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Posts posted by Daniel Rodas
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Before I forget...
That sonic boom you all heard?
That was the Team Arabian Leopards crossing the Sabkha at supersonic speed
Thanks team @Carnityfor the amazing event, looking forward for more to come.
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8 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:TEAM LEOPARD - DRIVE REPORTDear Desert Wanderers,What a day!First of all, it was a fantastic event and @Carnity Crew, @Gaurav, @Srikumar and @Frederic and the whole Support Team cannot be congratulated and thanked enough for the amazing and impeccable organization.Equally thanked and congratulated must be all the Leads, @Wrangeld (aka The Desert Champion) @Chaitanya D, @Kailas, @Ale Vallecchi and @Jeepie for their great spirit of fair and safe competition, and all participants for their fearless passion displayed today.As far as the Arabian Leopard Team is concerned, it was a memorable experience, regardless of the outcome: of course, deep inside, I'm sure we were all aspiring to be higher up in the final ranking, but reality gave us a great lesson about our limits today, from Lead to Sweep, all included, but a lesson spiced up with great fun.As known, one of my features as a lead is that I lead fast, ie at high pace. That is, of course in those terrains that allow for such possibility. For this reason, when planning the route for today, we opted, unlike all other teams, for a Start-5-4-5-1-2-3-End route instead of going for the Start-5-4-3-2-1-End most obvious sequence.The rationale behind this choice was that, by adding only approx 3 linear km (say 5 or 6 real km) to our route, we would have kept it for almost 90% on fast terrains, ie sabkhas, flat tracks or long range dunes, where very very high speeds (2x, 3x, 4x) could have been achieved, thus gaining us valuable time and avoiding extended technical terrain with less risks.The idea, on the face of it, was intriguing and had its merit, so we all agreed on it, but it greatly underestimated how challenging those "only" 2 x 2.5 linear km in technical dunes from waypoint 5 to 4 and back could have been..Was this tech stint too early in the drive, before the convoy could warm up? Possible. Were my lines as a Lead wrong and/or too ambitious for a convoy whose members I hardly knew? Very likely true. Was the choice to head back towards waypoint 5 from 4 against slip faces a gamble? Yes, for sure, but the potential upside was massive..Had this gamble worked, ie had we spent say 30-40' to go from 5 to 4 and back, which in theory seemed easily doable, we would have closed the drive in record time, considering that after getting back to waypoint 5, it took us only 47' to cover 30km through waypoints 1, 2 and 3 and get back to the starting point, at the astronomical average speed of 37.9km/h, with only 1 min stop when my car, 200m from the end, started overheating due to a malfunctioning radiator fan.Unfortunately... the gamble didn't work, as we totally underperformed on that first technical part across waypoints 5-4-5.. Those "only" 2 x 2.5 linear km caused 12 (!!!) consecutive stucks and corresponding recoveries and multiple, uncounted, refusals!!The fact that 9 out of 12 stucks occurred going south, ie against windfaces, stands to prove that the idea of going back to waypoint 5 from 4, ie against slip faces, wasn't totally crazy, but crossing that stretch of dunes both ways turned out to be a way bigger and time.-consuming challenge for all drivers than expected: despite our best team efforts in performing quick recoveries (mostly done winching, to be faster), we lost a hell of a time in those technical dunes! It indeed took us 1h 26' to get from waypoint 5 to 4 and back to 5. At that point our race was already doomed no matter how fast we could do the rest of the drive.. 😭😭..OK. We messed up big time over there, and clearly I proved to be no @Wrangeldwhen it comes to leading in small technical dunes, but... oh boy!, what followed was pure adrenalinic fun... We were literally flying across dirt tracks, sabkhas and long range dunes, reaching amazing peak speeds going from waypoint 5 through 1, 2 and 3 and then heading back across the Lisaili long range dunes and again on sabkhas and flat tracks.Overall, it was an excellent learning opportunity:@Mus_hus78, an outstanding 2nd lead, I believe the only one who neve got stuck if I'm not wrong, today discovered that drives in Dubai can be as fast and exciting as those in Sweihan 😂😂, especially when literally flying over the sand..For @Daniel Rodas, today's drive proved that he and his Pajero can do far more than he thought and the (many and tricky) stucks today were part of an accelerated learning curve towards Intermediate ranking...@Humayun Ghias realized the hard way how Y62s and technical dunes can be a difficult match, especially when crossing crests, but he also learned that his 2.8 tons car can fly as a fighter jet.@Niki, always quiet and conservative, experienced today a whole new driving world, achieving speeds he had never even dared to imagine, while maintaining an admirable perfect Sweep role, calm, precise, reassuring, clear with instructions and comms over the radio.Despite the 12 stucks, the whole convoy was magnificent today. Fast, responsive, careful, supportive, focused. And always smiling. Thanks to all, you were the best convoy I could have desired for this race. Proud of you all.For me.. well for me it was immense fun and a great lesson. Let me try to summarize my takeaways:- First, I could have leveraged better the wisdom and experience of the team, asking for more help in navigation (as @Wrangelddid brilliantly) instead of doing most of it on my own except for the initial route planning, done toghether.- Second, quite evidently, I still have a lot to learn as leader in technical dunes, even more so now that my off-roading mentor, @Wrangeld, is a Desert Champion.. 😉-Third, I realized I'm not used to drive against time: some know I'm a maniac about ending on time my drives, but rushing against time isn't yet fully my thing, as it requires a different type of approach to route planning and navigation management (for example, I always navigate with North-Up display with very indicative bearings on my Gaia to set my route, whereas when following a route very closely and precisely as today, navigating with Direction-Up display probably works better).- last, no matter how well or smart you think you can plan, desert drives can be unpredictable and that's the beauty of it.In the end.. It was different than usual. It was hexilarating fun. No matter how we ended, we had a great time and we had an amazing day, feeling part of the wonderful @Carnity family.Kudos to all!Hey @Lorenzo Candelpergher, it was a priviledge to drive with the Arabian Leopards, the most important things for me were the bonding with the team and the unprecedent learning experience. @Niki, @Humayun Ghiasand @Mus_hus78, thanks for being such great team members!
See you guys on the sand soon! Cheers!
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Congrats @JeromeFJ, well done!
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3 hours ago, M.Seidam said:
Drive report
Nowadays there is no more refreshing than to have the drive brief in the open air , socially distanced off course . Everybody was on tIme ready and steady to “go like a pro” 😅
today I was honored to have @Tbone as my copilot in the passenger seat and more pleased to get to know new faces as well. Thank you all for giving me the chance and helping me leading this convoy today.
starting in a slow pace and gradually increased especially in the second half of the trip where I got pretty confident for the drivers response and willingness to perform what we intended to do till we got the climax toward the end.
in the first area of the long range dunes and upon the first crisscross we encountered the first refusal or almost crest sideways due to hesitation of one of the participants what made me , after nice self recovery upon instructions , to line up the convoy on the flat to explain it better ( from now onward I should keep the toy car always in my glov box 🤣) . And it worked and the crossing never stopped smooth and nice thereafter.
as we continued our journey, we had to go bit technical and I have to say every one did just more than great reaching the next and after the next dunes practicing more and more as if it’s ain’t stopping .
A couple of refusals and maybe two more crests all cleared in no time by self recoveries and as a matter of fact The ropes never left our trucks today 😊
Toward the end the flow took us better to enjoy the last scenery of the day which was the crescent lake where a beautiful surprise was awaiting us there. It was the “ long train “ of @Frederic’s convoy coming from Faqa which apparently without my knowing ended for the last stop before the inflation spot at Bab shams south Qudra. It was just amazing.
@Waqas Parvez as a second lead you kept the proper distance just effectively to give you the proper reaction time upon taking the guiding instructions. You drove nice your prado and self recovered beautifully. Nice meeting you.@Vaibhav nice meeting you . You did great and as you see once you cross all comes fluid after that . Well done all over
@Reggie Landicho we drove together in Lesile in my partial lead with @Chaitanya D’ drive . You did great today. You too didn’t need a rope to get yourself out as well . Well done my friend .
@Santoso Marjuki it was pleasure meeting you today your driving was awesome today . It’s nice to see AD guys crossing all this distance to share the passion of this team sport . I hope the drive paid it off .
@Daniel Rodas @Alphin Aloor @Rsjiv Samuel hardly any issue if any . Flawless . Hope you enjoyed it
@JeromeFJ thank you for joining the drive and being in the middle anchoring the front and back was amazing thanks for your help and guidance to the other fellow drivers .
@TT_Dubai ( Tim ) first time we meet as well what a pleasure . Thanks for watching our back and the excellent communication feedback .
Last but not least special thanks to Vinod @Tbonefor your encouragement and guidance even from the passenger seat. It was a blast .
Till we meet next time take care drive safe and see you soon in sand
cheers
Mohamed
P.S pictures in Gallery and Relive below hope you enjoy
Hey Doc @M.Seidam, this was one of the best drives I've been, great mix of pace and challenging obstacles. Thanks!!!
See you on the dunes soon.
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7 hours ago, Daniel Rodas said:
Hey @Hisham Masaad, @Mehmet Volga, @Pacificand @Paul Zeitoun, you guys really rock as a senior team, great drive. This one goes among my top Carnity stories so far, as it's unusual to give bushes a tug
Great thinking!
Cheers!
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Hey @Hisham Masaad, @Mehmet Volga, @Pacificand @Paul Zeitoun, you guys really rock as a senior team, great drive. This one goes among my top Carnity stories so far, as it's unusual to give bushes a tug
Great thinking!
Cheers!
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That's a large party
Enjoy the drive folks!
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19 minutes ago, Mehmet Volga said:
No worries, we will take you to the top somehow. Doesn't have to be fair
I better learn to do this climb with little effort. Who knows, we may end up in the same team next week. Please get me some tips and tricks.
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1 minute ago, Paul Zeitoun said:
If we're doing the bowl, i might skip as there is a heavy bump in the middle that will kill my bumper 🥶🥶
I know the feeling
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1 minute ago, Mehmet Volga said:
You may miss your Ram on Faya 😉
Big time, it's an easy climb with a V8. Actually I choose this drive intentionally as I need to learn the Faya climb with the Pajero. Will follow your lead.
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12 minutes ago, Paul Zeitoun said:
Hehehe... my first fewbie after i replaced my bumper
This is the issue with the Ram, not so many accessories available here and all quite expensive to repair, especially 2019 onwards. I then decided to go for an older Pajero and keep it as an offroad car only.
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11 minutes ago, Paul Zeitoun said:
Bummer @Daniel Rodas.......when are you going to have the Ram in the same drive as me????
Hey @Paul Zeitoun, let's sync next time on a newbie drive. I'm keeping thr Ram for the easy ones, with the Pajero I have no hard feelings to do what I need/want to do.
Cheers buddy!
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2 minutes ago, Mehmet Volga said:
Seems you are driving two cars (RAM & Pajero). Which one are you planning to drive tomorrow?
Hi @Mehmet Volga, the Pajero LWB cheers!
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32 minutes ago, M.Seidam said:
Hi @Daniel Rodas please let me know which car are you driving for this drive? . TIA
Thanks @M.Seidam, I will go with the White Pajero 3.8 LWB. Cheers!
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2 minutes ago, Warren Flay said:
Nice! The problem is, my SWB Gadgy is a little tinfoil box with low cost sound deadening so it’s like sitting in a tin drum😂
Like the old times when no one cared about sound pollution...
The world is becoming too boring
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Yep
I did get a car that I drive only towards the desert or towards Al Quoz...
Btw, the Valvetronic CCP specs say 91dB max, and dirving it never felt unconfortable or got in the way of listening to music or the Comms radio. I will measure it though.
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9 minutes ago, Frederic said:
This Valvetronic CCP muffler is what I just got, all else the same. Takes the drive to another level. Really cool sound.
And goes really well with the Iron Maiden and Metallica desert sound track
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Hey @Tbone, @Nizam Deen, @Daniel Yangand team, thanks for the fantastic drive today! Every drive I learn something new... today was no different . I learnt that I need more discipline on my checklist and make sure I'm really ready to hit the sand... on the other hand I also learnt I could hold up to 1h drive in 2WD. If wasn't for a loss of momentum followed by a refusal, perhaps I woudn't have used 4WD today
The drive went so well that I felt just like I needed to check the pressure on the next opportunity...
Cheers folks! Have a great weekend, see you on the next drive.
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Please remove me from the wait list, something else came up. Thanks!
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Please waitlist me - 2nd drive
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And be ready to tell them to shut up, in a polite manner, depending on what is ahead of you. Have fun, I always get family with me, it's for them as well. Cheers
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Thanks @Foxtrot Oscar, once more an excellent drive under your leadership! I do need to get used to the less powered V6 and today i did get to finesse the pink rock climb, i learnt what works and what doesn't. Need to do more of that. Cheers!
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I'd absolutelly recommend using the manual shift, for the reasons above, and having better control, and at the end is a lot more fun. It may take a drive or two to get the feel, but after that there is not going back to D.
I did the 2in lift, but many others didn't, personal preference i guess, maybe try it stock and decide later. With the lift I got 40mm spaces each side, more so to keep stability in check. Runs perfectly.
Cheers!
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Hey @Chaitanya Dand team, thanks for the amazing drive and your leadership over a very long convoy. Looking forward for more weekday drives like this, cheers!
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Full Day Fewbie Desert Drive - Liwa Yellow Truck - Abu Dhabi - 01 Dec 2021 - Richard
in Offroad Drives
Posted
With @Nikion this drive, I'm sure this is going to be a blast!
Btw, anyone planning on camping the night before?