Jayne and myself took Jerry Ashford out for a ride from the Bab Al Shams road through to Al Ain road this morning. Jerry is visiting from Beijing and has never been out on a dirt bike before, let alone in sand.
Taking experienced riders out in the desert for the first time is scary already, a rider that has never been on a dirt bike double so. This is exactly why this piece of desert was selected, easy going, reasonably flat tracks for most of the way. So with a Honda CRF450X rented from Sandstorm motorcycles we set off.
We were pleasantly surprised by Jerry though, his experience on both road bikes and mountain bikes paid off and we were going so well that we ended up continuing to Cattle Grid and ended up doing over 80 kilometers in total. Some of it through soft dunes where Jerry did well, only getting stuck a few times, less than some riders that have been in the desert before.

Early in the ride Jerry got on my CRF450X as the one he rented had a problem with the electric start and was struggling to turn over when kicked. I really enjoyed riding a standard bike for a change as without a steering stabaliser and suspension modifications the trill of speed does not mean you have to be going at 100kmph ……..

Jerry and Jayne’s track logs can be found here : Jayne’s Track Log , Jerry’s Track Log

	Partdistance	Parttime	Partspeed	Distance	Time	Speed
	0.000 km	0s	-	0.000 km	0s	-
	2.045 km	7m 51s	15.63 km/h	2.045 km	7m 51s	15.63 km/h
	1.973 km	3m 08s	37.77 km/h	4.018 km	10m 59s	21.95 km/h
	2.007 km	3m 02s	39.69 km/h	6.024 km	14m 01s	25.79 km/h
	1.982 km	3m 09s	37.75 km/h	8.007 km	17m 10s	27.98 km/h
	2.032 km	7m 48s	15.63 km/h	10.039 km	24m 58s	24.12 km/h
	1.987 km	7m 46s	15.35 km/h	12.026 km	32m 44s	22.04 km/h
	1.983 km	3m 23s	35.17 km/h	14.009 km	36m 07s	23.27 km/h
	1.994 km	3m 24s	35.19 km/h	16.003 km	39m 31s	24.30 km/h
	2.071 km	3m 32s	35.17 km/h	18.074 km	43m 03s	25.19 km/h
	1.993 km	4m 03s	29.53 km/h	20.068 km	47m 06s	25.56 km/h
	2.007 km	3m 44s	32.26 km/h	22.075 km	50m 50s	26.06 km/h
	1.978 km	3m 31s	33.74 km/h	24.053 km	54m 21s	26.55 km/h
	1.982 km	27m 56s	4.26 km/h	26.035 km	1h 22m 17s	18.98 km/h
	2.008 km	3m 13s	37.46 km/h	28.044 km	1h 25m 30s	19.68 km/h
	1.968 km	5m 43s	20.65 km/h	30.011 km	1h 31m 13s	19.74 km/h
	2.035 km	4m 02s	30.27 km/h	32.046 km	1h 35m 15s	20.19 km/h
	1.992 km	2m 27s	48.79 km/h	34.038 km	1h 37m 42s	20.90 km/h
	1.975 km	4m 53s	24.26 km/h	36.013 km	1h 42m 35s	21.06 km/h
	2.005 km	10m 29s	11.48 km/h	38.018 km	1h 53m 04s	20.17 km/h
	1.982 km	6m 24s	18.58 km/h	40.000 km	1h 59m 28s	20.09 km/h
	2.017 km	4m 50s	25.04 km/h	42.017 km	2h 04m 18s	20.28 km/h
	1.993 km	4m 33s	26.29 km/h	44.010 km	2h 08m 51s	20.49 km/h
	2.076 km	3m 26s	36.27 km/h	46.086 km	2h 12m 17s	20.90 km/h
	2.004 km	39m 40s	3.03 km/h	48.090 km	2h 51m 57s	16.78 km/h
	2.015 km	10m 53s	11.11 km/h	50.105 km	3h 02m 50s	16.44 km/h
	1.922 km	4m 31s	25.53 km/h	52.027 km	3h 07m 21s	16.66 km/h
	2.012 km	3m 22s	35.86 km/h	54.039 km	3h 10m 43s	17.00 km/h
	2.002 km	3m 08s	38.34 km/h	56.042 km	3h 13m 51s	17.35 km/h
	2.040 km	2m 52s	42.70 km/h	58.082 km	3h 16m 43s	17.72 km/h
	1.922 km	9m 49s	11.75 km/h	60.003 km	3h 26m 32s	17.43 km/h
	2.018 km	3m 16s	37.07 km/h	62.022 km	3h 29m 48s	17.74 km/h
	2.083 km	3m 00s	41.67 km/h	64.105 km	3h 32m 48s	18.07 km/h
	1.966 km	3m 54s	30.24 km/h	66.071 km	3h 36m 42s	18.29 km/h
	2.027 km	3m 08s	38.82 km/h	68.098 km	3h 39m 50s	18.59 km/h
	1.943 km	22m 39s	5.15 km/h	70.041 km	4h 02m 29s	17.33 km/h
	1.979 km	2m 36s	45.67 km/h	72.020 km	4h 05m 05s	17.63 km/h
	2.019 km	2m 32s	47.81 km/h	74.039 km	4h 07m 37s	17.94 km/h
	1.987 km	3m 28s	34.40 km/h	76.026 km	4h 11m 05s	18.17 km/h
	2.006 km	2m 57s	40.80 km/h	78.032 km	4h 14m 02s	18.43 km/h
	1.979 km	3m 14s	36.73 km/h	80.012 km	4h 17m 16s	18.66 km/h
	2.033 km	3m 21s	36.41 km/h	82.044 km	4h 20m 37s	18.89 km/h
	2.103 km	3m 53s	32.50 km/h	84.148 km	4h 24m 30s	19.09 km/h
	1.887 km	1m 54s	59.60 km/h	86.035 km	4h 26m 24s	19.38 km/h
	0.577 km	20m 39s	1.68 km/h	86.612 km	4h 47m 03s	18.10 km/h

Great ride from Al Ain Road to fossil rock this morning, even though it took 5+ hours to do the +- 120Km’s. Big groups take a little longer and stopping at each filling station for a cup of chai and something to snack on becomes much more social. Coming back up fossil rock took its normal victims, not quite as easy as it looks, lots of speed and momentum needed, a 250 up the hill is a bit of a push as Sam found out.

With the increase in the population of Dubai and the UAE, the desert in some areas is being destroyed by 4×4’s , it is a great pity as the authorities will probably treat 100kg motorcycles that barely sink into the sand  the same as 2 ton 4×4’s when they ban driving and riding in desert areas. Umm Al Quwain has already started by banning unlicensed (off-road) motorcycles and quad bikes. (Umm Al Quwain bans Quad bikes)

Dean (Sam’s father) got separated from the group some time before we reached the  road in front of Al Fataya , luckily they planned well and he had a mobile phone on him. If he had not it could have taken hours to find him in the desert. I regularly find people that underestimate how easy it is to get lost when all the dunes look the same. Luckily it only took about twenty minutes to guide Dean back by phone.

	Partdistance	Parttime	Partspeed	Distance	Time	Speed
	0.000 km	0s	-	0.000 km	0s	-
	2.034 km	7m 34s	16.13 km/h	2.034 km	7m 34s	16.13 km/h
	2.062 km	3m 09s	39.28 km/h	4.096 km	10m 43s	22.93 km/h
	1.980 km	2m 39s	44.84 km/h	6.077 km	13m 22s	27.28 km/h
	2.005 km	3m 12s	37.59 km/h	8.081 km	16m 34s	29.27 km/h
	1.923 km	2m 39s	43.55 km/h	10.005 km	19m 13s	31.24 km/h
	2.068 km	3m 03s	40.67 km/h	12.072 km	22m 16s	32.53 km/h
	1.953 km	2m 59s	39.27 km/h	14.025 km	25m 15s	33.33 km/h
	2.003 km	3m 04s	39.19 km/h	16.028 km	28m 19s	33.96 km/h
	1.994 km	3m 36s	33.23 km/h	18.022 km	31m 55s	33.88 km/h
	2.071 km	25m 31s	4.87 km/h	20.093 km	57m 26s	20.99 km/h
	1.976 km	2m 53s	41.11 km/h	22.068 km	1h 00m 19s	21.95 km/h
	1.945 km	4m 30s	25.93 km/h	24.014 km	1h 04m 49s	22.23 km/h
	1.992 km	3m 19s	36.04 km/h	26.006 km	1h 08m 08s	22.90 km/h
	2.030 km	5m 00s	24.36 km/h	28.036 km	1h 13m 08s	23.00 km/h
	2.024 km	4m 15s	28.57 km/h	30.060 km	1h 17m 23s	23.31 km/h
	1.960 km	5m 19s	22.12 km/h	32.020 km	1h 22m 42s	23.23 km/h
	1.986 km	5m 31s	21.60 km/h	34.006 km	1h 28m 13s	23.13 km/h
	2.017 km	5m 36s	21.61 km/h	36.024 km	1h 33m 49s	23.04 km/h
	2.003 km	4m 04s	29.56 km/h	38.027 km	1h 37m 53s	23.31 km/h
	1.976 km	2m 55s	40.64 km/h	40.003 km	1h 40m 48s	23.81 km/h
	2.052 km	15m 05s	8.16 km/h	42.054 km	1h 55m 53s	21.77 km/h
	2.053 km	2m 11s	56.43 km/h	44.108 km	1h 58m 04s	22.41 km/h
	1.895 km	1m 48s	63.18 km/h	46.003 km	1h 59m 52s	23.03 km/h
	2.087 km	1m 23s	90.52 km/h	48.090 km	2h 01m 15s	23.80 km/h
	2.025 km	1m 05s	112.13 km/h	50.115 km	2h 02m 20s	24.58 km/h
	1.894 km	12m 32s	9.07 km/h	52.008 km	2h 14m 52s	23.14 km/h
	2.038 km	8m 38s	14.16 km/h	54.046 km	2h 23m 30s	22.60 km/h
	1.987 km	3m 03s	39.09 km/h	56.033 km	2h 26m 33s	22.94 km/h
	1.969 km	2m 43s	43.50 km/h	58.003 km	2h 29m 16s	23.32 km/h
	2.001 km	2m 48s	42.87 km/h	60.003 km	2h 32m 04s	23.68 km/h
	2.113 km	3m 27s	36.75 km/h	62.116 km	2h 35m 31s	23.97 km/h
	1.888 km	2m 15s	50.35 km/h	64.004 km	2h 37m 46s	24.34 km/h
	2.076 km	31m 10s	4.00 km/h	66.080 km	3h 08m 56s	20.99 km/h
	1.953 km	4m 19s	27.15 km/h	68.033 km	3h 13m 15s	21.12 km/h
	1.968 km	13m 05s	9.02 km/h	70.001 km	3h 26m 20s	20.36 km/h
	2.027 km	3m 33s	34.26 km/h	72.028 km	3h 29m 53s	20.59 km/h
	1.999 km	3m 39s	32.87 km/h	74.027 km	3h 33m 32s	20.80 km/h
	1.983 km	2m 53s	41.26 km/h	76.010 km	3h 36m 25s	21.07 km/h
	1.998 km	4m 21s	27.57 km/h	78.008 km	3h 40m 46s	21.20 km/h
	2.018 km	4m 35s	26.41 km/h	80.026 km	3h 45m 21s	21.31 km/h
	2.019 km	5m 30s	22.03 km/h	82.045 km	3h 50m 51s	21.32 km/h
	1.966 km	2m 41s	43.96 km/h	84.011 km	3h 53m 32s	21.58 km/h
	2.004 km	3m 47s	31.78 km/h	86.015 km	3h 57m 19s	21.75 km/h
	2.007 km	6m 01s	20.01 km/h	88.022 km	4h 03m 20s	21.70 km/h
	2.002 km	3m 37s	33.21 km/h	90.024 km	4h 06m 57s	21.87 km/h
	2.002 km	4m 15s	28.26 km/h	92.025 km	4h 11m 12s	21.98 km/h
	1.975 km	3m 21s	35.37 km/h	94.000 km	4h 14m 33s	22.16 km/h
	2.026 km	2m 58s	40.98 km/h	96.027 km	4h 17m 31s	22.37 km/h
	2.031 km	2m 19s	52.60 km/h	98.057 km	4h 19m 50s	22.64 km/h
	1.961 km	1m 55s	61.40 km/h	100.019 km	4h 21m 45s	22.93 km/h
	2.067 km	27m 14s	4.55 km/h	102.086 km	4h 48m 59s	21.20 km/h
	1.945 km	4m 03s	28.81 km/h	104.031 km	4h 53m 02s	21.30 km/h
	2.070 km	2m 46s	44.88 km/h	106.100 km	4h 55m 48s	21.52 km/h
	1.932 km	2m 43s	42.67 km/h	108.032 km	4h 58m 31s	21.71 km/h
	2.001 km	3m 27s	34.79 km/h	110.033 km	5h 01m 58s	21.86 km/h
	2.003 km	3m 03s	39.41 km/h	112.036 km	5h 05m 01s	22.04 km/h
	1.997 km	2m 56s	40.85 km/h	114.033 km	5h 07m 57s	22.22 km/h
	2.046 km	2m 36s	47.22 km/h	116.079 km	5h 10m 33s	22.43 km/h
	2.120 km	2m 23s	53.38 km/h	118.200 km	5h 12m 56s	22.66 km/h
	1.778 km	3m 34s	29.91 km/h	119.978 km	5h 16m 30s	22.74 km/h