Here we are for the latest update of 2024, and it's been busy to say the least.
On the plan for November and December was round 2 and 3 of Emirates Adventure Rally and Dubai International Baja.
Prologue was held on friday afternoon.
A nice little trail ride with focus on speed to establish starting order of the following day.
Then time for the real thing. Starting with the riders' debrief,
Before heading out to the rocks
Round 2 was more forgiving than the first round but offered some tricky sections, and a first taste of sand. Am no stranger to sand, although it was the first time on adventure bike. How wrong could it go right???
Indeed, problem was not the sand but the sat navigation. My Garmin always seemed to be off by few seconds causing me to return on my tracks on numerous occasions. Fine when you are on an open track but more difficult in technical and narrow section, and even more in sand.
If you remember my previous post, it was the same thing that had happened on round 1 where I had, then, made the mistake to take short cut rather than turning back which cost me dearly. So, I was not going to make the same mistake again. This time, I took my time to go back on the right track. With one exception, which again cost me dearly.
When we hit the sand section there was a small sand hill to climb with two tracks. One on the left which appeared to be less challenging than the one on the right. As my Garmin was again delayed and not showing which track to take as I approached the obstacle (one could argue that had I zoomed out I would have seen it, but I didn't), I opted for the easy track, thinking the organizers would have taken us towards the easy path for our first sand section, but I was wrong.
I ended up in a sand hole which took me 45 min to get out. All my hope for decent finish vanished there and then. So, the only objective left was to finish without damage. I deflated the tires even more, ate breakfast snacks and made my way. I was exhausted having lift the bike 4 of 5 times trying to get out of the hole. I finished the 12km of sand section without issues and made my way towards more rocks, hills and climb. 
Nothing major to report except that Nazeem had to come and assist me when I did not put enough gas to climb the toughest hill of the day and had no energy to go back down and try again. Rest of the ride went fine but frustrating because even by going slowly, the Garmin was too slow to update causing me to back track on numerous occasions.
Anyway, finish the day with a big dent on the front rim, a loose exhaust but happy to have at least finished. 
So, that was the end of a nice day out, and we all celebrated with a local food.
With no time to spare till round 3 taking place the following weekend, I changed my 50/50 tire to 100% offroad and got the bike serviced for the last round taking place at MX Ride in Lisali.
The prologue was somewhat unusual, taking place on a supercross track.
followed by the riders debrief before heading out to 2 45km laps in the desert.
Tires deflated and off we went. 
The beginning of the race went perfectly fine with AGAIN my garmin experiencing some delays. There was a gap of 5-6 second before it refreshed but by then I was always off track, and to make the matter worse the waypoints were not showing on the screen. So, I really had to ensure I went back to avoid getting time penalties. 
I was taking it easy, as I did not want anything to happen before Dubai Intl Baja, and stopped on 2 occasions to help people lift their bikes. All went well,
Then it was time for Dubai International Baja. Last round of Baja World Cup.
Wednesday, was setting up and admin, with roadbook and number stickers.
Thursday was scrutineering. I was confident as all had gone well in Qatar one month ago; however, the bike did not pass the decibel test, and it failed on the ground of 2 extra decibels. So, I went riding around the bivouac to warm the engine up 
and it finally passed. Go figures.......When all completed bikes had to be taken to park ferme for the prologue the next day in Hatta.
and it finally passed. Go figures.......When all completed bikes had to be taken to park ferme for the prologue the next day in Hatta.
and all riders headed for the press conference.
The prologue was in Hatta approx 130km fm the bivouac and on rocky terrain which was a first for Dubai Baja which normally only consist of sand dunes. The settings were beautiful, and we were treated to a great lunch in an oasis prior starting the prologue. Then it was time for the prologue.
After a long evening with the opening Ceremony with the Sheik, I headed back home for a good night of sleep.
Off for the first day at 06h00. The beginning of the race went fine until I reached the first neutralization zone. As soon as I got my card stamp and was heading for refueling the bike completely stopped. I thought it was the same issue as in Qatar so I had brought my jumping battery cable but there was no issue with the battery. I started going crazy until David fm Vendetta racing drove by and suggested that I check my fuses as I could not hear the fuel pump engaging. And there it was the injection fuse had burned out. I replaced the fuse and headed straight out albeith loosing approx 45 min.
Rest of the day went well until second refueling where battery went dead, and funny enough Oran was there laughing but this time I had my jumping cable, and the bike restarted. I finished the day without issues but concerned about mechanical failure the next day. In the evening, I noticed that my right fork seals were leaking badly, so cleaned it and put it back to parc ferme hoping for the best.
Second day, started well, I was even interviewed by the org to give my feedback. 
Although I was careful with my front fork, I passed few riders with the first 70k of the race. With the open arrow navigation system, I was flying (well, it felt that way !!!). I caught up with Jason and Tony at the first neutralization and I was feeling very comfortable.
After 20 min break, I was back on the dunes riding
The bike stalled and never started. I tried everything I could and waved goodbye to Jason.
I don't know what the f... is wrong with the bike. There seems to be some issues with the wiring, the electric or the fuel pump. I simply don't know and very desperate to be honest. Not to complete a rally on mechanical issue is very annoying.... I have dropped the bike at Robbie and inch allah he will find what the issue is and fix it once and for all.
Meanwhile, I have received the rear swing arm bearing for the CRF and went back into the desert for a long ride to Fossil rock on Saturday with few friends. It was actually nice to ride without pressure and simply enjoying the scenery.
That's all for now folks, see you next year and as usual, I am leaving you with few pics I shamelessly stole from the net.
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