Fransua Rachmann: With the Desert Challenge just around the corner, friends of mine invited me to join them for a practice weekend in the Liwa desert over the 26th / 27th February 2010. They are also getting ready to do the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and since Paul is traveling and Sean is still not riding with his collarbone on the mend, I thought it was a good idea to go and see what the terrain looks like.

We left early Friday morning and it took us more than 3 hours to get there driving in a raging sandstorm. I have never been this far west into the UAE and quickly found myself in awe of the huge dunes and vast expanses of the Empty Quarter.

Arriving at Mureeb Hill, the weight of the task ahead of us for the weekend and for the Challenge really sunk in….Standing on the sabka plain in front of Mureeb Hill and looking at the huge amounts of sand surrounding you, you can not help but feel a little intimidated.

The sand blowing mercilessly as we geared up for our first ride, we set off and realized what we were dealing with when we attempted the first dune. The two guys I rode with could not get up the dune. They sunk into and stalled their bikes in the soft powder. I managed to get to a ridge near the top, but dug my front wheel into the soft flat sand shortly after and also fell over.

That set the trend for me for the rest of the 50 km ride. Falling, stalling and struggling!
Back at the camp, I was seriously worried about whether I will be up to the Challenge! We completed 50 km at a super slow pace, in the softest sand I’ve ever ridden on and the Challenge is 5 days and every day is a distance of more than 300 kilometres!
Although there will be some serious dune bashing in the Challenge, there will not be sand like that every day and there are loads of sabka plains and some road sections.

After a break back at the camp, I attempted the sand again and it went a little bit better as I completely adjusted my riding style for the big dunes and soft sand.

During the week my bike had been further modified with the roadbook bracket and casing for navigation located right in front of your face if you sit down. The roadbook casing becomes a serious hazard to your helmet and chest if you don’t stand far back on your bike and you come to a sudden halt if your front wheel digs into the soft sand…

Then again, if you do stand further back on your bike the back wheel gets better traction, so you have to constantly concentrate on leaning back more and making your arms more straight and whatever you do, try and not lose speed or else both wheels will just sink down into the sand- like in quicksand!

After battling the dunes, I was battling the wind to set up my tent before sunset! After a great braai under a near full moon we settled down for the night, but there was no chance for a proper night’s sleep. The wind started blowing again after midnight and the noise of my tent flapping kept my friends and I awake. If the tent didn’t wake you up, the noise of heavily modified vehicles going up and down the dunes around Mureeb Hill would have…

The next morning we geared up again to brave the wind and dunes for our last training ride. It went slightly better then the day before, but having misjudged a step-off and becoming more airborne than I wanted to, I bashed my helmet and broke the visor against the roadbook. Being airborne is fine, but landing a bike with almost 18 liters of fuel and heavy modifications like the roadbook and extras for the 1st time proved more difficult than I expected.

Luckily I was fine but the real trouble came when one of the other riders took a serious fall going over a dune. Fortunately he didn’t have serious injuries, just a few bruises a torn shirt and a damaged helmet. After resting for a while we finished the ride without any further incidents.

So after 3 rides of about 50 kilometers each we got to see a small part of the Liwa desert, the huge dunes we’ll have to cross, the refuges of the sabka plains and the walls of sand surrounding them.

There is less then a month till the Challenge and plenty of work needs be done. Fitness levels have to be kept up and the last few rides in the desert around Dubai will have to be in the biggest dunes with the softest sand we can find.

After that, we’ll be in Liwa again, this time, for the real deal!