Lorenzo Candelpergher

Dear @Waqar.S, Following today's AN drive with @Brette, if you are still interested, you may join tomorrow's Newbie Drive. Please confirm if this is still your intention.

Dear @Joseph Raju, sorry to hear the unfortunate news. It is however the right decision to wait for your tow point to be in order. It is important for your safety and for that of those who may have to recover your car from a stuck. We'll done. See you next time.. Luckily the desert isn't going away any time soon 😂😂 @Adhir Saxena, in light of the latest development, you are admitted to the RSVP. Can you pls confirm whether you still intend to join?

Dear @Adhir Saxena, you are waitlisted. Dear @Joseph Raju, can you confirm you have replaced your ballpoint hitch with an appropriate tow point, as discussed with @Ale Vallecchi in the occasion of your Absolute Newbie Drive?

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, what a drive today!!! I think nothing captures the beauty of today's drive better than this shot at The Sphynx: beautiful sunrise, nice and compact sand, virgin terrain almost everywhere, and great (and short) convoy, perfectly disciplined and highly performing: The plan for the day was to start at 5:45am sharp, in the last minutes of darkness before dawn, and to drive restlessly for the best part of 2h 30', i.e. 150 minutes. Let us say the beginning of the plan didn't work out exactly as expected, as @Ashok chaturvedireached the meeting point just a few minutes before 6am and @GauravSoni had announced he wasn't going to make it before 6:15am. However, in a coordinated team effort @Ashok chaturvedi's tires where deflated in no-time, so by 6:00am sharp we had completed our briefing and were ready to make our move into the desert. For the first 15 minutes we roamed around climbing up and down the west side of Faya big dune, warming up a bit while waiting for Gaurav to reach us on the sand. By 6:15am our sweep was in position an we started along the planned route. Faya big climb was, in itself, a "no-go" today, given the immense amount of deep tracks which, with the sand still soaked from last week's rains, were also quite hardened and therefore very very uncomfortable and annoying to drive on. Accordingly, we shifted on the east side in order to climb Faya dune from the north, quickly reaching the the big bowls at the top, where we had a couple of non-stop rounds before criss-crossing to the west side again: The sand today was amazing. Clean, compact and mostly virgin, it allowed me to lead along never-ending super-sinuous lines, transitioning from ridge to ridge and from bowl to bowl. It was, honestly, exhilarating: for me one of the most entertaining drives in Faya in recent times, also helped by a spectacular setting, with the sun raising up above the saw-shaped Maleiha mountains on the east-side in the golden hour after sunrise. After having exhausted every possible ridge in Faya, we started heading north, again roaming around the fantastic ridges and bowls aligned along the east edge of the desert, overlooking the below sabkha. I find this area really fascinating, especially when riding on the very edge of the last dune, after which a steep slope falls down by at least 50m in altitude. Next time I'll broadcast via radio Areosmiths' "Living on the edge" while going through this stint!! It was in this area that we experienced the only stuck of the day with @PaoloMaraziti who, in a rare moment of relaxation, was betrayed by a tricky small crest, where he landed with his car's belly, requiring a quick tug from the back. As we moved further to the north we reached The Sphynx, where we took the 1st short break of the day: It was here that I had to admit I'm safer behind the steering wheel than on my own feet, as - coming down from the rock - I managed to perform a stumbling stunt landing on my belly in the sand 😂... We were soon on the move again, making our way to Camel Rock and further north until we reached the new fence that has been installed around Fossil Rock around 7:15am. It was about time to head back south, so from there we coasted the spine of rocks that connects Fossil Rock, Camel Rock and the Sphynx on the west side, quickly making our way to Faya, where again we indulged along fat and magnetically appealing ridges and the other super-bowl in the area: As we continued heading south, we climbed again Faya dune from the back (i.e. from the north side) and then enjoyed the 2nd short break of the day, contemplating the view from the top: As we still had a bit of time left, we descended and roamed around, progressively heading to the west side across increasingly bushy dunes, eventually exiting on Mahafiz - Faya Road next to the Mahafiz Roundabout by 8:15, as planned. The convoy today was magnificent: one stuck only and very few refusals / reattempts, all very well managed with minimal need for support or rerouting: @Zixuan Huang - Charlie was an excellent 2nd lead, always responsive to my requests for small re-routings or to my warnings here and there. I know the fast pace took him by surprise in the beginning, but I can confidently say that he drove perfectly and handled all situations with great calm and effectiveness. Kudos. @PaoloMaraziti was still inebriated by the last drive in the big dunes of Sweihan, but I'm sure he found today's drive equally challenging and fascinating, also because of the beautiful landscape. A very well driven session today: he kept the pace, had very minimal difficulties and managed well in all situations. @Ashok chaturvedi was back in one of my drives after quite some time: certainly his was a coming-back in great shape in a challenging terrain. Well done! @Pacific mentioned that, prior to today's one, he had had only one previous occasion to join one of my drives, in which he was forced to an early exit. I hope he enjoyed it and look forward to see him again in future drives. From what I could see in the frequent occasions when I looped back in our spaghetti-style route, he was in perfect control at all times. @JeromeFJ was particularly appreciative of today's punctuality in completing the drive. I think this is key in mid-week morning drives, as all of us have work commitments to respect. Once again a very well driven session: I think he should have no doubts at all about joining @Srikumar's IM drive in Abu Dhabi next weekend. @Ranjan Das was a perfect interim sweep for the first few minutes until @GauravSoni joined us. For the rest, he had to drive through a lot of churned up sand, but did so with confidence, taking the best out of his Rubicon. Kudos! We drove in total for 44.5km at an average moving speed of 22.1km/h, with just less than 22' of idle time over a total of 2h 12' overall drive duration. Our total ascent was +1023/-1019m: Last but not least, thanks to @GauravSoni for his support today. Luckily we didn't need much of it, but the simple knowledge to have him at the end of the convoy made my lead way more relaxed. I know Faya is one of @GauravSoni's favourites (his profile photo is taken from our last night drive there), so I'm curious to read his feedback on today's drive, where he jumped right in the action having missed the first warming-up bit. Thanks to everyone for a nice mid-week morning drive, which gave me every reason to plan more in the next future. See you soon in the sand!!

Dear Desert Wanderers, we have a fully booked RSVP for Saturday's drive. For the time being, the following drivers are confirmed: @Felix Obst, @Fabien Monleau, @Sanjay Malik. @Algin Varghese, @Mohammed Mansoor. @Serafino, @hasan hamadeh, @Alexanderrr, @jeetu sharma, @Joseph Raju. @Waqar.S, as said, you are waitlisted for your 2nd drive in the weekend, subject to successful completion of the absolute newbie drive on Friday with @Brette's convoy. At the moment the RSVP is full, so you will be granted access to this drive only in case someone drops out before Saturday. Also, I have removed you from the "Manage" tab, as this is an option only for the @Carnity Team members, who support the Drive Lead: in our case we will have @Jeepie supporting this drive on Saturday. If you have any questions or doubts about the upcoming drive, your car, the basic gear, or anything else, please do not hesitate to post them here so you can have your answers and be better prepared for our next adventure! Have a nice week and see you on the sand next Saturday !!

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @PaoloMaraziti, @Pacific, @JeromeFJ, @Ranjan Das, @Ashok chaturvedi, @GauravSoni, this drive is going to be thrilling and exciting, but also quite demanding from a technical point of view, both mentally for the drivers and mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, especially when we will reach elevated positions on steep slopes, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you. We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz). See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 5:45am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:30am.

Dear @Rawad, I see you are no longer in the RSVP. Are you not joining anymore?

Congratulations @Rawad, vell deserved promotion. See you soon in the sand!

Congratulations @Sunil Mathew, great achievement. Looking forward to drive toghether soon!

Dear @Niki, take the chance and join one of my drives: you'll discover it doesn't take any more courage than in any other drive at the same level, as all what is needed is enthusiasm and focus, which I'm sure you have loads of. I don't recall anyone ever pulling back or asking to quit out of fear for the high pace or the high climbs in my drives. On the opposite, I recall more than once people asking for MORE after they got acquainted and realized that whatever we do, in those "high octane drives" we do it in absolute safety and with great fun, taking everyone a bit beyond their comfort zone only to discover that their comfort zone is made to become bigger after every drive! Looking forward to see your name in the next RSVP!!

Great news @Mehmet Volga! Looking forward to join one of your next drives! Congrats!!

Dear @Waqar.S, Subject to completing the Absolute Newbie drive with @Brette and subject to availability of free spots, you will be most welcome to join the drive on Saturday. I have waitlisted you for your 2nd drive in the weekend.

After over 13 years in Dubai, it was only in early 2020 that I eventually discovered off-roading. Having been a hopeless workaholic for most of my adult life, until then I had never had a hobby nor any free time to practice one. I even used to say my work was my hobby.. If I think of it now I can hardly believe it. In February 2020 I had just bought a new Nissan Patrol, the Platinum City model, definitely not meant for off-roading and definitely meant to be a quiet Business / Family car. Then, a newly met acquaintance, who then became a dear and close friend, @Luca Palanca Falsini, persuaded me to join him on a family drive organized by one of the famous off-road garages in Dubai. I joined the drive with wife, children and even mother-in-law (no I wasn't planning to drop her in the middle of the desert.. 😂😂). I didn't know what to expect, I had made no preparations and nobody had given me any briefing.. I just drove into the desert and returned home with crashed front and back bumpers. Luca was afraid I'd never talk to him again, but quite on the opposite, I walked out of the car smiling from ear to ear and thanked him for the opportunity. That was the start of what was meant to become the very first and only real hobby that I consistently practiced in my life. More than I hobby, I'd say it became a passion. After driving a few times with other clubs, my engineering mindset urged me to seek for a more structured approach and, in my search, I discovered @Carnity. I was intrigued by almost everything about it and decided to give it a try. My first drive with @Carnity was on 20.03.2020, at Pink Rock, with @Rahimdad leading and @Wrangeld in support. I loved that drive, which I still remember as incredibly inspiring and exciting as we first approached and then climbed the Rock. With Covid-19 pushing stress levels through the roof, off-roading became not only a passion, but also a powerful stress reliever, allowing a weekly mind reset that kept me functioning across one of the most difficult times of my entrepreneurial career. Drive after drive, stuck after stuck and pop-out after pop-out (many, many pop-outs 😂😂) I learned how to handle my Y62. From Newbie to Fewbie to Intermediate, it was a great learning process, in a great environment, where I felt welcomed, supported, challenged to go a bit beyond my comfort zone, but always safe in doing so. I received precious feedback before, during and after every drive, I was congratulated on my achievements and cheered up on my mistakes, I was always overwhelmed with help whenever needed and felt compelled to help back, in a contagious, addictive team spirit, whenever others were in trouble. For months I've had my alarm set at 6:59 pm on Sundays to make sure I'd be able to respond to the RSVP of my favorite drive, feeling as excited as a child, for the first time in my life taking some time for myself and with a new goal to achieve: I wanted to master my off-roading driving skills. Moving to the Advisors team was a great amplifier of the whole experience, making me aware of the great deal of work that goes on behind the scenes to make @Carnity function as a Swiss clock and growing even more my appreciation for this great club and the wonderful people who come together in it. I kept on polishing my driving skills, but also learned about recoveries, and progressively shifted my focus from my own driving to that of all the others around me, as the whole purpose was, at that point, enabling others to live the same wonderful experience as I was experimenting. A whole new world of opportunities came with the Leaders Lead course brilliantly delivered by @Gaurav to @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Janarthan and myself and with the subsequent possibility to lead convoys. To my surprise, I discovered that the pleasure of leading and, in so doing, making people enjoying themselves while following my lines, by far exceeds the pleasure of driving for the sake of driving... The possibility to choose where to go, when to go, which level to drive, the fine line between pushing the convoy to do a bit more without doing anything unsafe, the challenge to set the level so that everyone has fun but the weakest driver can make it through, the pleasure of planning a route to unveil a scenic sunrise driving east in the morning or west in a burning sunset in the afternoon, the satisfaction to see your convoy conquering a mighty dune, a giant bowl, or tricky technical terrain, the sense of adventure exploring new territories... are pure magic. I felt blessed and honored in every drive I led and enthralled by the feedback from those who followed my tail. In less than one year I made it to Expert level in my Y62 until, in February this year, a distraction reminded me the hard way how still inexperienced I was in reality.. I paid my toll, grounded for six endless weeks with an outlook to have my Y62 back only after 6 months 😭😭). As a real desert addict, I couldn't bear the waiting, so I finally came back on a new Jeep Wrangler, with my glorious Patrol returning to more important family duties just a few weeks ago. I know I disappointed many, including @Islam Soliman, opting to leave on the tarmac my white whale for an easier off-road ride... but those 12 months on a Y62 made all the difference of the world and I'm glad Marshals and Crew never discouraged me despite my heavyweight Nissan. Thanks to the Crew, @Gaurav, @Srikumar, @Frederic, who believed in me and gave me the chance to grow at my own pace and in my own way, coming to terms, from time to time, with my impatience to do always more, to count, to measure and to ALWAYS speak my mind (😂😂).. Thanks to the Marshals and Experts, @Ale Vallecchi, @Brette, @Chaitanya D, @Vanessa8580, @Jeepie, @sertac, @Anish S, @Luca Palanca Falsini and especially @Wrangeld, my off-roading mentor, who all took me on their convoys and later entrusted me in supporting roles setting the example of what a convoy leader should be. I regret I never had the chance to join @Emmanuel in a drive, but who knows what the future may reserve for us... Thanks to the Advisors, @Hisham Masaad, @M.Seidam, @marks, @Yousef Alimadadi, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Alexander Alcala, @Nivin, @Rizwanm2, @Shaaz Sha and the Support Team, @Alex Raptor, @Dodi Syahdar, @GauravSoni, @Veedooshee who joined my drives in support making my leads always easy and relaxed. Thanks to all those who joined my drives, too many to name one by one, except for @Danish Mohammad, who, this last summer, gifted me with the best present a lead could ever receive, i.e. the chance to watch an off-roader blossom in confidence and skills drive after drive, following my lines. And thanks to all those others who patiently tolerated my endless early pop-outs and stucks, to those who drove in the churned up sand left behind by my Y62, who shoveled under my belly, who tugged me out.. What a fantastic experience all this has been and what a fantastic experience it is going to be! I'm proud and honored to have, even more so now as a Marshal, the chance to give back what I have received from this wonderful team sport and within this amazing club. I guess I'll never give back as much as I really received, but I'll do my best, of that you can be sure.. as much as you can be sure about my fast pace in the next drive!!

Drive Brief The stretch of desert between Faya, the Sphynx, Camel Rock and Fossil Rock offers a great deal of opportunities for off-roaders to roam across a beautiful landscape and to be challenged in a great terrain. This mid-week Fewbie Plus drive is designed to take the best of Faya in a mid-week late September sunrise, with a fast-paced and non-stop "all-you-can-drive-in-150-mins" route that will take the move from S153 Mahafiz - Al Faya Road, will take the convoy wandering around the big Faya dunes, then coasting along the edge of the eastern end of the red sandy dunes overlooking Mleiha mountains via the Sphynx and Camel Rock, from where the route will head back south in a long loop that will will eventually take the convoy out, exiting again on S153. Starting and ending in Faya, this morning blitz is an opportunity for a 150 mins fast-recharge among Faya's beautiful dunes before heading to work. General Infos 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 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 Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and Above (All Levels) When: 29 Sep 2021, Wednesday. Meeting time: 5:45 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: S153 Mahafiz - Faya Road - Al Tahady Motor Cycles Rental - https://goo.gl/maps/kBcvN7E2LeAd8y2F9 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, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 8:15 AM End Point: S153 Mahafiz - Faya Road - Al Tahady Motor Cycles Rental Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. 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 EVENT

Drive Brief The stretch of desert between Al Qudra and Lisaili offers infinite possibilities for desert off-roaders, ranging from small, super-technical dunes to long range, almost endless ridges. This drive will offer a taste of all these terrains at Newbie level, alternating more challenging technical stints to faster and more "driven" ones, enjoying the prevailing long range dune formations. There is however a specific place, where dunes become so high and so big that they well deserve to be named the "Mighty Lisaili Dunes". A majestic conformation which will be the perfect playground for practicing some easy climbs combined with nice slide slopes, the gran finale for this drive, which will end at Lisaili Camel Racing track. General Infos 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 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 Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Newbie and above (All Levels) When: 02 Oct 2021, Saturday Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Al Qudra Pylon Track - https://goo.gl/maps/VurDujZbhkNZjGah7 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, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM End Point: Lisaili Camel Race Track Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. 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 EVENT

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, My very first drive with @Carnity, on 20.03.2020, started from Tawi Nizwa Farms as we did today and ended in awe after climbing Pink Rock. The memory of that first ascent to the Rock remains, as much as much as the rest of that drive, undeletable, in my mind and certainly made a substantial contribution to my passion for off-roading. Today, 18 months after, I had the privilege to come back to those very same dunes where I fell in love with the desert and lead for the first time a @Carnity Newbie convoy. By 6:28am the convoy was flagged and deflated, ready to move. @darren thompson called the convoy order over the radio and everyone fell diligently in position as we started heading North-East into the desert. The first minutes are always a "warm up" time, during which everyone gets acquainted to the feeling of driving in the sand.. including the realization, for someone, that the car was still in 2H! The sand was very wet and therefore clean, smooth and compact, very unusual but incredibly nice terrain conditions for a drive like today's. As we made our way into the desert we started venturing higher and higher along the sides of the dunes and riding the multiple fat ridges that the area had to offer. The convoy did amazingly well: whatever I would throw under their wheels, all drivers managed it without an eye blink.. We climbed tall dunes, we rode long ridges, we crossed straight up - straight down several sharp crests.. And yet, everytime, everyone made it through without issues. Yes, the terrain helped us a bit, but it is also true that with such a compact sand we were able to venture way beyond what a Newbie convoy would have done in normal sand conditions and, still, everyone did perfectly well. Awesome!! Our wandering took us North first, than South, then North again, offering progressively closer glances at the spectacular landscape around Pink Rock, which we eventually reached from the South-West Side, occasionally coasting by the long spine of rocks that emerged from the sand. After driving for the good part of two hours in almost virgin sand, approaching Pink Rock was as inspiring as shaking due to the immense number of tracks that were dug in soaked sand: we were driving in sand mud!! But, hey, it felt great to have conquered all of that: Amazingly, we didn't record a single stuck nor a single refusal throughout the entire drive and we only stopped due to some passengers being a bit car-sick. "A bit" is probably quite an understating, especially for @GratefulKRD's passenger, who however showed admirable resilience and determination to complete the drive, despite multiple offers for an early exit on the tarmac. As we drove down from the crowded play area at Pink Rock, with convoys driving from and to all possible directions, we again started a nice stint across mid-sized dunes on the West Side of the rock, roaming around for a while before approaching the starting point of what was going to be the most exciting moment of the day: the climb to the top of Pink Rock. After a deserved break, spent contemplating the beauty of the rock and of the view in front, we eventually descended to the North and made our way out on the tarmac next to 2nd December Cafeteria. All drivers today are to be congratulated for an excellent drive: @Mohammed Mansoor, on his 1st Newbie Drive just one day after his Absolute Newbie one, was excellent in his Y62, a car (and I say it out of my own experience) definitely not easy to drive in the sand, but one that will make him a great offroader. Nothing to worry if the bottom of the car hits the sand when crossing a crest.. It feels awkward in the beginning, but he'll get used to it. Very good attitude when he steered down on sideslopes where he was losing momentum. @eldose babyled his Lexus brilliantly across a complete new terrain. As with Mohammed, a few times he lost momentum on sideslopes, but managed well avoiding to fight gravity. @GratefulKRD put his brand new Wrangler Rubicon to the test and certainly enjoyed how capable the car can be. He unfortunately also experimented how uncomfortable it can turn for passengers, especially in the back seats. But as far as the driving is concerned, today's experience was a good one: I think the biggest takeaway was that, when ridge riding, staying at the center of the ridge is key in order to avoid sliding down on either side, which then becomes difficult to recover. @Johannes Roux drove well today in his Prado. Some hesitation, on one's 3rd Newbie drive, is normal on steep climbs, especially when you don't have a chance to see what's coming on the other side. With time, dealing with the uncertainty of what's behind the dune will become normal. Given the extremely long convoy, I didn't have too many chances to see how the guys at the back were doing, however I couldn't miss @Rsjiv Samuel's red skid plate: I guess today's drive was quite a different one compared to the first 9 Newbie drives he's had before with @Carnity, but I'm sure he realised how much more a compact sand allows to achieve with his FJ Cruiser. Well driven today. @Joji varghese probably had the same experience as Rsjiv driving his Fortuner on an unusual terrain such as today' s one. Well done as well! @hasan hamadeh learned the hard way how different the sand can be after the rain. I hope his front bumper / skid plate can be easily fixed. His statement, during the briefing, that he "never needed a shovel" with his Raptor was duly noted.. It will be up to the @Carnityleads to prove how essential this piece of gear is.. 😂😂. The Fewbie lot @Alphin Aloor@Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @Sunil Mathew had to deal with quite a lot of churned up sand at the back, but handled brilliantly. Kudos to all! Overall we drove 48.4km in 3h 8', of which 2h 30' spent moving and only 38' idle during breaks. We scored an average speed of 15.4km/h (19.4km/h while in movement), which was possible thanks to the compact sand throughout the drive. A massive thanks to @Alex Raptor and @darren thompson for their impeccable support in the few occasions when it was needed. And an even greater thank you to @Wrangeld, my off-roading mentor, who was with me 18 months ago on my first @Carnity drive, with me on my first independent lead and with me today for my latest promotion.

Congratulations @Islam Soliman, well deserved promotion!