It was a silent morning with amazing weather, so I was surprised how empty the desert was. With Eid close, many people would be traveling, which means we had most of the area for ourselves.

Our convoy was small, but full of enthusiasm when the journey started 3 minutes before our planned departure time.

Warmup started with climbs on the dunes at the border of Madam, followed by a short stretch of twists and turns towards the next big dune. I marked the waypoint as “big dune, have fun”, so we did just that. Climbs, turns and pushing our juniors a bit and then high straight crest which is in the memory to some from basic training.

Our path led us from one big dune to the next, leading to more climbs, amazing side sloping, and after a bit towards a well-deserved break.

After a the break and a short green patch, we crossed a technical area, leading us to new sandy mountains and making our way towards Super Bowl. The back side of Super Bowl is a hidden treasure, with many deep bowls that are a joy to traverse, swing around and use the energy for the next climb. We used this area for a bit, had a short break and met some friends along the way.

Time was ticking, and we had to finish the track, so we did the obligatory climb on Super Bowl and moved towards Iftar bowl to rinse and repeat. On our way to the exit at the bayader shops, we encountered some more challenges along the way, which we masterly conquered.

On a closing thought, big dues are reserved for areas like Wagan, Al Qua’a or Liwa, which are further out, but today felt like big dune driving right next to the doorstep.

Big thanks to Malcolm for being our sweeper today, guiding self-recoveries alongside some rope pulls. It was way too long since we had a drive together. Pavel and Niall, I hope you come along soon again.

See you soon on the sand.