Humayun Ghias

I look forward to escaping from Lisaili with your convoy. 

Looking forward to when I can also join one of your 100km runs @Islam Soliman

It's crazy how quickly we register for the drives! What's even crazier is when you see the same group of crazies registering. Love it! 

Congratulations! 

35 minutes ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Little Sweihan Blitz - Drive Report

"If you finds all roads and paths blocked, He will show you a secret way that no one knows." - Rumi

Blitz: from the German word "blitzkrieg", meaning lightning. The drive aimed to embody the meaning of this word. A fast move onto the area of Little Sweihan, south-west of Solar Park, beyond the area I call "the Middle Earth" (a set of tall, long range dunes, very bushy and bumpy) and protected to the west by a tall fence enclosing a military practice zone. We reached it quickly, through a dirt tracks, the outer perimeter of the Middle Earth dunes, and the sand track next to the military fence. Then, across a sabkha, into the first set of dunes, moving along the length of Little Sweihan's triangle, from its base next to the military fence, to its tip, toward the north-east. Once almost at the tip, we turned around, to descend toward the triangle's base, and moving toward its center. The goal was to continue this zig-zagging along and across the dunes, up and down the length of the area, to finally reach the southern limit of Little Sweihan's triangular base. There were times when the blitz had to take a much more sedated pace. In particular, toward the middle of the second iteration, when we suddenly started driving in a very tight set of tall dunes, coming from their slip face, which forced the convoy to make a few stops, and following the Poet's advise, to improvise and "be shown a secret way that no one yet knew".

The so-called "Little Sweihan" is a very unpredictable area. Enclosed by very tight dunes on both its sides (only the base is open and accessible), once across this first challenge, its core is often changing shape, due probably to the high and constant winds that blow from north to south, redesigning the dunes angles, filling bowls with soft sand, and sharpening the ridges. Therefore, there are times when it's possible to easily drive its length through an endless string of open bowls, and other times, more often, when the convoy has to struggle through high and sharp criss-crossings, deep bowl descents and climbs, and especially with patiently finding a way around blocked paths, retracing one's steps until an opening appears, and the going gets miraculously easier, again. 

Hence, the fact that we only had a pop-out (the combination of soft sand, tight turns, and lower deflation is sometimes lethal for heavy cars such as Patrols< so this things happen), and two stucks requiring tugs, was an indication that the convoy behaved greatly on such difficult terrain, made perhaps more unpredictable by the heat of the day (measuring 46 degrees at departure) and soft sand.

As the sun started to set, we moved north. across the Middle Earth (leaving the sand track next to the fence for the weak at heart), and ridge-rode our way toward the exit, at Solar Park, with only a minor interruption on a sharp and tall crest, where we executed our last tug of the day, with the sunset at our back.

As for the convoy, as mentioned, it rose to the challenge, and behaved like a pack of veterans. Clean and safe Second Lead by @Lakshmi Narasimhan, and a very well executed "tutoring" session by each higher ranked member (@Ashok chaturvedi, @Gok Krish, @GauravSoni and @Shaaz Sha, in the order of driving) leading the more junior drivers (respectively @Humayun Ghias, @Russ, @Darren Brooke and @Ranjan Das, who also moonlighted as Sweep). 

The drive ended after 3:22 hours (of which 2:46 while moving, with only 36 minutes of pauses, including all recoveries), covering 71.2 Km, at a pace of 26 Km/h while moving (and 21 Km/h overall).

Thanks to all for joining, and hope to see you soon again. Have a great weekend ahead.

Such a detailed and well written drive report! Always a pleasure reading your drive reports. 🙏

Looking forward to see how the rear bumpers are gonna look on the beasts

Thank you @Ale Vallecchifor this challenging drive.

Even before the drive began, I had this feeling it would be a different one. The variety of things that we got to do kept me on my toes and I remembered how Ale had mentioned prior to the drive that it would require our constant concentration. 

I was bummed and embarrassed with my pop out early in the drive but I was reassured by @Lakshmi Narasimhan''s encouraging words over the radio. Thank you Lakshmi, Ale and everyone with your patience and help with the pop out.

It was a pleasure driving behind @Ashok chaturvedi and seeing @Gok Krishin the rear view mirror.

@Darren Brookeglad to hear the new axle is working fine. Good to see you all on the drive and see you soon! 

Hi @Islam Solimanunfortunately I have to exit the drive as I joined the Fewbie plus drive for tomorrow. This will benefit me for future drives as the home affairs department will be happier I am home on Friday

Looking forward to driving with you all next time! 

2 hours ago, M.Seidam said:

And you don’t need to exit your already booked weekend ( Thursday, Friday,Saturday) , as weekdays are non weekend one drive RSVP restricted ) 

Thank you @M.Seidam Friday drives require me to re arrange a lot of family commitments and hence will exit the Friday one and looking forward to this one

So looking forward to this! Thank you for a weekday afternoon Fewbie plus drive! 🙏

Would love to join! Don't see the calendar though. 

Will exit my already booked drive for the weekend if I am able to join this one. 

Thank you @Islam Soliman for a saturday Fewbie plus drive! Loved the varied nature of the drive.

Started the drive laughing out loud when Islam noted how messed up we all are in terms of reaching before the designated time in anticipation 🤣

It was incredible to experience such soft sand and to keep moving. The spot where they had dumped sand was quite crazy as you would sink almost to the knee! 

The drag race was quite a surprise and such a different feeling. Technical portions of the drive provided some very nice challenges as well! @Darren Brookethank you for the second lead and @Hisham Masaadfor your expertise always. Thank you to Gautam and the rest of the convoy as well.

I still don't know who noticed my almost flat Tire on my patrol. Probably saved me from a pop out! Thank you for that and the quick onboard inflation by @Lakshmi Narasimhan

Looking forward to the next adventure! 

Thank you for a Fewbie plus Saturday drive @Islam Soliman 🙏

Looking forward! 

14 minutes ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

Theis was the best of my dozens or so drive to date! Amazing choice of itinerary @Islam Soliman , well paved with enough challenges, fun and excellent training. I fell in love with Big Red bowls and I want to be back ! When we pickup up pace, it was so satisfying and engaging !

Superb support from our crew and special thanks to Mr Q (aka @Hisham Masaad) who pulled me out of trouble once (pun intended) and intervened effectively to put everybody back on track. Thank you @Ranjan Dasto watch our back and make sure we all came safely home. 

Excellent ! 

As per custom, here a souvenir of the drive plus some bonus tracks of the boys playing in the pink rock sandpit. Thanks all for being great companions of this exciting morning !

 

 

 

 

 

Love the videos @PaoloMaraziti! And how pearl jam is playing in the background! 

Such a nice drive! Thank you to everyone and especially @Islam Solimanand @Hisham Masaad!

One thing I realized today is the selflessness of the the marshals and the seniors on drives. They don't need to be there, they can be doing more challenging drives. Yet they take out the time to develop the skills of drivers like us! Thank you! 

Seeing the fog was quite nice and unexpected. Its amazing how you move from one bowl to the next and how you slingshot yourself if you miss on the first attempt. 

I got to practice ridge-riding and crossovers. Was happy to find the sweet spot while doing crossovers, you know when it's a smooth transition and not a bumpy crossover. 

Hi @Islam Soliman I have removed myself from this drive as I have joined your Saturday drive instead. Saturday drives work out better for me!

Thanks 

Now that I have a board, could members please reccomend a good jack for my y62? Any idea where I could get it from would be helpful too! 

On 5/30/2021 at 7:11 PM, Foxtrot Oscar said:

You are top of the waitlist 

Hi @Foxtrot Oscarsorry something came up, kindly remove my name from the waitlist. 

Picked up the board this morning! Heavy duty and looks like an expensive cheese board! 👌

Thank you @Hisham Masaadonce again🙏🙏🙏

Dear @Hisham MasaadI'm on a waitlist for @Foxtrot Oscar's drive so not sure if I will be able to make the drive. I can collect the board from the place if it is okay to share the address. 

I'm in festival city and happy to collect for others. 

Congratulations!! 

Please waitlist me for the drive. So bummed I got late 

Thank you @Islam Soliman @Lawrence_Chehimi @Ahab Shamaa @Watteau and @Emmanuel.

Really enjoyed my second Fewbie plus drive and what a great idea to pair people up. I learned a lot driving behind another Patrol. Got to use 4L and diff lock twice. Was really happy to crawl out of my refusals. 

Oh wow! Would love to have one if still available. So kind of you! 

Looking forward to the drive!