Lorenzo Candelpergher

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

The fact that this was going to be a complicated drive was evident already at 4:30am, when I realized my phone had not been charging and had died overnight so I had missed my 4:00am wakeup alarm . 

I managed to reach the meeting point by 5:30, finding a fully lined up convoy with everyone diligently ready and deflated. By 5:44, after the briefing, we were on the move. Apologies for the delay, guys! 

We immediately headed East, towards Fossil Rock, but just 1km into the drive we had the first two stucks / refusals by @Lakshmi Narasimhan and @Ranjan Das, the first sliding down the slip face and the latter crested before they even knew they had actually started the drive 😂. 

To make them more comfortable in such an embarrassment (I'm joking, of course.. 😂😂) I felt it appropriate to get crested myself while backtracking to have a look at what was going on. Thanks to multiple zelant shovelers, I was out in no time. 

As we headed west, we pinpointed back-to-back all the play areas marked on my navigator between Mahafiz and Fossil Rock, enjoying long sidesloping and bowl riding. We did have fun, but we also collected a few more refusals and we also had a couple of stops to fix @Francois Germishuys's flag: he must really be fond of his flag as he ignored my advice to put it away and drive without flag, given his position as Sweep.. But better safe than sorry, so with the flag somehow fixed, we were good to go again. 

It was at this point that @Abdul Rahman AK announced his front right wheel was making a strange noise during climbs. It was initially decided that he would try to continue, but once we made it to Fossil Rock we concurred it wasn't a good idea to stress the car more, so we opted for an exit. Unfortunately the exit towards Maleha, the most obvious one, turned out not to be as obvious after all, given that the newly built fence forced us to reach the tarmac more on the east side. 

After greeting our friend, we entered the sand again, made it back to Camel Rock, then looped around the Sphynx, while progressively increasing the pace in the attempt to catch up on the accumulated delay. 

As we started our approach Faya, along a sustained long climb the convoy suddenly split: @Lakshmi Narasimhan had a refusal on a tricky S-shaped climb, which forced @M.Seidam and @Ashok chaturvedi to loop around and hold. Apparently the rest of the convoy, probably too much enthralled by the on-going climbing effort towards the coveted Faya hills, ignored the fellow drivers in trouble and kept going for another 400m, where I had stopped the convoy upon the realization that we had two missing cars. 

It is important to stress here, once again (as I did on last week's Drive Report) that, while it is OK for the one driver immediately following a car having a sudden stuck/refusal (or aborting a climb) to safely overtake and continue the climb not to lose momentum, it is generally considered correct convoy procedure for all the cars following to hold, allow the car in trouble to reattempt as many times as needed and only then follow. This is, of course, unless specific circumstances do not allow, which should clearly communicated on the radio. 

Furthermore, it must be reminded that the sweeping position in a convoy is meant to ensure that no car is left behind at any time. The two cars who had been lost today had not gone out of track (I found them back-tracking along my own route) but had simply stalled at a difficult point and were left behind without assistance. 

Last but not least, it is also important to notice that too many times, especially at the back, I could see the convoy overstretched, with too much distance between cars. I understand everyone wants to have a clean line but if you leave so much space that you can't see where the car in front has gone, you are most likely going to get lost..especially in a place with so many tracks as today. 

Once the convoy was again orderly reassembled, we tackled the final ascent to Faya from the north side, which is one of my absolute favourites and always gives me a great sense of accomplishment. 

@Danish Mohammad drove as if he was on steroids... Following my tail no matter what, actually doing even better than me when he crisscrossed correctly at the exit of the last big bowl behind Faya while I had made a mistaken and fallen back inside the bowl. 

@Ranjan Das is slowly but steadily coming to know his Rubicon and I could see today that the few stucks incurred were mostly because of a moment of hesitation while deciding what to do or because of an unexpected response of the car. 

@Lakshmi Narasimhan is still occasionally fighting to come to terms with his car. Maybe @M.Seidam, who could closely watch him today, will be able to give some more insight. 

We then made it to the bottom of Faya Big Dune, where everyone had a chance to make an attempt climbing from both the right and from the center. The big power loaded truck guys at the back, @Shehab Alawadhi, @Dodi Syahdar, @Abu Muhammad and @Francois Germishuys had their chance to let their engines roar... But surprisingly, no one managed to join me at the top and only @varunmehndiratta reached quite high even if not at the top. Cearly it wasn't meant to be: too soft and churned up sand. 

As time was shortening and temperatures rising we didn't indulge and promptly made our way to Suweidan, after crossing S153 Road at Mahafiz Roundabout, where unfortunately @Shehab Alawadhi had to quit as his passenger was feeling some motion sickness. 

We then entered the Suweidan stretch of desert, which was meant to be more a straight transfer to 2nd December Road than anything else. It was a boring bushy sabkha area which we crossed rather quickly with a couple of short detours on appealing nearby dunes, until we reached the last group of dunes North of 2nd December road.. 

These dunes are beautiful but very tricky. In fact, after a very shot ride at the top, @Danish Mohammad made his only serious (but very unlucky) mistake of the day, ending up with a crested car, one wheel in the air and the other deep in sand with a pop-out and the back completely sitting in a pocket. Quite a combination! 

It wasn't an easy stuck, and it took two winching attempts to move the car out, after which we fixed the pop-out. By the time we were done, we were also drained by the extreme heat and it seemed the only reasonable decision that of cutting the drive short, leaving the 2nd December Cafeteria - Pink Rock - Big Red stint for another day. 

It was a though drive, challenging, beautiful and probably a bit frustrating for some because of the many stops, even though we always restarted quickly with the exception of the popout recovery. 

We drove for 70.5km in exactly 4h, at an average moving speed of 22km/h, with approx 1h 5' of stopped time (my GPS recorded me moving back and forth to help, but the convoy was certainly idle for longer time) and a total ascent of + 1378/-1326m.

Everyone drove well and hopefully enjoyed the experience. Kudos to all those at the back who made it through churned sand: I had only occasional views on @Ashok chaturvedi, @varunmehndiratta and the trucks gang behind, but my overall impression is that you all handled well, with little problems except maybe in some more technical stretches with tiny manouvering spaces in Suweidan.

Thanks to @M.Seidamfor his fantastic support and to @Francois Germishuys for holding the fort as Sweep. 

When temperatures will go down, rest assured we will reattempt the full itinerary to Big Red! 

See you soon in the sand!

4 hours ago, Danish Mohammad said:

Hi @Lorenzo Candelpergher Good evening 

As per previous drive i felt that my car has some tire issue even keeping 13 psi (less than 13 psi it gets pop-out) its not enough for an intermediate drive and in result most of the time it forced me to take a turn and rejoin the convoy with new route. This turning and rejoining breaks the full convoy's movement and lost track. Currently I am using Bridgestone H/T size 265/60/R18.

Please advise as i am confuse to join tomorrow's drive, if these tires again make an issue then everyone will be effected at the back which I don't want too. Shall I join tomorrow OR should I change and then join in next week "if yes" which tires/brand would you recommend ? 

Please.... will be happy to hear some feed back from Pajero owners also before making final selection of tire depending on brand/model and cost.    

Regards...  

Dear @Danish Mohammad, 

first of all, I definitely think you should join tomorrow's drive with your current tires. You are a capable Intermediate Driver and you have all the skills that are required to perform well in tomorrow's terrain, even more so because tomorrow won't be a drive about "shear climbing", but rather a drive about "continuously flowing": we will cover a lot of distance, moving across various and different terrains, with the aim of moving fast and smoothly, keeping a good rhythm, cruising from ridge to ridge, criss crossing, circling bowls and climbing gently and easily for the vast majority of the drive rather than doing straight bottom-to-top climbs, which will probably be only the case at Faya Big Dune.

Second, you really have to get rid of this concern about slowing down the convoy. You are at your 3rd Intermediate Drive and you compare yourself with guys in the convoy who have done 10+, 15+, 20+ intermediate drives. Obviously they drive better, but I can absolutely guarantee that a) at their 3rd Intermediate they were struggling as much as you may be and b) after 10+ and even more after 20+ Intermediate drives you'll be flying as much as they do. You will make mistakes, you may occasionally slow down the convoy, as everyone of us has done and this is totally OK, as it is what it takes to turn you (and us all) into a great offroader.

Third, I totally agree with @Frederic's comment and share with you a little story. When I reached the number of drives that fueled my ambition and applied to be promoted to Intermediate, I was still driving my Nissan Patrol Y62 with 275/60R20 H/T tires and I was still having frequent pop-outs. @Carnity seniors at the time, introduced a new requirement (which later became a standard in the grading structure) that all cars participating in Intermediate Drives should have high profile tires. Hungry for more off-road adventures, I sold my 20" stock rims + tires and got 18" rims with 285/70R18 A/T tires: so smaller rims, higher profile tires, stronger side walls, all terrain thread. It changed my car completely: no more pop-outs, way more traction, more deflation and, above all, tons of additional confidence. It was the best modification I ever implemented and it allowed me to become, in time, a better off-roader.

In a nutshell: come tomorrow and have fun with your current wheels without concerns about slowing the convoy (total nonsense) but if you are seriously aiming at improving your driving capabilities and your car's performance even more, consider moving to 17", having said - however - that many are brilliantly driving Pajeros on 18" tires, so eventually if you just allow yourself to slowly improve by driving more and more you can get better even without emptying your pockets for new wheels.

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

being the 4th of August in the UAE, yesterday's late afternoon was a relatively pleasant one when we reached the meeting point: hot, but not too humid, thanks to the nice breeze. 

Everyone made it quite early to Al Badayer interchange, so by 7:10pm we were already on the move. 

We immediately made our way to Big Red, where we made a first attempt to climb from the west side to test the level of the convoy while there was still a bit of light. 

Maybe it was a bit too early in the drive and the convoy was not yet ready: the climb proved problematic, with a first refusal by @Danish Mohammad first and then @Naveen Raj stuck in a pocket after having lost the track, with @Rjducos awaiting for instructions how to come down avoiding a deep bowl.

After a quick tug for @Naveen Raj, we started going around Big Red counter-clock wise, with a couple of other attempts to climb on the east side. 

We then roamed a bit around on fairly small dunes, which gave everyone the chance to adjust their distance from the car in front and to familiarise a bit more with night-time driving, a total novelty for 1/3 of the convoy members. 

We then tackled "the other big dune next to Big Red", aka Little Red (thanks @GauravSoni for the toponomastic hint). Surprisingly the ascent and descent from Little Red was brilliantly and almost effortlessly overcome by the convoy, which gave me the confidence to raise the level of the drive a notch up.

As we kept heading north, we enjoyed a long series of large dunes along a convoluted and yet fluid route where we proceeded seamlessly until we hit a nasty crest where @Lakshmi Narasimhan first and then @GauravSoni both got stuck, requesting respectively tugging from the back and winching from the front. As there's no 2 to stucks without a 3rd one, while probably bored waiting for the recoveries at the back to be completed, @Danish Mohammadmanaged to get himself stuck again in a tricky soft sand patch, which - again - requested winching out. 😂

We were then able to proceed further in a zig-zag to the west, reaching another area of large dunes. 

While riding a long ridge, @Ehab (who otherwise had a spotless drive) slipped on the wrong side and had to climb up again.

We then aimed at some of the largest bowls in the area, where we played a bit, including a daring criss-crossings from inside a large bowl to the top of its edge and then down on the opposite unknown dark side. It was quite a maneuver for a Fewbie drive, but with some guidance the convoy did very well, with @Aisha S @Rjducos showcasing all their abilities in the circumstance. 

Quite on the opposite.. Soon after it was my turn to get crested and tugged our by @Danish MohammadMohammad.

I guess, at this point @Gregory's son was starting to get really excited as I announced on the radio that we were about to enter an area of big rocks that would have eventually led us at the top of Pink Rock, his favourite place, as he later admitted. 

Another couple of refusals with @Gregoryand @Aisha S were brilliantly self-recovered, then we fiercely headed uphill, bordering the huge rock spine that leads to the south edge of Pink Rock. 

In a pitch black night, with no moon to be seen around, we knew that we were at the top of the rock more because of our GPS and because of the view of the road lights far in the distance than because of what we could actually see the immediate surroundings. 

The short pause we took there was, personally, the best moment of the drive. Nice, warm breeze in the air, no one around us, a 360 degrees view from the top of the rocks and, once lit by the headlights of my car, the wonder to eventually discover Pink Rock itself, now visible on the North side. 

Once we passed the crest and stared moving down on the west hillside, we had a quick opportunity for a group photo:

We then roamed around, descending all the way to the bottom and reascending as close as possible to the rocky crown of the hill, then, after a couple of quickly self-recovered refusals, we reached the starting point of the climb to Pink Rock pass, the 2nd crossing point of the day, more on the north side. One by one we smoothly and surely made it to the top, and I must say it was quite a show to see the whole convoy climbing up. The photos below only give a fraction of the real feeling:

It was after making it to the top of Pink Rock that @Aisha S started paying the toll for an extra-long day, so @Arman sat behind the wheel for the last, short stint of the drive.

We gently descended on the north side, heading towards our exit point at 2nd December Cafeteria.

Before exiting, however, we tackled a last group of tall dunes, where @Danish Mohammad first and then @Naveen Raj had to find their last energies and skills of the day to get out of a nasty bowl with soft sand, after which, having exhausted our time, we quickly made our way to the exit, just in time to avoid troubles with the failing O2 sensor in @GauravSoni's Pajero, who was spitting grey exhaust smoke! 

Overall we drove for 38.6km over a total of 2h 56', of which 1h 58' moving, at an average moving speed of 18.1km/h. Our total ascent (ie total elevation gain/loss) was +800/-825m, which is quite significant for a Fewbie drive, meaning we really climbed a lot. See elevation graphs elow:

Kudos to everyone for an excellent performance and  thanks to @Danish Mohammad (a very good 2nd lead) and to @Lakshmi Narasimhan (congrats for your 50th drive with @Carnity) and @GauravSonifor their support. 

I also hope @Aisha S had a good night sleep to recover! 

See you soon in the sand again!!

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

My last drive as lead had been exactly 30 days ago, so I came to this drive with some concern whether I was actually going to be up to the task, given that the 1st edition of the 1km ascent quest had created a lot of expectations. 

I must say I really enjoyed the drive today and it was great to be back again on the sand. It was a memorable drive, with endless challenges that put everyone to the test. 

We started very early this morning: by 5am sharp we lined up the convoy. I feel it was maybe a bit too early, as we had to drive for 45 mins before the sunrise. 

We indulged a bit in the small dunes between our entry point and the 1st group of dunes of Area 53 next to the Dubai - Hatta Road, but we couldn't possibly spend 45 mins there, so I decided to aim to the top climbing in total darkness. Not exactly the easiest way to start the day, but certainly an effective way to make sure everyone was fully awake! 😂😂

We started having refusals right away at the very first climb, I guess mostly because of the additional challenge with the darkness and because of the abrupt ramp-up of the technical level that today's ascents implied. 

Even if with some hesitations, the convoy made it to the top 3 times in a raw on the first group of dunes: it was the perfect warm-up for the day. 

We progressively moved across 11 different areas of big dunes, everytime climbing from all sides and making sure we left our tire marks on every available bowl. 

The first 2 hours were not easy, as we had to deal with several refusals, mostly with the two Pajeros, whose underpowered engines with undesidered upshifting demanded their drivers, @Danish Mohammad and @Lakshmi Narasimhan, every drop of their driving skills to make it to the top.. Kudos to both for the extra effort!

I could sense some frustration by the big and experienced guys at the back, whose desire to unleash their endless horse power was often dampened by some stucks and refusals at the front and even more by my occasional decisions to abort and reroute (or restart from the bottom) when things were getting too troubled at the front of the convoy. 

@Watteau was very vocal when he asked not to give up and to make sure the cars at the back could have their fair chance to make it to the top. I know my choices may have disappointed, @Watteau or @Abu Muhammad, but the point for me was that ALL drivers (and cars) today had to make it to the top and I believe that is what happened 80% of the over 40 straight bottom-to-top climbs we performed today. In that 20%, we gave up or rerouted to continue having fun without wasting too much time being overly ambitious. 

The sand was tricky today, with lots of unusual pockets and patches of very soft sand caused by the unusual winds of the last weeks, combined, in the 1st part of the drive, with an immense number of tracks everywhere. This is where most of us had our good share of refusals and stucks, which required a great deal of brilliant self-recoveries, including the spectacular ones by @Danish Mohammad and @Mario Cornejo in deep bowls and with great inclines. I wasn't equally good and needed help shoveling to get out of a crest. 

Just to make sure we didn't miss anything, we also had repeated overheating issues and two pop-out for my myself and @Dodi Syahdar! What a day! 

The drivers in the front didn't have the horsepower nor the experience of the big guys in the back, and I must say I was proud to see the enormous improvement in self-confidence and actual car handling that @Danish Mohammad achieved trough-out the drive as he shifted to 2nd lead. It is only by being challenged a bit beyond our comfort zone and by our mistakes and struggles that we become better. Well done, my friend!

I must say I was also a bit disappointed to see how convoy discipline today was often neglected.. Impatience to climb and not to lose momentum often led to a split convoy or to overtakes and confusion, to the extent that we had to slow down and reorder the convoy multiple times. I still believe, as frustrating as this may be, that if a car in front struggles, those behind should avoid overtaking and should patiently allow as many attempts as may be required for whoever has difficulties in a specific passage.. 

In the last two hours of the drive we drove more, stopped less and enjoyed fantastic, virgin dunes that repaid us of all the waiting, digging, rerouting and struggling of the first two. The climax of the day for me was the stretch at and after Suhail Dune, where we had a quick photo stop:

With some concerns about overheating and running out of fuel for some cars, we then headed towards Iftar Bowl, where we took 3 full rounds back to back before eventually making our exit. 

We drove for 4h and 35 mins, covering 68.6km at an average moving speed of 16.7km. 

As far as the goal of the day is concerned, I'm glad to say that -  despite all setbacks - we hit the 1670m ascent mark, which is 100m than last month. See the analysis below:

Congratulations to @Mario Cornejo (you'll conquer that high bowl) @Danish Mohammad (full throttle!!) , @Ranjan Das(great new Rubicon!), @Lakshmi Narasimhan(Iftar Bowl is now yours), @Ilya(a walk in the park for an Expert like you), @Watteau(we did get to the top, eventually), @Dodi Syahdar("when I enjoy the drive I get a pop-out", you said 😂😂😂😂😂), @Abu Muhammad(we were all inexperienced IM drivers at some point!) and big big thanks to @M.Seidam and @Hisham Masaad for their outstanding support at all times. 

See you at the next stuck!