Ale Vallecchi

Hello @Ahab Shamaa. #1 on the WL. Hope to see you. Thanks. Hello @N@ved. No need for a test. We'll stay within Dubai. See you. Hello @Aravind Padmaraju. You are #2 on the WL. Thanks

@Nivin, @Mario Cornejo, @Alexander Alcala we also have discussed the possibility of organizing such clean up drives with the sponsorship and cooperation of a water company whose CEO took one of our Masterclasses (and voiced his disappointment at the pollution in the desert). Nonetheless, more than the sanitary aspect of collecting garbage - mostly plastic, glass and cans which have been exposed tsun, wind, hot and cold for quite sometimes, thus very unlikely to be infectious, if picked up with gloves and masks - the current regulations about limiting gatherings prevent us from setting up such organized, officially sponsored drives, and from advertising or raising awareness about such group activity. I believe we'll just have to wait a little longer, to tackle this issue, which is very much at heart for all of us. Surely we will be able to resume these drives in the future. At the same time, as @Rahimdad said, there will never be enough drives to solve this problem if the culture and habits of desert going people is not changed. As a club we are doing our best, but may certainly do more, by rehiterating the concept of "bringing out what we bring in" with our briefings and advertise our drives as "pollution free", marking "trash dumps" points and alerting authorities of their location (especially in wildlife protected areas, as Marshald and Leaders we could stop the drive for the time necessary to take the waypoint). I guess any idea on how to spread this awareness is welcome, as we all wish this problem to be solved (or limited).

Hello @Ahmed Wagdy. Cannot say why. I recorded on My Trails, and only see 1 track. Hope you can sort it out 😅🍀

@Robert Nammour let me know if you can open the attached file. I use My Trails, but the GPX file can be opened with many Apps (Gaia, Wikilock, My Tracks, etc.). 20210122 .gpx

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 in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: BAN POST Two Way Radio Guidelines Every Off-roader brings his own radio, programmed to the frequencies described in below advice topic. We will not share spare radios or program your radio on the drive. If you need assistance in programming the radio, post a topic on the Carnity website with your questions and we will help you out. Make sure your radio is fully charged. It will be your only way of communication while driving. Before buying, please carefully read below advice so you are informed properly on which model / cost / shops... No radio = No drive. It is an essential tool and you should make sure you bring it on every drive and learn/practice how to use it. Drive Details Level: Fewbie and Above When: 29 January 2021, Friday. Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Action Plan: We will be aiming to drive first to Ganthoot, then on to Little Sweihan (on the other side of the fenced military area) and finally through this magnificent dune set back north toward Solar park, via the "Middle Earth" in between. Technical areas, long range dunes, sand bowls and canyons, sabkhas, sand tracks will be our playground. Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/AtgREn7JpaU6XnaC9 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), face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: Not earlier than 12:00PM THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. WE WILL STARTING AND ENDING THE DRIVE AT THE SAME POINT, WHICH IS NOT CLOSE TO AN AIR LINE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A COMPRESSOR, PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE. IF YOU ARRIVE AND HAVE NO COMPRESSOR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 Fewbie and above drivers. 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. 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 BELOW CALENDAR

WELCOME TO THE DESARTNAUTS TRIBE - Absolute Newbie Al Qudra Drive Report Dear Desert lovers, after completing your first drive you are all now part of the Desertnaut Tribe. Congrats. I hope you all enjoyed your first experience driving on sand with Carnity. You all drove well. You will find, if you decide to further pursue this hobby, that each one will develop her/his own style of driving, some more "aggressive", some more "elegant", so listen to the sensations you felt during yesterday's drive, as they are the prelude to the style of desert driving you will develop. Some of it will also depend on your car, and how you adapt to its strengths and weaknesses, as horse back riders adapts to the character of their mounts, to become one with it. Always remember, though, that a rider can only manage to extract its best from the animal. to lead and cajole the horse to go over an obstacle, but will never go where the horse does not want to go, or she/he will be dismounted. Similarly, you will learn how to get the best performance from your car, on each terrain and condition, and manage to overcome most obstacles (with momentum), but will never be able to take your car where it doesn't want to go (against gravity). Yesterday we did practice building momentum, and using it, to go over dunes (straight cresting/crossing), and to safely drive up and down the face of a dune (side-sloping), while we also experienced the feeling of driving on top of the flatter, wider dunes, in anticipation of eventually developing the skill of ridge-riding, on taller, sharper dunes. We also successfully went through a couple of well managed self-recoveries, from cars momentarily stuck on the side of dunes, practiced an assisted recovery (with the use of shovels) to get a car unstuck from a straight cresting), and finally saw the tow-rope in action, to solve a couple of stucks with a nice tug action. That's the most on can expect from any Absolute Newbie drive, which lasted 4:00 hours, covered a very good 39Kms, at an average moving speed of 19 Km/h. Having said this, I I would like to thank @Serafino for a well executed Second Lead. Congratulations to @Satish Mungse, @Hossam Anwar, @Samuel Hainsworth and @Robert Nammour for driving with great control throughout the morning. Allow me to remind @Ahmed Wagdy, @soumyasaklani and @ankit teotia, who all exploited perfectly the full power of their cars, not to counter-stear at times, as that will be making you loose the momentum which you all had properly built while approaching the last obstacle we faced. I truly would like to thank @Francis Fernandes for his patience in listening to my instructions, even when they were issued in the heat of the moment, with a sterner tone. You managed to get out of a couple of difficult places just using your newly acquired skills, and the power of your car: the ice has been broken, and you will be able to constantly improve from now on. Last, but not least, a big thank you to @Jeepie, for her outstanding support, as well as for always finding the right and reassuring words to lead every refusal and recovery. Thank you again for joining the drive. I look forward to seeing you all in the desert soon.

Hi @Pacific. I don't want to make you waste your time, but if you still want to try you may come and we can evaluate on the spot. However, if not properly equipped you will not be able to start the drive. I leave this option up to you. Yes @ankit teotia it is. Please follow your Google Maps navigator through the location's link. See you tomorrow.

Dear @Pacific. It may have, but please check once more. Tow hooks or eyelets are essential, always but especially on Absolute Newbie drives, as they are required in case of recoveries from being stuck in the sand. They ought to be present and in good conditions, or it's not possible to drive in the desert. Thanks for your cooperation.

Dear desert people. Time to send the last information about tomorrow's Absolute Newbie drive. First of all, thanks for sending me the info regarding your past experiences, and available equipment. I will check the tow points when you reach the meeting point, just to make sure they are in good conditions. Those who have flags, please mount them, while I will assist you with deflating. Please, remember to come with a full tank. Regarding the meeting point, I have chosen a spot which is a bit out of the way from the tarmac road, as in the proximity of the turn-off there are a lot of road works, and we may not have enough space. As advised, please follow the Google Map directions. Once you turn off the tarmac (after circling 360 degrees around a roundabout) you will pass through an opening in the roadworks, and head toward an opening in the fence you'll see in front of you. One between myself (with a black Xterra) and @Jeepie (with a green Jeep) will be waiting there, to point you in the right direction. Please take that gravel road into the area, and drive for less than 3 Km before finding the meeting point. Either myself or Marjan (Jeepie) will be already parked there: stop in a line on the side of the track, and wait to receive further instructions. Those of you with radios, please tune into Carnity Channel #1 (446.006). It would be best if you manage to have this frequency pre-programmed, or activate the dial-in funcyion of your radio, so you may manually tune into it. This will be the convoy order which you will have to follow, once we'll have departed from the meeting and deflation point: @Serafino will be in second place @Satish Mungse in spot #3 @Hossam Anwar at #4 @Samuel Hainsworth will be #5 @Francis Fernandes #6 @Pacific will go at #7 @Robert Nammour at #8 @Cedric Warde will drive at #9 @Ahmed Wagdy with spot #10 @soumyasaklani will be #11 @ankit teotia in place #12, and @Jeepie will close the group. Everything else you'll have to know we'll discuss and present just before and during the drive. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow morning at 7:00AM sharp.

@Irshad Alam then you will have to join a Newbie drive. As you know Absolute Newbie is designed for first-timers with the Club. Sorry, and thanks for the understanding.

Dear @Irshad Alam. You have already driven with Carnity, or this would be your first drive with our Club? Thanks a lot Dear @ankit teotia. Thanks for your reply. No worries about this being your first drive. Just please let me know what tires you are mounting. That would be useful (to know if they have a high profile, or low profile). Thanks a lot.

Dear @ankit teotia. Welcome to the drive. Just a few questions to allow me to prepare for it. First, what kind of tires you have on the car: are they with the very low side-wall, or you mount off-road tires? Also, please let me know if you have: any prior off-road experience your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks / eyelets tire deflator tire pressure gauge off-road flag air compressor Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. It will be a pleasure to see how your great car does on sand.

@Frederic I just realized I had never congratulated you on your promotion to Crew. I'm so ashamed!! Perhaps, partly it's because I always saw you at the top of the pyramid. It's your natural place. Truthfully, there is nobody more deserving, so great is your involvement in every aspect and action of the Club. Thanks for everything you do to keep us going smoothly and efficiently. Bravo!!

Great idea @Frederic. Lots of useful info to help members decide the type of area they may be interested in. Perhaps we could up the Lisaili/Faqa Excitement grade, to a little more than 75% (I would actually grade it higher than Qudra), considering the variety of dunes we can find in those areas. But I am just neat-picking (about one my favorite areas 😉), as you have really done an outstanding work. Thanks a lot!!

Dear @Ahmed Wagdy, thanks for joining the drive. You are welcome to bring your family (making sure they, and any items you'll bring along, are all safely strapped down). Just make sure you always manage to pay attention to the drive, and to any kind of communication that will be going on). See you on Friday. Dear @Ganesan Kathirvel, I tried to write to you as soon as I could, so you may get a spot in a Newbie drive. I'll see what I can do. Have you put your name in any waiting list?

Well done @Harold Roberts !! It was a pleasure driving with you, and look forward to more challenging treks together.

Hello @Salty3Arab. I will. See you in a future drive.

Dear @Ganesan Kathirvel. Thanks for joining this drive. I am aware that you have already taken your Absolute Newbie drive last week. Thereforr you should look to sign in a Newbie drive this week, as this one is reserved for anyone who has never driven with Carnity before. Please confirm, so I can sign you off the drive. Thanks and hope to see you in the future.

Hello @[email protected]. Sorry to hear that. Hope to see you soon. A presto.

Ottimo!! Bravo. And @Serafino is a nice name 👍

Thank you @Serafino. Will see you on Friday. BTW. Sei italiano?

Dear soon to be Desertnauts. Welcome to Carnity! As you are aware of, this is a drive strictly for who has never been off road with Carnity. In preparation for it, it is important that you inform us if: you have any prior off-road experience; your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks / eyelets. Before joining the drive on Friday morning, you will need to have viewed the introductory videos (links above). Please also make sure you are equipped with you a tire deflator and a tire pressure gauge (sometimes they are all in one tool). You will need these. If you have an off-road flag as well that would he great. In case you do not have a flag mount on your car, you may look for a flag with suction cups, which can be easily placed on one of the rear windows. Even if the drive should end near a gas station, where they have an air compressor, if you have your own please bring it along, as it may be quicker than waiting in line. So, to recap, useful tools to carry would be: tire deflator tire pressure gauge off-road flag air compressor All these items should be available at any ACE or Speedex store, as well as at Dragon Mart. Regarding the area of the drive, we will access the desert from a less used entry point, along the road going from Qudra Parking (where you can use the ADNOC gas station to fill up your tank), toward the Bab al Shams Resort. Follow carefully the Google Maps directions: once you turn off the tarmac road (after circling a roundabout next to a mosque), you will cross an opening through roadworks being done along the bike track. Still following Google Maps' directions, you will go through an open fence, on a dirt track, for a few kilometers, until you'll reach the meeting and deflation point. I will also ask the other Senior member driving with the group to wait at the turn-off from the tarmac, just next to the bike track, and direct you in the proper direction. Once arrived at the meeting point, we'll conduct a final inspection of your cars (sufficient clearance and accessible tow points are a must, without which you'll be turned back). Following a detailed technical briefing, we'll be ready to enter the dunes, and start your off-roading adventure. This area is rarely used by other clubs, and the sand is much cleaner ad smoother, so this is an ideal ground to move your first steps in the desert. @Satish Mungse, @Serafino, @[email protected], @Robert Nammour, @Ganesan Kathirvel, @Hossam Anwar, @Rowi Elsaid, and any other enthusiast willing to join the Carnity family, please contact me on this thread for any preparatory question. In the meantime, have a great week.

@Thomas Varghese just faster pace, more ridge riding, more ridge crossing, including in and out of bowls. But the skill set is the same (perhaps with more control and self confidence).

ALL THE REASONS FOR LOVING DESERT OFF-ROADING IN A DRIVE - Full Day Drive Lahbab to Solar Park Report Sunrises and sunsets, misty mornings, sunny days, blazing dusks, yellow, red and white sand, crawling pace, fast runs, lunch with fellow members, coffee, tea, conversation, refusals, second-attempts, working together at sorting stucks, directing traffic amidst tight dunes and rolling bowls, the excitement at starting a drive, and the satisfaction at the end of it. This and more, depending on each one's sensibility, passions and expectations, are the elements that draw certain people irresistibly toward deserts, and off-roading, and which were all available for our enjoyment in yesterdays' full day drive. In terms of the drive itself, most of it had been described in its presentation, so I will not repeat myself. Suffice it to say that all terrains were available to us - sabkhas, with little or lots of vegetation, tight technical areas, long range open (more or less) dunes, play areas with sand bowls, even pylon dirt tracks and tarmac roads. We were chased by the sun, from sunrise to sunset, throughout a drive that took us a total of 6:55 hours, covered 143.2 Kms, at a total average speed of 21 KM/h, and a very impressive 27 KM/H average moving speed in the second segment. As for the most important part of the drive, the human component, my biggest thanks to all the drivers: great driving, great attitude and great company. My first thoughts (and questions) go to @Yasas Dharmadasa and @Athula Dharmadada: it's a pity you had to forfeit the drive due to mechanical issues. Please update us on your car's prognosis. A most felt thank you goes to @Kalahari, resuming his position as trusted Second Lead, often mind reading my corrections, to @Ahab Shamaa, managing the long convoy from the middle and assisting with the winch, and @Francois Germishuys, not only positioned at Sweep due to his long, big, bad truck, but also, and foremost, for his reassuring driving skills. Your support was key to managing a successful long drive such as this. Words of praise go to @Thomas Varghese and @Ken Hüüdma, debuting among Fewbies, but driving like much more experienced off-roaders. With only minor imperfections (a moment of distraction on one side, and an indecision coming off a ridge on the other), you allowed the drive to be bumped up to more than Fewbie, closer to Fewbie Plus, both in terms of skills being applied, and speed sustained. Well done also to @sri ganesh, for overcoming all challenges and perfecting his command of the Pajero (which often requires a bit more time to manage in the desert, to to its length and mechanics). @AlexPol, @VipinShetty, @Joe Biju Joseph and @Islam Soliman, you were the more established, experienced drivers, and managed with so few issues that lifted any worries from my mind, and contributed decisively to raising the bar for this drive. Thanks to all for this first Full Day drive of the season. See you soon out there, for more long treks and explorations. Enjoy the new week.