carnity channel #1 (446.006). The meeting time is a "brisk" 3:30PM, to make sure the drive is as worthy as possible of a well motivated desert patrol's unit 😉. Enjoy your end of the week, and see you all on Saturday.

Hi @Kalahari. You are right. Sorry, I posted the briefing on the wrong page. Sorry for this. 🙃

YESSSSSS !!! 🤓 Yes I made a mistake. So Sorry. Of course you are in. Thanks for noticing this. 😊

Dear Desertnauts A few last minute info about tomorrow afternoon's drive. Meeting time will be 4:00 PM, but I hope we can manage to all arrive a few minutes before, so we can leave as soon as possible. The day will grow cooler soon, so we should not worry too much about the heat of the mid-afternoon. The goal is to cross the tall Murqab's dunes in a north-westerly direction, aiming toward Lisaili, and before reaching it, to cross a couple of sabkhas, with long, low dunes, from where we will actually enter the Lisaili Plateau, in the direction of Solar Park. The added element of complexity of this drive will be the crossing of a relatively technical area, between Murqab and Lisaili, which we usually avoided by crossing it on the so called "Highway to Solar Park" sand track. Not this time. As always on a new route, patience will be required. Other than this, we are looking to drive as far as we can, sunlight permitting. The convoy order will be the following: @Chinthaka Ruwan in Second Lead @Ammar Naji will be #3 @Charbel #4 @Anoop Nair will take #5 @Zixuan Huang - Charlie at #6 @darren thompson will anchor the convoy at Center Forward @Abdul Rafay-S at #8 @Pierre de Maigret will be #9 @Adhir Saxena will drive as #10 @Ali Abas (if you still wish to join the drive, please confirm) at #11, and @Chris Wing will Sweep the convoy. Our Carnity radio channel will be # 2 (446.031). See you all tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy the end of the week. @Ali Abas, I will add you to the convoy list (see my latest post), if you confirm you wish yo join the drive. Thanks

Dear Desertnauts. Here's the latest update about tomorrow's drive. First of all, the meeting point is a bit tricky to find, when following Google Maps. I'll try to explain better. From Qudra's Last Exit, please take the road to Bab al Shams Resort (first right at the Qudra roundabout, coming from Dubai). Upon reaching the first roundabout, take the second exit, to reach this point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oeXzNh6zySDJZ7Hf9 Once passed the bike track, please reach the meeting point by taking a right dirt track through the sabkha, as posted below, until you reach a construction camp, where I and/or one of the other Seniors will be parked. Once at the meeting point, start deflating to between 13 and 11 PSI, depending on your tires. We will be tuning in on Carnity radio channel #3 (446.031). We'll leave as soon as deflation is complete, in an easterly directions, to cross a short patch of technical dunes, with the goal of reaching the long-range dunes of Qudra north, and side-slope back and forth through this area. Having done this, we'll move back west, through more technical terrain, looking out for gazelles and groups of trees, until we'll reach, once again, a set of long range, tall dunes, where we'll finally find numerous rock formations, and natural pools. Our convoy order will be the following: @Senthil Kumar will be Second Lead @Alexander Holodny at #3 @YOGG30 at #4 @Damiru Dharmadasa will be #5 @SUNIL KUMAR at #6 @Jason Grima will take place #7 @Kailas will be the Center Forward @FARAZ MOHAMMED at #9 @Super Safari Girl will be #10 @Yawa at #11 @James Thorn will be #12 @shu yang will drive at #13 @TT_Dubai at #14, and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ will Sweep the long convoy. See you all tomorrow, sharp at 5:00 AM. Have a nice end of the week.

The waitlist at the moment is the following: @Rjducos#1 @Lakshmi Narasimhan #2 @Ali Abas#3 Thanks

Hi @Ali Abas. I will put you on the WL, and will sort it out by tomorrow. Thanks

Hello @Adhir Saxena. You can add yourself to the drive if you wish to confirm. One spot became available. Thanks a lot.

Thanks @TT_Dubai. See you soon.

Hi @GauravSoni. You are #3 in the WL. Thanks

Dear Desertnauts - @Mario Cornejo, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Craig Finlayson, @Thomas Varghese, @Melenany, @Amir Amiri, @Kalahari - Welcome to the 100th Carnity drive celebration. While I usually provide a detailed preview of the drive, this time the briefing is simple: have fun, and enjoy together the most beautiful parts of the Sharjah and Dubai sands. As some of the most fun IM drives we did have been the "Long Range Patrol" series, I have thought it fitting for a celebration to bring on a new installment of this series. To get us in the mood for a hot, dusty, afternoon I'd like to share with you a bit of the history of the LDRG: "For weeks, the LRDG carried out reconnaissance patrols in the heart of the Libyan desert, penetrating enemy territory through the ‘Qattara Depression’, an astonishing natural feature 150 miles long, half as broad, and 450 feet below the Mediterranean at its deepest point. It was a pin-prick on the earth’s surface but a crueler, more desolate spot would be hard to imagine, particularly in July under the midday sun." Now, we hope to find our route more hospitable than the Qattara depression, nonetheless we'll move as fast and as silently as possible through the dunes of Murqab (and a new route at that), the Lisaili Plateau, and onward as much as the sunlight will allow us to, across Solar Park and Bab al Shams long range dunes. The next instructions will provide the convoy order and radio channel. Until then, enjoy your week.

Hello @Gok Krish, You are #1 on the WL. Thanks Hello @Ashok chaturvedi, You are #2 on the WL. Thanks

Dear Desertnauts - @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @Abdul Rafay-S, @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Pierre de Maigret, @Charbel, @Anoop Nair, @darren thompson, @Ammar Naji, @Chris Wing, @TT_Dubai - Welcome to the 100th Carnity drive celebration. While I usually provide a detailed preview of the drive, this time the briefing is simple: have fun, and enjoy together the most beautiful parts of Murqab and particularly Lisaili. We'll start easy, albeit with a brisk pace, on the wide and tall dunes of Murqab, then cross a more technical area (this time through the dunes, without using the sand track we call "the Highway to Solar Park"), to finally reach the Lisaili plateau, where we'll proceed, exploring its inner reaches, looking for camel caravans, or aiming for groups of trees, until we'll exit at Solar Park. The next instructions will provide the convoy order and radio channel. Until then, enjoy your week.

Hello @Adhir Saxena. You will be #1 on the WL. Thanks Hello @Lakshmi Narasimhan. You are currently #2 on the WL. Thanks

Dear Desertnauts - @FARAZ MOHAMMED, @Damiru Dharmadasa, @James Thorn, @Jason Grima, @Yawa, @Alexander Holodny, @shu yang, @SUNIL KUMAR, @Senthil Kumar - Welcome to my 100th Carnity drive. While I usually provide a detailed preview of the drive, this time the briefing is simple: have fun, and enjoy together the most beautiful parts of Qudra. There will be dunes, of course, as well as animals, trees, rock formations and lakes. We'll start easy, using the basic off-roading skills, progressing to slightly more complicated terrains, based on the convoy's behavior. Bring your cameras, as we'll try to make this a more photographic drive then others, taking some time to shoot some of the sights we'll drive by. The next instructions will include the details of how to reach the meeting point (which is a little tricky), and the convoy order. Until then, enjoy your week.