Desert Larks: February 2008

Fellow MTB’ers, Over the two day MTB Rides we had 11 nationalities taking part, from the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Oman, Spain, Denmark, South Africa, Slovakia, France, Germany and India. Good story of when the guys from Qatar arrived in Muscat airport, they went to collect their rental Land Cruiser and the rental guy pointed them to where it was parked, so they opened the unlocked doors but no central locking and no key in the ignition, so one of the guys climbed over the seat to open the back tailgate and the bikes and bags were loaded into the Land Cruiser, they could not find the ignition key though, at this point a police officer arrived and said “what are you doing with my police car” pointing out the ROP number plate, whoops wrong Land Cruiser, true story. Thursday 21st Feb MTB Ride Report starting at SQU:-We had 10 riders (eventually 11) turn up for Thursdays MTB Ride, Johan, Gopal, Andreas, Bob, Paul, Hassan, Jalood and 3 guys from Qatar, Jens, Angel and Gavin. We set off 5 mins late as Hassan was late as always getting there and getting changed then loading his 8 bottles of water into his back pack, 300metres into the ride Bo got a call from Marcel who was even later and would catch up. We continued on crossing the new highway and picking up the single track through the Jebels, with several riders speeding off enjoying the challenge of Oman tracks leaving the OAP and Hassan trailing, but after this we tended to stay together after we re-grouped near a Bedu camp, we then set off down hill passing through the storm drain under the road climbing the Jebel then dropping down hill towards Al-Khoud crossing a flowing Wadi Fanja, we climbed the ridge and re-grouped while Bob called Marcel, who was at least 30 minutes behind. We dropped into a tributary Wadi of Wadi Fanja picking up the goat track then feint track on the edge of the wadi adjacent to the unusually sculptured Jebel cliff face, we reached the point where Bob & Margaret had cut away the thorny trees a couple of weeks ago and had a break as Gavin had got a flat, still no Marcel. Flat fixed we rode over a black top and into the sticks and onto the gravel Wadi then up the ridge near the Royal Guard of Oman’s firing range, as always the tattered red flag was flying but the firing range has not been used for 10 years plus. At this point we came across and Omani husband & wife sitting on chairs alongside their 4 X 4 with picnic gear, just sitting there taking in the peaceful scenic surroundings only to be disturbed by a group of sweating MTB Riders, as always they were very polite and after a short chat we continued on the ride. We carried on across the flattish area picking up the nice low Jebel trail, at an old plantation Angel got a flat, while he was fixing the flat Hassan said his prayers, then out of the blue came Marcel making excuses as to why he was late, one was he was following some cyclists he saw in the distance and when he caught them up they were a group of Bedu kids so he had to back track! We continued on our way picking up the new graded track through the new quarry (that was a small untouched wadi a few weeks ago), the group stopped here for some repairs while Jalood and Johan topped up their water bottles at the Galfar camp there. We set off up onto the ridge above Wadi Fanja, then dropped downhill onto the lower track but Gavin had another flat, so we decided to have our “alf a nana” stop taking in the vista of Wadi Fanja and the mountains. At this point Gopal departed as he was flying to Holland early the next morning. Gavin and Jens caught up and we all set off crossing Wadi Fanja where the water was deeper and the gravel soft, Hassan had a phone call on his GSM as he stood knee deep in the water, so the rest of us rode up onto the blacktop to re-group and while waiting for Hassan Bob put on his long pants as it was getting quite chilly and the wind was cool. Hassan reached us and we rode through Al-Khoud village then out towards the school, Hassan was feeling a little tired so returned to the cars on the blacktop and a few minutes later followed by Angel who was also a little tired, the remaining 8 riders set of into the low Jebel area towards Jiffnain only to encounter many deep holes in the ground which look like they are for fence posts for the new Oman Botanical Garden project under construction, so another lovely area being messed up, Paul and me are sure we will find a way round the fencing and sort out a new MTB trail though. On reaching the Jiffnain area we headed towards the mountains on the single track passing the abandoned Bedu camp then we picked up Fran’s trail at the ‘Y’ junction then onto Jiffnain and up to the new PDO to Sohar pipeline which was blocking our way to the graded road so we took the pipeline track, Bobs rear tyre had deflated a bit so he pumped it up and with Jens keeping him company caught up with the others at the black top as by this time it was getting dark. We headed back to the cars via the blacktop past the car compounds picking up a graded track then onto the cars, where we arrive at 6-45pm having covered 50kms. We then packed away the bikes and headed for Paul’s pad in PDO where Chantal had organised salad, Pizza and fresh fruit along with beverage. Thank you Chantal and Paul for your hospitality, it rounded off a good day and we were looking forward to Fridays MTB Ride despite a little tiredness and aching joints. Friday 22nd Feb MTB Ride Report starting at Al-Nahda-2:-We had 11 riders turn up for Fridays MTB Ride starting at Al-Nahda-2, Michel, Andreas, Shauwn, Bob, Paul, Chantal, Jalood, Jens, Angel, Gavin and Niels who arrived from Qatar Thursday night. We set off on time into a head wind that was nice and cool with the high Jebels in the distance shrouded by heavy haze and a bit cloudy, despite Chantal telling Andreas before we started the ride not to go to fast Chantal took the lead, but the group stayed together across the flattish area, we crossed an offending blacktop and picked up a single trail with 4 donkeys running around, a little further on Gavin yelped out “Snake” which slithered under his MTB, we think it was a racer snake. A couple of kms further on we had a photo stop then set off again with Gavin dropping his MTB on some loose gravel only hurting his pride. We headed toward the mountains and the wide Wadi then climbed the ridge above the Wadi for another photo shoot while Chantal rode off into the distance the wrong way, we re-grouped and dropped down into the nice technical section of small Wadi’s and Jebels on goat trails and feint tracks where we had the first of at least 8 flats on the ride so I will not mention them all, but slime is the answer in the terrain of Oman although Jens survived getting a flat as he was using the tube protector insert, but we have seen these get penetrated with heavy thorns but some protection is better than none. We dropped down into a gravel Wadi passing the Bedu village where the women were sitting on a mat having coffee. We then hit and crossed another black top where Michel’s eyes lit up as he loves road riding, we dropped into the depression near the next Bedu village for our ‘alf a nana’ stop and after the break Michel headed back to the cars on the black top. The remaining 10 riders climbed the next ridge and picked up the Al-Nahda-1 MTB route, the route was OK but we had a few flats on the way, further on Bob missed the turn into the Jebels so we back tracked 300 metres and found the right trail. We dropped down the hill until we reached the rocky Wadi that was taken out by cyclone Gonu last June, we walked for about 30 metres to the track on the other side, a couple more flats later we headed towards Al-Nahda with Chantal leading the way, at one point Chantal said to Bob blow your whistle so we know which way to go but he was 300 metres behind, we should call Chantal Captain Kirk from the old Star Trek TV series as Captain Kirk “Boldly goes where no man has been before” We reached Al-Nahda & could see the name Chicago painted on the Jebel, we watched the Al-Nahda football team for a few minutes then got to the cars at 5-15 having covered 35kms, a few flats cut the ride short as we did not want to get back in the dark again, but we all arrived safe and sound. On the way home Bob took the Qatar guys to the BT Race Track area to point out where they could do some more MTB riding on Saturday as they return to Qatar Saturday evening. I would like to thank the guys from Qatar, Gavin, Jens, Angel & Niels for coming all the way from Qatar specifically to ride their MTB’s in the terrain of Oman as Qatar is pretty flat, I know they all enjoyed the terrain and scenery and look forward to a possible return in May when we can organise a full day ride in the mountains. Thank you also to the local riders for coming along adding your support, just a pity more never joined in the rides, a final thank you again to our hosts Chantal & Paul for Thursday night’s meal. For the next two weeks MTB Rides I will be in the interior (Nimr) on commissioning work so Paul will probably organise the MTB rides, happy MTB riding. Thank you Best Regards, Bob