Thomas Varghese

At the end of the day you can repair or replace a machine part if it breaks down if you have a fat wallet. What you cannot replace is the human behind the machine whatever the size of the wallet is. The sun is blazing so much that its becoming difficult for a human to endure the heat and its effect on the body. Wise men of the past overcame this by lying low when the sun wants to show his power. As of today the sun powers at 52 degree centigrade. It overpowers all our wish and will. The ancients didn't stop travelling from point A to B just because the sun overpowers them. They just circumvented it by changing their travelling time. My opinion is heed to them. Desert is an unforgiving extreme environment. We are all here because we like to challenge the nature. Otherwise why should we be driving our machines in such a harsh environment? It doesn't mean we just bang ourselves and commit suicide. Let us have our fun with the moon as witness. Maybe I'm becoming old and try to go easy. But why shouldn't we be smart?

Dear Angela @Foxtrot Oscar, As I found a slot on @Kailas drive for evening night drive on Friday and has joined kindly change my waitlist status to 2nd drive behind @varunmehndiratta & @Rizwanm2.

Kindly waitlist me @Ale Vallecchi

Kindly. Waitlist me for 1st drive of the week.

I'm aware of this @Gaurav and appreciate Carnity management for the steps taken. Gone nuts trying to solve the issue. As I painfully found out you can try mods and run on a lean wallet but nothing helps in this overpowering heat. Desert driving is a passion but the temperature has put a damper on it. I couldn't stay back to help out on @Lorenzo Candelpergher's friday drive with @Abu Muhammad's pop out and had to leave as I knew I will collapse with exhaustion if I didn't get back to my home at the earliest. I felt guilty but I had no choice. It was only almost 9am and the heat was unbearable. No way you can endure a day drive without AC. The AC shuts down once the engine temp rises.

@Chaitanya D my Xterra has same issue. Whatever I did never helped. Changed the complete cooling system including the fan clutch, radiator, all pipes, removed the thermostat valve and made it open. To be frank nothing helped except my wallet got thinner. The atmospheric temperature is so great and is amplified inside the desert. Fixed extra fans also thinking it will help. It didn't help at all except put me in deep trouble yesterday as the battery ran out after forgetting to switch them off after switching off the car. My thoughts are we cannot fight mother earth's moods like we cannot fight gravity. I think we have to call it quits during day time and do drives when the temperatures drop down like stop the drives before 8.30 am or start one after 5pm. Hope @Carnity management discuss this in their committee and come up with a solution.

Thank you @Chaitanya D for a very impressive drive report. I appreciate about your comments on me fishtailing and will definitely try to improve on that area. To be truthful when I was negotiating that climb I had put in more power initially so that the X will climb and nothing was felt inside the car except the bumps. I was surprised you had announced over the radio to me to being careful that I fishtailed a lot but I know you must have seen it and had got concerned. Maybe I was not fully alert and attentive. Thank you for pointing it out. The drive was superb in terms of challenges and speed. Looking forward for future drives with you.

Sorry for that Angela @Foxtrot Oscar. Yesterday I had 2 IM drives and both were very demanding in terms of endurance and skill. The last one in the night had a fellow driver's car immobilized and I stayed with him till the wee hours in the morning. I simply couldn't abandon a co driver with an immobilized car to fend for himself in the middle of the night and left only after making sure he will be well taken care of. That was more important than having fun today. The terrible heat during the morning drive and the lack of sleep during and after the night drive took a toll on me and I can't concentrate. I'm sure if I tag along for this drive with you I will become a liability as I cannot perform due to the physical toll on me. I have accompanied you in your desert escapades and will do so in the future but today I just can't. I can't hold my head straight. Messaging you when I got up for lunch. Will rest more and come out from this stupor.

Good morning Angela @Foxtrot Oscar Sorry I won't be able to make it for today's drive as I'm not feeling well.

Got to collect a friend. Also will try to picturize the sunset if possible.

Thank you @Chaitanya D. Already getting ready to leave.

Seasoned steeds ready to charge

This landscape reminds us of El Dorado where we can just go and scoop up loads of gold dust.

Wonder why they named it Rubicon instead of Unicorn.

Looks tiny from far but believe me he is packed with power. Can gallop into the horizon without batting an eye lid. @Lorenzo Candelpergher's mighty steed.