Ale Vallecchi

We always hear Marshals and Experts recommend to use "momentum" while driving in the desert. As this most favorite advice is given, or sometimes shouted through the radio (“BUILD YOUR MOMENTUM”, or “KEEP THE MOMENTUM”) heads bob in confirmation, and a murmur of "yes" and "understood" runs through the briefed convoy. But how many really know what momentum is? Do we confuse it with speed, acceleration, or what else? Without going too much into the physics of it, let us see what we really mean with "momentum". THE WHAT Momentum is the product of the mass of a particle and its velocity. It is a vector quantity: i.e., it has both magnitude and direction. In other words, Momentum is the force that exists in a moving object. To make some examples, a moving truck has more momentum than a car driving at the same speed because the truck has more mass. Similarly, a fast car has more momentum than a slow truck. When you are driving, you and your vehicle have momentum force, based on the total weight of your vehicle and your speed. While you are driving, momentum keeps your vehicle moving, unless it is acted upon by something, such as your brakes, a fixed object (such as a tree), another vehicle.... or the road surface. Enter our deserts' sand: this shifty, soft surface interferes with momentum. On a flat track, sand will simply reduce the speed at which you are driving (as the vehicle will tend to sink in it and encounter more friction). The loss of momentum will make the car eventually come to a stop, much quicker than on a harder, more compact tarmac road. Much like a jet ski on water, the more momentum your vehicle has on sand, the smoother it will glide, or 'plane', across the surface. That is why it is important to keep your speed up on sand - without overdoing it. THE WHY On a dune, we will have to contend not only with the sand’s friction, but also with the infamous force of GRAVITY!! As we all know, on Earth all bodies have a weight, or downward force of gravity which Earth's mass exerts on them, proportional to their mass. The heavier the object (read car), the stronger the downward pull. An object (car) placed on a tilted surface (dune’s slope) will tend to slide down the surface. The rate at which the object slides down depends on how tilted the surface is: the greater the tilt of the surface, the faster the rate at which the object will slide down it. In physics, a tilted surface is called an inclined plane (in desert off-roading is called a …. dune). Objects are known to accelerate down inclined planes because of an unbalanced force. Determining the net force acting upon an object (car) on an inclined plane (dune) involves dividing the gravity into two perpendicular components. On inclined planes (dunes_ the force of gravity, in fact, will be equal to the sum of two components - one parallel to the inclined surface and the other one perpendicular to the inclined surface. The diagram below shows how the force of gravity has been replaced by the two components - a parallel and a perpendicular component of force. Taking a leap from the purely mathematical explanation of these dynamics to a more intuitive representation, (see figure attached) you may think of the right momentum (the car’s mass times its speed) as producing F1, that is the force that “anchors” the car to the slope/dune, being greater than F2. However, removing, or significantly reducing the element of speed, leaves only the weight of your car in play, thus prompting it to slide down the dune. Clearly, when momentum is lost, F1 will start to become smaller and smaller, and the component of gravity that will prevail will be F2, pulling the car toward the bottom of the slope. When this happens, you’ll hear the second most shouted command by a Marshal or Expert: DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY (as you’ll never win). And remember, you’d better not!!!

@Thomas Varghese, as with every drive at each level, yesterday's drive was conceived keeping in mind the constraints which Fewbie members pose. Therefore, while we went into an area I had already visited twice, with Advance/Experts (for the recce drive) and Intermediates (for the first published drive), our drive was engineered to enter a slightly more open set of dunes, proceed at a more sedated pace, avoiding sharp dunes' ridge riding and crossing, and staying away from some trickier passages between technical dunes, as all these challenges may have led Fewbies to multiple refusals, stucks, and perhaps even more damaging consequences. Once the sign-ups were complete, I considered the skills and experience of each driver, to create the stronger and safer convoy order possible. Adding this variable - the quality of the convoy - to the equation, allows to identify the weakest links in the drive, usually represented by the members with less experience, and sometimes by the more troublesome cars, and fine-tune the drive's track and difficulty accordingly. With all of the above in mind, it ultimately all comes down to how the convoy actually behaves (less experienced drivers may face obstacles with no issue at all, or "weaker" cars can be handled expertly and pose no problems whatsoever). Our convoy behaved quite impressively (it isn't just if and how many refusals or stucks take place, but how they come about, and how much they depended upon a driver's "mistake" or the nature of the terrain), so that by the time we were getting close to Ganthoot you will have noticed that we started ridge-riding, and criss-crossing some taller dunes, at a brisk (if not fast) pace. By then, I guess it had become more of a Fewbie Plus drive. Intermediate drives, as the one we did in the past on most of yesterday's track, would be more fast paced from the beginning, cover some terrains which instead we did our best to avoid (including longer strings of bowls, or more technical areas), have more criss-crossings, even of taller and sharper dunes, and in general, be led with much less concern for the behavior of the convoy, which is almost taken for granted as able to face most obstacles, with very few refusals and almost no stucks. As for modified cars, keep in mind that in order to prepare a drive, I don't look at the mods that members have made to their car (most time I don't even know, until I reach the meeting point). At Carnity, our main goal is to bring a convoy through any given area thinking we are leading a group of stock cars (just as my own FJ). Mods are entirely up to members, and their fancy. We do not require them, we do not encourage them, and we do not conceive our drives to cater to modified cars. Felling like I may speak for all of us at Carnity, I believe mods do not make a drive easier, if the drivers does not have, or has not improved, his skills and mental approach to off-roading. Allow me to give you an example (hoping I am not giving too long an answer to an apparently easy question); @Ahab Shamaa joined the Club with a car (his FJ Extreme) which already comes with a few mods. Nonetheless, Ahab took our drives with the perfect attitude: humbly learning the necessary skills, and most of all, fine tuning his "feeling" with his car, learning how to extract its full potential, one drive at a time. He has realized, through his drives, that the modified FJ alone will not draw an impeccable side slope, sustain a long, sharp ridge-riding, or achieve a fast paced criss-crossing, unless he, as a driver, has learned how to ride his car in the best and safest manner. Your attitude seems to be the same, even with the stock Xterra, so I am confident that as your skills improve, you will be able to progress to higher ranks, regardless of the car's status (or actually, exactly because driving stock may force you to pay even more attention to your driving style and manner).

They did a check. There was no more dripping. It may have been overflow from the overheating. Will look into it. Thanks

@Arda Yagcioglu apparently nothing other than overheating. The computer didn't show anything. They replenished the cooling fluid. The car ran without issues to the gas station and back home👍 Thanks for asking.

The Long Drive that could have been longer - Bab al Shams to Ganthoot and Middle Earth Report To beat the iron until it's hot, fresh off the press here's the report of the Long, Long Drive that had to be cut short (if you can say that after 5:27 hours). After a timely departure, blessed by the sunrise in our faces, the long convoy entered the technical dunes after the pylon track, carving through them like a knife in hot butter. So much for my worries that the entry may be the toughest moment of the day: Fewbies behaved like higher rank members, and found themselves in the middle of the long range dunes in no time. However, in a strange twist of things, a couple of stucks materialized in what I reckoned would be relatively easy parcels to navigate. And it would be like this throughout the drive, with the convoy tackling unaffected the more complex bowls, long ridges and trickier tight dunes, while slowing down with refusals and stucks (not that many, to say the truth) on relatively easier terrain. Perhaps when the going got tough, the whole convoy raised the bar of concentration and skillful driving, while on apparently easier places (small steps, low ridges, even some flat spots) part of the convoy was caught by surprise. Nonetheless, we had a blessed drive, with a fantastic landscape of pristine cream colored dunes, the mesmerizing effect of an unexpectedly strong wind pulverizing the taller crests, magnificent rock formations (some looking like ruins of an old city), and the biggest heard of oryx I have ever seen in the UAE (or anywhere else for that matter). Two of our goals for the day were achieved: reaching the outskirts of Ganthoot, and crossing over to the fence encircling the military shooting ground. When the third objective was about to materialize (Luca's debut as Leader, on our way through the "Middle Earth"), my car became jealous and decided to play the old trick of overheating to avoid passing the baton. Fortunately for the car (and unfortunately for Luca) a good rest and lots of fluids allowed the temperature to return to normal. Considering this happened in reach of the southern-most stretch of the Qudra bike track (an ideal exit point), and fearing the incident may happen again once ventured into the mysterious heart of the Middle Earth, we agreed to end the long drive. And long it was, covering 68.3 Km, in 5:27 hours, at a moving speed of 21 Km/h. My thanks go to all the members who drove with great passion and care: @Luca Palanca Falsini for his Second Lead and invaluable assistance with refusals (and directing traffic through the most challenging string of bowls); @Islam Soliman at Center Forward and @Ahab Shamaa in Sweep, for their abnegation, enthusiasm and omnipresence in dealing with recoveries; @Thomas Varghese and @Arda Yagcioglu for doctoring my car back to a healthy state (as well as for a great drive); @N@ved for babysitting me back to the gas station, in case of a second bout of fever (as well as for a great drive); @varunmehndiratta, @Aravind Padmaraju, @Niki Patel, @Denizzalbayrak, @Anand Nataraj, and @Jack Thomas for driving smoothly and responding brilliantly to all the different terrains. I have to say that everybody drove very safely, and that refusals and stucks happened because of the challenges posed by the terrain (even though at times unexpected), rather then due to miscalculations or misbehavior (namely fighting gravity). I believe these are the kind of drives where we all progress to be better drivers, and gain self-confidence (in ourselves and our cars). WELL DONE. PS: I was forgetting. I will soon publish a drive which will allow us to complete this one, through Middle Earth, and drive on to Faqa. I wish you can all join, to finish what we started.

@Thomas Varghese I look worried 😂. Must have been on that roller coaster dune.

Hello @Senthil Kumar. Sorry for my delay, as I just saw your message upon my return at home. I saw you have signed up with Pancho's Fewbie, and in consideration of the fact that that drive has 4 members signed in, while mine has 12, I would suggest that you still join your first drive with Pancho, so that we can balance the drives' numbers. I hope you understand this, which is not a rejection from my part, but an attempt to have equally balanced drives throughout the club. I am sorry if this disappoints you, and I hope you understand. Thanks a lot.

Dear Desertnauts, in preparation for the drive, here are the latest news. First, about reaching the meeting point, be advised that there will be other Carnity convoy in that very same area (along the same track), meeting for their drives. Our convoy will be the last one, in correspondence of the published meeting place. While you reach it, after turning off from the tarmac and crossing the bike track, you will pass these other Carnity convoys: do not stop, and drive all the way to our meeting point, where I should be waiting on a black Xterra. Once again, set the published meeting point on your Google Maps, follow the directions accordingly, and please join the last one of the convoys that you'll see, further into the gravel track. Secondly, once you reach the meeting point, please tune into Carnity channel #5 (462.887). Once arrived you may start deflating to 12-13 PSI, depending on your car and type of tires. The convoy order will be the following: @Luca Palanca Falsini will take Second Lead position @Aravind Padmaraju at #3 @Thomas Varghese as #4 @varunmehndiratta is driver #5 @N@ved will be #6 @Islam Soliman will anchor the convoy at Center Forward @Niki Patel will follow at #8 @Arda Yagcioglu will in position #9 @Denizzalbayrak with shirt #10 @Anand Nataraj you are #11 @Jack Thomas will follow at #12, and @Ahab Shamaa will Sweep the group to safety. Now, let's end the day on a positive note, enjoy a relaxing evening, and prepare for a challenging Fewbie drive, comforted by the fact that we have a strong and experienced convoy, which will do its best to make the newer members feel at ease with this long drive, through every terrain and practice grounds that the Emirate of Dubai has to offer. See you tomorrow.

@Denizzalbayrak, it's confirmed. Thanks a lot. Please sign out of the other drive.

Hi again @Denizzalbayrak. Sorry to bother, but I saw you are also signed up in another drive tomorrow. Can you please confirm which one you will join, so we can be sure of the convoy's composition? Thanks a lot for your help.

Hi @Denizzalbayrak. Just checking if you saw my message about your being IN tomorrow's drive. Please confirm, Thanks a lot.

Hello @Aus Alzubaidi. Sorry to hear that. Hope all will be well. See you soon. Hello @Denizzalbayrak. You are IN the drive. Can you please confirm? Thanks

Hi @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ. Sorry to hear this. Hope to see you soon. Hello @Aus Alzubaidi. Are you able to join tomorrow's drive? Please confirm if so. Thanks a lot.

Yes @Islam Soliman you are in. See you Friday. Thanks.

Congrats @marks

Great news @Tamas Hoffmann. Well done.

Actually after Islam and Aus @Senthil Kumar is #3, and @Denizzalbayrak is #4. Sorry for the confusion.

@Ahab Shamaa I have added you to the drive to close the convoy at 14 cars on total. @Islam Soliman, @Aus Alzubaidi and @Denizzalbayrak you are now respectively #1, 2 and #3 in the WL. Thanks to all.

Congrats @Pancho. Looking forward to drive together.

BRAVA @Vanessa8580 !! Super deserved. You put in an enormous amount of passion (first of all) and hard work, to master your car, adapt to its characteristics, and extract the best out of it under any circumstance. You never gave up and always came back stronger from any setback, using even the smallest events to learn and improve. Plus, you are a pioneer: looking forward to seeing the first Carnity all girls convoy sinuously carving its path through the dunes (why not at...Pink Rock).

Sure @Denizzalbayrak. You'll be #4 on the WL. Thanks

Dear Desertnauts. It has taken a little longer than usual to post the drive's information, as I decided to do a recce drive today, to check the route. Having double checked the itinerary (which we had previously driven only with Advance and Intermediate) I have to say that it should be a challenging, but doable, Fewbie drive. The most difficult part will be at the beginning of the drive: a tight, technical area, which we'll need to cross before entering the long, higher dunes leading to Ganthoot. It will require some patience and perseverance, but we'll surely manage through it. After that, a sea of rolling sand, almost virgin, so few are the tracks on the light yellow dunes, alternating between a lower, open landscape, and deeper bowls strung along taller cordons of sand. Once reached Ganthoot, south-west of our entry point, we'll go north-east, on a terrain of long dines separated by numerous mud formations, toward the military compound which separates this area from Little Sweihan. We'll drive on a sabkha next to the fence, past which we'll move east, into a set of tall dunes much richer with low, grassy vegetation. Once crossed this area, we'll decide, based on the convoy's behavior and cumulative skills, and the time remaining, weather to go south toward Little Sweihan proper (a challenging line of tall dunes, with soft sand bowls), or proceed north toward Solar Park, crossing the last sabkhas and low, technical dunes. @N@ved, @varunmehndiratta, @Arda Yagcioglu, @Niki Patel, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @AlexPol, @Thomas Varghese, @Jack Thomas, @Anand Nataraj, @Aravind Padmaraju, considering the planned length of the drive (which should take no less than 4 hours), please make sure that all is in order with the car, and that you have enough refreshments (solid and liquid) to stay well hydrated and nourished well into the day. We'll stop every hour or so, depending on how we'll be moving along, to take breaks and rest a bit. More news on Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy your week.

Hello @Aus Alzubaidi. You are #4 on the WL. Thanks.

@Aravind Padmaraju I saw that you are already signed up for the drive, so I'll take you off the WL. See you on Friday. Thanks.

Hi @Senthil Kumar. I will place you at #4 in the WL. Thanks