Quads in Dubai

I made my first foray into the desert on the day after Eid. Thanks to the kindness of others, Quads were available and I was happy to oblige. We headed out at 6:00 am to avoid the heat and headed from Dubai towards Hatta, I soon wondered if I should have brought my passport just in case our destination was over the nearby Oman border. However, we arrived at our destination pretty quickly, unloaded the quads and headed out to a spot where we could take turns riding the dunes.


It was apparent from the fragrant aroma where we unloaded the quads that we were obviously near a farm of some sort. It soon became apparent that it was a camel "ranch" when we spotted a herd of about 20 camels being driven up a depression between two rows of dunes by a driver in a pickup truck. As do all farmers and ranchers when encountering off road vehicles near their stock, the driver made his displeasure known in the universal language.

How hard can this be I said just about one second before I got stuck within 50 feet of getting on the quad for the first time. Fortunately, I've still got enough strength left to manhandle a quad and soon I was riding again. The trick seems to be keeping up your momentum. No indecision is allowed - especially when trying to fly over the top of the dunes. If a moment of sanity starts to influence your riding, it is best to turn and ride along the top long enough to make sure of what you are about to be riding into. Riding motorcycles, I've become accustomed to taking bumps and such standing on the pegs as your legs can absorb the shock well. Unfortunately, none of this information that was available to me was used by me during this quad outing with predictable results - I was approximately 3 inches shorter after than before the quad outing. A full recovery is expected and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to ride.