UAE Charity Challenge News

NEWS UPDATE - NO.9

2009-08-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the ninth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team. It has been a while since we have issued an update – but we are proud to announce that we have recently completed our charitable commitment to our sponsors for 2009.

CHARITY

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs is an established, non-profit organisation dedicated to providing the highest standard of specialised education, therapy and vocational training, for children with various disabilities. Since 1983 the centre has been largely dependant on the generosity of the local community and corporates for financial aid and other support services. Their aim is to provide each and every one of the students the key to a positive life, thereby “Lighting the path to a brighter future”.

“During one of our visits to the DCSN, we were made aware of the issues they are having with the current traffic congestion in Dubai / Sharjah - especially for kids that are coming from Sharjah. The first pick up is at 6:30am in Sharjah with the kids (and their minders) not getting to the DCSN until just after 9am. These are kids with serious special needs and this situation is really unacceptable. To fix the problem, the DCSN was after an additional bus to split up the existing route in Sharjah and subsequently the time the kids will be taking to get to the DCSN every morning”.

On the 16th November 2008 the UAE Charity Challenge team visited the Dubai Centre for Special Needs. Through the support of our sponsors for 2008, we presented the DCSN with a cheque for AED 185,400 for the purchase of a NEW Mitsubishi Rosa bus to split up the Sharjah pickup route and improve the life of some of the kids at the DCSN. It was a great day out. The team stayed behind for well over an hour as many of the kids wanted an opportunity to sit on the motorbikes used to compete in the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge – and everyone did.

The Malaria Consortium

The Malaria Consortium is an international organisation working primarily in Africa and Asia on communicable disease control. Malaria Consortium International’s head office is in London, UK and the Africa Regional Office and Uganda country programme offices are in Kampala, Uganda. The Uganda office has been active since 2003, supporting a large and diverse country programme. Malaria Consortium Uganda works closely with the Ministry of Health (MoH), academic institutions and a range of partners, and is involved in all aspects of malaria control from policy and strategy development to implementation, monitoring and evaluation and operational research.

The Malaria Consortium Uganda has implemented malaria control interventions in every district of the country, with the scale of operation ranging from targeted operations to national delivery. This experience of LLIN distributions perfectly matched the needs of the UAE Charity Challenge team in achieving their objective of distributing LLIN to the people living on the shores of Lake Albert.

On the 14th May 2008 an initial 2 person team (Eugene Mugisha and Mitra Feldman) from the Malaria Consortium travelled out to the target areas on the edge of Lake Albert to carry out a detailed assessment of the population distribution and existing LLIN coverage. Over a 2 day period they met with various local community leaders and discussed the planned LLIN distribution. On returning to Kampala, the Malaria Consortium prepared a custom LLIN distribution, education and monitoring programme for the target area which was presented to and subsequently approved by the UAE Charity Challenge team.

Heritage Oil & Gas generously stepped in to coordinate and finance the Assessment Visit which included flights to Lake Albert as well as ground transportation and accommodation for Malaria Consortium personnel whilst on site.

On the 27th June 2008 a 3 person team (Eugene Mugisha, Agnes Ssubi and Medord Rukaari) from the Malaria Consortium travelled out to the target areas on the edge of Lake Albert to carry out the LLIN distribution and education programme. Over a period of 10 days a total of 5,800 LLIN were distributed to 10 villages in the Buhuka Parish area. Every person that received a LLIN was also trained in its proper use and washing instructions. In addition, two UPDF military camps also received Nets for every person on camp. (Note: A copy of the Official Distribution Report is included in the Charity Page on the website)

Heritage Oil & Gas once again generously stepped in to coordinate and finance the logistics associated with the Distribution Programme which included –

Flights to Lake Albert, ground transportation and accommodation for Malaria Consortium personnel whilst on site.
Transportation of the 2.8 Tonnes of LLIN from Kampala to the edge of Lake Albert
Lake and land transportation for distributing nets to each of the 10 Villages in the Buhuka Paris area. (Est. Population: 10,203)

A unique logistical challenge associated with this particular LLIN distribution and education programme was that a number of the villages in the Buhuka Paris area are only accessible by water. Heritage Oil & Gas subsequently offered the use of one of their seismic boats to ensure these villages were no overlooked and received their allocation of LLIN’s.

The UAE Charity Challenge team would like to thank Heritage Oil & Gas and all its personnel that were involved in ensuring that the LLIN Distribution Programme was carried out seamlessly.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our corporate and personal sponsors for their financial support which has made all this possible.

Fig 1 – Map showing villages covered during the LLIN Distribution programme in the Buhuka Parish area

Fig 2 – Busigi Village

Fig 3 – Kenyanja Village

Fig 4 – Usasa Village

MEDIA

Wednesday 19th November 2008 / 7 Days – An article appeared in 7 Days newspaper covering the presentation of the cheque for 185,400 AED to the Dubai Centre for Special Needs. A copy of the article can be viewed on the 7 Days website at the following URL - Rallying round in support

SPONSORSHIP

2010 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

The UAE Charity Challenge team is getting ready to kick off its fund raising activities for 2010. We are looking to better our fundraising efforts clear in the knowledge that the current Financial Crisis means that simply matching our previous achievement will be a tough ask.

WEBSITE

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of August are as follows -

The 9th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
A complete revamp of the UAE Charity Challenge website is on the table in preparation for our latest challenge– the 2010 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Photos of the DSCN Cheque presentation will been added to the ‘GALLERY’ page
Photos of the Malaria Consortium Distribution Programme will be added to the ‘GALLERY’ page

Day 6 / SS-5 & SS-6 (bought to you by Heritage Oil & Gas)

2008-11-01T03:45:00.000-07:00

The lads emerged from their tents a half hour earlier today at 5:00 am due to the early start. As usual, Sharon & Alessia had again organized breakfast and the team sat down to fuel up before our final days riding. There was a real sense of anticipation at the breakfast table. Whilst today was the longest day of the challenge – it was also the last and the guys could almost see themselves crossing finish line. The previous day where there was only muted conversation was replaced with talk of how good a cold beer would taste when we arrived back at the official finish line at the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi hotel. Spirits were high!

After a quick toilet break it was off to the UAE CC tent to kit up and get ready to go. This definitely was Ground Hog Day.

We again picked up our bikes from the Gecko Motorcycles service tent. The bikes had come through the fifth day relatively unscathed. However, in addition to the routine service, the Gecko mechanics changed out all the heavy duty chains as the previous 4 days of hard riding had unacceptably stretched the existing chains. The first competitor left the Moreeb Bivouac at 5:30am for the run to the start of SS-5- it was still dark.

The days riding started with a 119km liaison section on tarmac roads from the Moreeb Bivouac to the start of the 5th Special Stage (SS5 - Hertz). We were given 1hr 40min to complete this section – plenty of time and time to refuel. The sun came up over the massive Liwa dune set as we rode out which was a great sight to see.

SS-5 was a challenging 119km run covering a mixture of terrain including tracks of varying quality and soft dunes. It was more technical than we expected but still a relatively fast run. SS-5 was highlighted by 4 single hazards, 15 double hazards and 1 triple hazards. The last section leading into the end of the stage was a gravel road with sand spits intruding over it which was particularly tough. JQ came to grief over one of these sand spits and the impact bent his handle bars. Fortunately he was OK. (He then proceeded to ride the remaining days riding with bent handle bars!)

There was only one PC (Passage Controls) during SS-5 where riders could take on additional water if required (we chose not to on this occasion). Importantly there was no refueling point – so the riders had to ensure that they had enough fuel at the start of SS-5 (having already completed the 119km liaison – hence the refuel).
We then had another 78km liaison section on tarmac roads from the end of SS-5 to the start of the 6th and final Special Stage (SS6 - Emarat). We were given 1hr to complete this section – just enough time to get there without a refuel.

SS-6 was a testing 167km run covering a mixture of terrain including tracks of varying quality, some soft dunes and a final section of predominantly camel grass. SS-6 was highlighted by 23 single hazards, 14 double hazards and 2 triple hazards. The last 10km was particularly tough. You could almost smell the finish and we then rode through this section of desert that was soft rolling dunes covered with camel grass. It was like riding a bucking bronco for 10km and trying to steer between the bigger humps. There was only one PC (Passage Controls) during SS-6 where riders could take on additional water if required. However, once again there was no refueling point – so the riders had to ensure that they had enough fuel at the start of SS-6 (having already completed the 78km liaison).

The final stage of the 2008 Desert Challenge was a 47km liaison section on tarmac roads from the end of SS-6 back to the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Hotel in Dubai. This was a chance to relax and reflect on the huge personal achievements for all of the riders as well as that of the UAE CC Team in raising nearly 90,000 USD for charity.
Cruising side by side along the road in the final liaison section we were passed by cars beeping their horns and passengers waving at us. It really was an incredible feeling.

As we rode into the car park of the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Hotel we were greeted by our Support team – Sharon and Alessia and also by my partner Ginnie. It was all smiles now (and maybe a few tears).

The feeling around the team is pure exhilaration. The lads are broken but made it. We managed to get all four bikes to the finish line – the ultimate result for the team, the individuals and most importantly our sponsors.

Final scrutineering took place to ensure that no modifications had been made to the bikes – no issues here.

Then it was time to ascend the Official 2008 UAE Desert Challenge Finishing Ramp for the perfect photo opportunity to capture a huge personal achievement and most importantly take possession of the official 2008 UAE Desert Challenge Medal – given to all those competitors that manage to finish one of the toughest endurance races on the planet.

The final times and positions for the UAE CC Team at the end of SS-6 are as follows –

Name / Time / Position
Steve You / 28:35:47 / 12
Paul Anselmo / 33:56:20 / 15
Sean Curnow/ 34:01:15 / 16
Jonathan Quan / 34:07:02 / 17
For full details of the entire field – please see the official UAE Desert Challenge Website (www.uaedesertchallenge.com)

And then it was over!

It had been an amazing year. Just getting to the start line was tough enough – chasing after sponsorship, training in the gym every week, riding in the desert on weekends, attending UAE CC meetings every month, liaising with the media, coordinating all the logistics, managing the administration – the list goes on. Everyone played there role and there is a real sense of achievement that 7 ordinary people came together and have managed to achieve so much.

We made some new friends in the desert including ‘flip-flop Rob’. Alan Roberts has been touring the world on his motor bike for almost 2 years. He came to Dubai and decided to compete in the UAE Desert Challenge. With only a few hours of riding experience in the dunes he managed to achieve second overall in the 450 class – a huge achievement given the quality of the field. It seems where training and experience may have been lacking it was made up for by sheer talent. We nick named him ‘flip-flop Rob’ as he could always be found in his ‘flip-flops’ hanging around our tents after a day’s riding. Like a typical Aussie seagull he also magically appeared around the time food was being served. We wish him well in his travels as he rides his way back to Australia- ‘island hoping along the way’.

But listen? Can you hear it? The 2009 Desert Challenge is calling!!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Day 5 / SS-4 (bought to you by Oil Search)

2008-10-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

The lads slowly emerged from their tents at around 5:15 am –things were definitely slower this morning and the moans and groans from bumps and bruises were definitely spreading. Sharon & Alessia had again organized breakfast and the team sat down to fuel up before another days riding. It was interesting to watch how an endurance race of this type had the ability to turn a morning person into – NOT a morning person. After a quick toilet break it was off to the UAE CC tent to kit up and get ready to go. This was Ground Hog Day.

We again picked up our bikes from the Gecko Motorcycles service tent. In addition to the regular service we had the clutches and rear tires on all four bikes replaced as a precaution during the night. My bike also needed to have the Iritrack and GPS fittings replaced as they were damaged during a fall the previous day. Unfortunately only the GPS antennae had been replaced and so I madly scrambled around in the morning to get the Iritrack technical people to sort the Iritrack – which they did in time for the start.

The competitors began leaving the Moreeb Bivouac at 6:15am for the short run to the start of SS-4. The start was delayed 15min as the sun was not up and the liaison was so short.

The days riding started with a short 6.5km liaison section on tarmac roads from the Moreeb Bivouac to the start of the 4th Special Stage (SS4 - ADNOC). We were given 10 min to complete this which again turned out to be plenty of time.

SS-4 was a demanding 315km route covering a mixture of terrain. If any day was designed to break us it seemed that this was the day. The first 100km was through the massive Liwa dune set. This was very tough and very technical. We passed a number of bikes that had been gobbled up in the numerous bowls that skirted the route through. The section between PC3 and PC 4 was also extremely tough with what seemed like and endless sea of soft undulating dunes with drop offs and bowls everywhere. It was another really tough day in the desert. We all at some point found ourselves digging our bikes out of soft sand dunes or picking them up after a fall.

In all there we four PC’s (Passage Controls) during SS-4 where riders could take on additional water if required. PC3 (service / refueling point) at the 155km mark came as a welcome opportunity to stop, refuel, eat, replenish the camel back and relax for a few minutes. Once again we were met by the Support Team and they had food waiting.

SS-4 was highlighted by 21 single hazards, 32 double hazards and 4 triple hazards.

The first of the cars caught up to us at around the 80km mark into the stage. Fatigue was the overriding factor at this point and the thought crossed my mind that in some strange way it would have been nice to get hit by one of the cars – at least it meant we could stop riding.

The good news is that all the team made it safely to the end of SS-4 without any problems and within the Maximum Time Limit.

The days riding finished with 122km liaison section on tarmac roads from the end of SS-4 back to the Bivouac at Moreeb Hill.

Here we again met up with our Support team – Sharon and Alessia. The girls were ready for us with food and electrolyte / protein drinks. It was only 3:30pm in the afternoon so we had time to relax, eat and get showered before the Driver Briefing at 19:00 pm.

The times and positions for the UAE CC Team at the end of SS-4 are as follows –

Name / Time / Cumulative / Position / Overall
Steve You / 05:10:59 / 24:16:01 / 13 / 15
Paul Anselmo / 06:43:08 / 27:06:32 / 21 / 17
Sean Curnow/ 06:44:19 / 27:11:53 / 22 / 18
Jonathan Quan / 06:44:57 / 27:14:26 / 23 / 19
For full details of the entire field – please see the official UAE Desert Challenge Website (www.uaedesertchallenge.com)

Today saw a bike catch fire in the dunes. The rider was picked up by the sweep team and then actually rode along with the sweep team for the remainder of the day.

The feeling around the team is really good – we can almost see the finish line. The lads are still smiling (sort of) but it is clear that fatigue is playing a major role and the bumps and bruises from four days of extreme riding without a break are having an effect. However, the mental attitude still remains strong and the team is continuing to go about its business to try and get all four bikes (and riders) across the finish line.

At 4:30 pm we were issued our Road Books for the next official race day along with the modification sheet. We went back to our official UAE CC tent and marked up our road books before loading them into the units on the bikes.

The Driver Briefing for the next day’s riding was then held at 19:00 pm. The last days riding was going to be the longest day of the challenge. It was also going to include 2 Special Stages and a start time 30min earlier. With the prospect of 2 Special Stages and an earlier morning wakeup call it was off to sleep for he last and longest day of the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge - speak to you tomorrow!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Day 4 / SS-3 (bought to you by Iteco)

2008-10-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

The lads began to emerge from their tents at around 5:30 am – though things did seem a little slower than the previous day. We had cut things a little fine the previous morning so we gave ourselves an additional 15min to get ready and get some food into us. Sharon & Alessia had again organized breakfast and the team sat down to fuel up before another days riding. After a quick toilet break it was off to the UAE CC tent to kit up and get ready to go. This was beginning to feel like Ground Hog Day.

We again picked up our bikes from the Gecko Motorcycles service tent. The bikes had come through the third day unscathed so it was again simply a need to perform a routine service to prepare them for Day 4. The competitors again started leaving the Moreeb Bivouac at 6:00am. Paul had a small problem with loose wiring on his light which needed a quick fix before he could head off.

The days riding started with a 54km liaison section on tarmac roads from the Moreeb Bivouac to the start of the 3rd Special Stage (SS3 - Nissan). We were given 45 min to complete this which again turned out to be plenty of time and we refueled on the way. Morning fog was still present in the low lying valleys between the massive dune sets which actually made the ride quite pleasant.

SS-3 was a massive 341km route covering nearly all off-piste riding. The first 70km was particularly tough in sections with Paul, Jonathan and myself all coming to grief at various points. It was during one of these crashes that Steve became separated from the group and he ended up riding the special by himself.

Jonathan, Paul and I managed to stay together for the entire special stage. It was a really tough day in the desert. We all at some point found ourselves digging our bikes out of soft sand dunes that had simply swallowed them up.
There we four PC’s (Passage Controls) during SS-3 where riders could take on additional water if required. PC2 (service / refueling point) at the 168km mark came as a welcome opportunity to stop, refuel, eat, replenish the camel back and relax for a few minutes. We met up with the support team at PC2 and PC3. Alessia and Sharon were simply awesome – as we rode in they had food waiting, premixed isotonic drinks for our camel backs and bottles of water to drink (or pour over yourself) – it does not seem like much but to us it was 7 star service.

The last 70 km through the massive Liwa dune set was pure hell. The bikes and cars in front of us had turned the planned route into a rutted mess as if the terrain was not hard enough to navigate. We spoke to several riders who also had difficulties through this section and it seems like everyone dropped their bike at least once.

SS-3 was highlighted by 22 single hazards, 18 double hazards and 2 triple hazards.

The first of the cars caught up to us at around the 80km mark into the stage. The fear was still there but this was being dampened by the fatigue that was creeping in to all of the UAE CC Riders. The Kamaz truck caught us at around the 180km mark. It was a close call as Jonathan had just dropped his bike in a massive bowl. Literally seconds after getting it up and going again – he turned around to see the truck come over the crest and land down in the spot where he had dropped the bike.

The good news is that all the team made it safely to the end of SS-3 without any problems and within the Maximum Time Limit. The SS-3 again finished back at the Moreeb Bivouac so there was no liaison section to worry about at the end of the Super Special Stage. In all we had been on the bikes just under 9 hrs (including the liaison) which was basically the same as the previous day.

We dropped the bikes off with the Gecko Service Crew and then headed for camp.

Here we again met up with our Support team – Sharon and Alessia. The girls were ready for us with food and electrolyte / protein drinks. It was only 3:30pm in the afternoon so we had time to relax, eat and get showered before the Driver Briefing at 19:00 pm.

The times and positions for the UAE CC Team at the end of SS-3 are as follows –

Name / Time / Cumulative / Position / Overall
Steve You / 06:29:27 / 19:05:02 / 14 / 17
Paul Anselmo / 07:44:46 / 20:23:24 / 21 / 20
Sean Curnow/ 07:45:50 / 20:27:34 / 23 / 21
Jonathan Quan / 07:45:13 / 20:29:29 / 22 / 22
For full details of the entire field – please see the official UAE Desert Challenge Website (www.uaedesertchallenge.com)

Today saw the field dwindle by 6 more bikes. However, speaking to the helicopter rescue team it appears that they had a quiet day, so these are probably all due to mechanical failure rather than serious injuries.
The feeling around the team is still good. The lads are still smiling but it is clear that fatigue is starting to play a significant role. The bumps and bruises from three days of extreme riding without a break are also having an effect. However, the mental attitude still remains strong and the team is continuing to go about its business to try and get all four bikes (and riders) across the finish line.

At 4:30 pm we were issued our Road Books for the next official race day along with the modification sheet. We went back to our official UAE CC tent and marked up our road books before loading them into the units on the bikes.

The Driver Briefing for the next day’s riding was then held at 19:00 pm Then it was back to the camp for a feed before heading off to sleep for a 5:30 am wakeup call to do it all over again - speak to you tomorrow!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Day 3 / SS-2 (bought to you by NOV Grant Prideco)

2008-10-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

The lads began to emerge from their tents at around 5:45 am. By now the support team (Sharon & Alessia) had already been up for a half hour getting breakfast ready. It was still dark and the bumps and bruises picked up from the previous days riding were now in full voice.

The morning was basically – eat some breakfast, visit Mother Nature, get your camel back packed and filled, get your riding kit on and go.

We picked up our bikes from the Gecko Motorcycles service tent. The bikes had come through the second day unscathed so it was simply a need to perform a routine service to prepare them for Day 3. The competitors started leaving the Moreeb Bivouac at 6:00am.

The days riding started with an 81km liaison section on tarmac roads from the Moreeb Bivouac to the start of the 2nd Special Stage (SS2 - Nakheel). We were given 1-1/4 hr to complete this which again turned out to be plenty of time and allowed time for a quick refuel.

Then it was back to reality. SS-2 was a 297km route covering primarily off-piste terrain. It was a mix of fast rolling dunes broken up with challenging technical sections. The last section after PC 4 was steep dunes and hard baked sahbka. It was a tough day at the office with numerous technical sections and a service / refueling stage at the 132km mark. Here we took on fuel, ate some food and replenished out camel backs. There we four PC’s (Passage Controls) during SS-2 where riders could take on additional water if required – which we did!

SS-2 was highlighted by ten single hazards, eighteen double hazards and three triple hazards.

The first of the cars caught up to us at around the 85km mark into the stage. You would think that the experience from the previous day would have better prepared us for the experience of having the cars hurtle past you seemingly out of control – but unfortunately that does not apply. If anything – the knowing simply makes it worse.

We followed the leading truck today for several kilometers through a technical section immediately after PC2. Watching a truck navigate the dunes at high speed is really something to see. As soon as we hit a flat section this behemoth was away and that’s the last we saw of it.

We saw several cars in trouble today. The technical sections had some massive slip faces and deep bowls that caught out several of the drivers.

The stage was particularly demanding and Jonathan called it a day at the last PC (PC4) suffering from a mixture of dehydration and fatigue. With the last section being through a massive dune set, Jonathan decided it was better to live and fight another day. He accumulates a time penalty for failing to finish the last section – but importantly is still in the race.

The good news is that Steve, Paul and myself made it safely to the end of SS-2 without any problems and within the Maximum Time Limit. The SS-2 actually finished back at the Moreeb Bivouac so there was no liaison section worry about at the end of the Super Special Stage. We dropped the bikes off with the Gecko Service Crew and then headed for camp.

Here we again met up with our Support team – Sharon and Alessia. The girls were ready for us with food and electrolyte / protein drinks. It was only 3:30pm in the afternoon so we had time to relax, eat, get showered and even get in a short sleep the Driver Briefing at 07:00 pm.

The times and positions for the UAE CC Team at the end of SS-2 are as follows –

Name / Time / Cumulative / Position / Overall (450 Category)
Steve You / 07:27:50 / 12:35:35 / 23 / 20
Paul Anselmo / 07:26:20 / 12:38:38 / 22 / 22
Sean Curnow/ 7:25:49 / 12:41:44 / 21 / 21
Jonathan Quan / 7:34:15 / 13:11:29 / 24 / 23
For full details of the entire field – please see the official UAE Desert Challenge Website (www.uaedesertchallenge.com)

Today we were also reminded of the dangers of the race. Three fellow riders were air lifted to hospital with injuries. One with what sounded like a serious back injury.

The feeling around the team is good. The lads are still smiling but the reality of the task ahead is setting in. We still have three very tough days ahead of us and already signs of fatigue are appearing. But the mental attitude is still first class and the team is going about its business to try and get all four bikes (and riders) across the finish line.

At 4:30 pm we were issued our Road Books for the next official race day along with the modification sheet. We went back to our official UAE CC tent and marked up our road books before loading them into the units on the bikes.

The Driver Briefing for the next day’s riding was then held at 19:00 pm Then it was back to the camp for dinner and then off to sleep for a 5:45 am wakeup call to do it all over again - speak to you tomorrow!
Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Day 2 / SS-1 (bought to you by Baker Hughes)

2008-10-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

The UAE CC Team joined up at our designated meeting point at 5:30 am and made the 1 hr journey from Dubai down to Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi in convoy. The mood was clearly one of nervous anticipation. The team has trained for almost a year to get to this point. Now we get to see whether our skills and endurance are up to the challenge. This is when the real rally starts.

The official race start begins with each rider making his way up the race Start Ramp to be announced to the spectators. Speaking to the team I know that all of us were feeling the adrenaline rush at this point.

The days riding started with a 53km liaison section on tarmac roads from Emirates Palace to the start of the 1st Special Stage (SS1 – Al Dafra, Abu Dhabi). We were given 1 hr to complete this which turned out to be plenty of time and allowed us to top up with fuel at one of the local petrol stations. It also allowed for a relaxing ride and an opportunity to deal with the initial adrenaline rush of rolling of the official Starting Ramp.

Liaison Section (aka Road Section): This is a non-competitive Section of the daily route that simply needs to be completed in an allotted/ target time to avoid a time penalty.

Special Stage: These are the official timed competitive sections of the Desert Challenge. The cumulative times required to complete the 6 Super Special Stages adds together to make up your official time for the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

Here things got serious. SS-1 was a 281km route covering primarily open desert and track. It was a predominantly high speed run with limited technical sections. There we three PC’s (Passage Controls) where riders could take on additional water if required. PC3 (service / refueling point) at the 180km mark came as a welcome opportunity to stop, refuel, eat, replenish the camel back and relax for a few minutes.

Mandatory Stop: The service/ refueling PC serves as an opportunity to refuel the bike and carry out any necessary maintenance. It is a mandatory 15min stop for all competitors so that no time is lost.

SS-1 was highlighted by 22 single hazards, 21 double hazards and 5 triple hazards. During the stage we passed a number of competitors that had come to grief on one of these hazards. One driver appeared to be seriously injured and was air lifted to hospital with suspected fractured vertebrae.

Hazards: These are points along the planned route where competitors need to take particular care. A single hazard can usually be negotiated with simply good technique. A double hazard requires you to slow down and maintain good technique. Whilst a triple hazard simply requires you to simply SLOW DOWN!!!

The first of the cars caught up to us at around the 60km mark into the stage. You cannot appreciate what it is like to have one of these cars cannonball past you. Blinding dust, loose rocks flying everywhere and the iritrack alarm screaming in your ear to warn you – as if the two tonnes of angry steel hurtling past you was not enough warning. The bad news – the first car simply means that there are more cars right behind it. We stopped counting the numbers of cars that passed us on the stage today. It was perfectly suited for cars today – but tomorrow that all changes.

The good news is that all the team made it safely to the end of SS-1 without any problems and within the Maximum Time Limit.

Maximum Time Limit: This is the time limit that each competitor must complete the liaison and super special stages to avoid incurring a time penalty.

The days riding finished with 119km liaison section on tarmac roads from the end of SS-1 to the Bivouac at Moreeb Hill. The Bivouac at Moreeb Hill was going to be home for the next three days. Here we again met up with our Support team – Sharon and Alessia. The girls had done an amazing job setting up the camp. It was only 6pm in the afternoon but already the blow up mattresses inside each of our tents looked were looking like a luxury suite in the Burj Al Arab. However, our immediate attention turned to the two most important priorities when finishing the days racing - refuel and rehydrate.

The times and positions for the UAE CC Team at the end of SS-1 are as follows –

Name / Time / Cumulative / Position / Overall
Steve You / 05:04:42 / 05:07:45 / 22 / 59
Jonathan Quan /05:06:18 / 05:10:01 / 24 / 61
Paul Anselmo / 05:09:08 / 05:12:18 / 25 / 62
Sean Curnow/ 05:13:00 / 05:15:55 / 26 / 63
For full details of the entire field – please see the official UAE Desert Challenge Website (www.uaedesertchallenge.com)

The feeling around the team is basically all smiles coupled with a real sense of achievement. We are here now, the adrenaline is gone and we have completed the second longest day on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge. We know that there are much harder days to come and fatigue is going to play a bigger role with every passing day – but for now, the guys are just happy to have made it to this point and are justifiably feeling part of the rally.

The Driver Briefing for the next day’s riding was held at 19:00 pm after which we picked up our Road Books for the next official race day along with the modification sheet. We went back to our official UAE CC tent and marked up our road books before loading them into the units on the bikes. The Gecko mechanics were busy servicing the bikes for the next day’s riding.

Then it was off to sleep for a 5:00 am wakeup call to do it all over again – gotta love it!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Day 1 / The Prologue (bought to you by Boma Pipe)

2008-10-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

The first day is known as the Prologue. It is basically a spectator day where competitors race around a ±2km track once with the times determining the starting order for the following day, when the race really starts at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

In the past the track used in the prologue has been specially constructed under the watchful eye of the Burj Al Arab. However, due to recent construction on the site the prologue has been moved to the Jebel Ali Motocross track. This is a very technically demanding track – tough for bikes, seemingly impossible for cars and absolutely no place for a truck.

The UAE CC Team met at Gecko Motorcycles and then headed with the Gecko Honda Team to the UAE Desert Challenge Headquarters at the Dubai International Marine Club for the Competitors Briefing.
The official Competitors Briefing was held at midday. Here we received a rundown on the Prologue schedule as well as the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge as a whole. We were also issued our Road Books for the first special stage along with the modification sheet.

Road Book: The road book is a long roll of paper that is effectively a list of instructions to enable the rider to complete the special stage. The road book is issued along with a sheet of modifications that is based on a reconnaissance carried out in the last 24-48 hrs by a car that has driven the entire route. These modifications need to be added to the road book before loading it into the road book holder on the bike.

It was then back to Gecko for some last minute checks before heading off for the Prologue.

We with the Gecko Honda team on the bikes for the 28km ride out to the Jebel Ali Motocross track. You can feel the nervous anticipation in the air. The guys have all made it to the start line – over coming injuries along the way.
The Jebel Ali Motocross Track is a technically demanding track with deep ruts in all corners, several jumps, technical sections and some 180° turns. Our nerves were not helped by the track having been redesigned in the last month. The good news is we were some of the first bikes on the track and importantly the bikes went before the cars and trucks. Any other way would have simply resulted in carnage.

The objective here was simple – get around in one piece and try not to injure yourself or damage the bike. It’s a long race and starting positions are not critical in our bid to complete the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge. The track was already torn up from an event held the previous week and the deep ruts that build up in all the tight corners make things tricky for even the experienced competitors in the field to get around.

The great news is that all the guys made it around in one piece with no injuries. Jonathan dropped his bike twice during his run but recovered quickly on both occasions.

Our starting positions are as follows –

Name / Time / Starting Position
Sean Curnow / 02:55:84 / 55
Steve You / 03:03:87 / 61
Paul Anselmo / 03:10:34 / 65
Jonathan Quan / 03:43:24 / 71

This sets things up nicely for the guys as we will be attempting to ride the race in pairs with Steve and Paul riding together and myself and Jonathan riding together.

The 34 km ride back from the Jebel Ali Motocross track back to Gecko Motorcycles was eventful. Steve suffered a rear tire puncture from a piece of metal on the road. It means that we will have to change out his rear wheel first thing in the morning before the ceremonial start at Emirates Palace.

We met back at my place and marked up our Road Books (with some tips from the seasoned professionals at Gecko) paying specific attention to the various hazard marked out for the next day’s riding. We then loaded the Road books into the bikes.

Then the team headed off some final packing and an early night’s sleep with the prospect of a 4:30am start and the start of the real 2008 Desert Challenge looming large.

Speak to you tomorrow!!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.
For detailed information on the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge please see the official UAE Desert Challenge website at www.uaedesertchallenge.com.

Final Scrutineering

2008-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Today was another busy day!

The morning was taken up with a photo session down on Jumeirah Beach under the watchful eye of the Burj Al Arab. Alessia (one of our support team and our official photographer) was assisted by Sharon (the other member of our support team). 70 photos later and several changes of sponsor provided shirts and caps and the photos session was complete. A selection of photos can be viewed on the website.

We then regrouped in the afternoon at the UAE Desert Challenge Headquarters at the Dubai International Marine Club for final Scrutineering. Here it was necessary to pass the Official Noise Test and to have our Sentinel, GPS and Iritrack systems tested. All our Bike and Riding Gear Scrutineering had been completed at Gecko Motorcycles the previous day so this was supposed to be a walk in the park.

A number of the bigger more powerful bikes apparently failed the Official Noise Test and ‘modifications’ had to be made to enable them to achieve a noise level below the acceptable limit. Fortunately we were all just inside the limit and did not require any ‘modifications’. (It was surprising though as the noise made by a number of the cars appeared to be well above the maximum limit for the bikes – hopefully that makes them easier for us to hear when they come barreling up behind us. We also got our first up close and personal view of some of the trucks – which was motivation enough to stay ahead of them!)

Paul, Steve and Jonathan’s bikes passed the Sentinel, GPS and Iritrack system tests without problems and they subsequently received the coveted SAFE stickers for their bike and helmet that signal that they have passed all the requirements of Scrutineering and are now clear to compete in the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

We could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that was when Murphy’s Law kicked in.

The testing of the GPS and Iritrack systems went fine on my bike, but the test of the Sentinel system failed. Checks confirmed that it was not getting any power. A number of checks were carried out but the route of the problem could not be determined. With the help of a fellow rider (Peter Rutter) we rewired the power supply for the Sentinel system from the head light supply to the GPS supply (direct off the battery). This fixed the problem to pass scrutineering but meant that the bike needed to go back to Gecko Motorcycles to clean up the wiring. Thanks very much to Peter for his assistance!

I finally completed the Scrutineering as the second last bike out of the tent. However, we were all just happy to have passed all the mandatory safety checks. This represents the final tick in the box before we officially start the race.

The bikes were then loaded back onto the trailers and driven away ready for the Prologue stage on Sunday at the Jebel Ali Race track. My bike was dropped off at Gecko motorcycles that evening so the wiring could be cleaned up in the morning in time for the Prologue in the afternoon.

Speak to you tomorrow!!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.

Administration / Scrutineering

2008-10-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day!

We arrived at Dubai international Marine Club at 08:00 am. The morning was consumed with carrying out all the administrative paperwork at the UAE Desert Challenge headquarters at the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi. It was necessary for the whole team to be present to ensure that all the entry forms were accurate and that the necessary insurance was in place for each rider (including permanent disability and death). It was a case of organized chaos – though credit to the organizers, once we got moving we were out of there pretty quickly.

In return we received our official race numbers and official sponsors stickers. Keep an eye out for the following competitors -

Name / No.
Jonathan Quan / 45
Paul Anselmo / 46
Sean Curnow / 47
Steve you / 48

Then it was off to Gecko motorcycles (who were also responsible for building our bikes) where scrutineering was being carried out for local motorbike riders. (The scrutineering for the foreign riders, cars and trucks is being carried out at the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Hotel the following day).

Scrutineering: This is where race officials check that the bikes and riders kit comply with all the race regulations focusing primarily on all the necessary safety measures. All identification and official race advertising stickers must be in place on the machine when it is submitted to the scrutineers.

During scrutineering competitors must present the following equipment for inspection:
• Helmet & Riding kit
• GPS, Sentinel & Iritrack
• Signaling kit
• Additional water ration / Camelback
• Mobile telephone
• Medical kit (recommended but not compulsory)

Safety is the primary concern of the UAE Desert Challenge organization. All competitors riding kit especially the helmet is checked for safety. Each machine is also carefully inspected for mechanical safety and integrity.

We had a minor hiccup with the wiring on the bikes. Unfortunately they were setup for the newer version of the Iritrack System (which basically tells the race officials exactly where we are at anytime). However, when we received our Iritrack units we discovered they were the older version with two power cables (a primary and a backup). All credit to Gecko Motorcycles as they went about the business of rewiring all the bikes to accommodate the older type units.

The good news is we all passed the initial scrutineering.

The bikes were then loaded back onto the trailers and driven away ready for the final scrutineering session at the Dubai International marine Club primarily to check for noise and close out and issues that were identified today.

Speak to you tomorrow!

Please see our Photo Gallery for photos of the UAE Charity Challenge Team. These will be updated on a daily basis.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.8

2008-10-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the eighth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs reopened its doors in September and the students are back. We have recently approached the DCSN to get a quotation on the Toyota Coaster bus that we are looking to fund as part of our charitable work for this year.

Our charitable project in Uganda is continuing to take shape. My trip to Uganda scheduled of September/October as part of my work commitments with one of our Platinum Sponsors (Heritage Oil & Gas) has been delayed. However, we have been in touch with representatives of the World Health Organisation and are still waiting to hear back from the Ugandan Ministry of Health representative for the Malaria Control Programme.

More to come on both of these subjects in the November update!

TRAINING

The month of September has seen temperature start to drop to something bearable and in the later part of the month we have even been able to get out for some afternoon rides.

The UAE CC team continue to train out in the desert every weekend.

Gecko motorcycles have continued to support the UAE CC by inviting the UAE CC team along to join in training runs using the Garmin GPS units that reflect the various race conditions we could see on a day to day basis.

Thanks again to Gecko for their continued support!

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a huge month for the UAE CC in terms of securing further sponsorship. In the month of September we managed to secure two Gold and four Silver Sponsors. In addition to this one of our Silver Sponsors (Reed Hycalog) upgraded their sponsorship level to Gold through their sister company NOV Brandt.

Schlumberger and the IADC have joined the UAE CC as a Gold sponsors.

Schlumberger is a global leader in Oil and Gas Services. We wear our badge of "Most Global Company on Earth" with pride, as we employ over 80,000 people from 140 nationalities to cover our operations in nearly 100 countries. Schlumberger spends substantially more than any other comparable company on R&D, which allows us to continually provide our customers with the latest technology and solutions. We supply services in the following Segments: Reservoir Evaluation (Wireline Logging), Drilling and Measurements (LWD/MWD/DD), Well Services (Cementing, Pumping, Stimulation, Coiled Tubing), Well Testing (incl Surface, Downhole, Subsea, Data Acquisition, Perforating and Slickline), IPM (Project Management), SIS (Information Solutions). Western Geco provides seismic acquisition and interpretation, and other groups such as Carbon Services and Water Services offer support and expertise in various related fields. Our industry-best internal support systems, like QHSE and Logistics, etc allow us to provide these services to our customers in the safest and most expedient way possible.
Since 1940, the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) has exclusively represented the worldwide oil and gas drilling industry. IADC strives to secure responsible standards, practices, legislation and regulations that provide for safe, efficient and environmentally sound drilling operations worldwide.

The IADC's resources offer diverse benefits to its membership of drilling contractors, producers and associates. Membership is open to any company involved in oil and gas exploration and production, well servicing, oil field manufacturing and other rig site services. Through conferences, training seminars and a comprehensive network of technical publications, IADC continually fosters education and communications within the upstream petroleum industry. IADC has a global reach operating wherever its members operate...in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

IADC’s Southern Arabian Peninsula Chapter includes member companies operating in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Yemen. The Chapter provides both a technical forum for addressing regional challenges and a social network for professionals in the drilling and related industries. The Chapter also supports worthwhile charitable organizations and activities.

Life Healthcare Group, International Tubular Services Middle East, NOV Rig Solutions and Halliburton Sperry Sun have joined the UAE CC as Silver sponsors.

The LIFE Healthcare Group is a retail chain of: Pharmacies, Nutrition Centers and Cosmetic Outlets that was established in 1989. Its 19 years foray into the world of healthcare has transformed it into a leading retailer of medicine and medical equipment in the UAE. And today, it is a household name for emergency and daily medical need. LIFE Healthcare Group with its professional approach has reached many impeccable standards and service attitude fetched exponential growth and is ranked No.1 in sales. To provide perfect Health Protection, Health Promotion, and Clinical Quality Service, each store has unique and different services that augment the needs of the customers of a particular area.

International Tubular Services was founded in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1986 and developed into a fast-growing provider of drilling equipment and services to the oil and gas industry. ITS have a reputation for commitment, quality and delivery of cost-effective solutions. ITS has a wide global footprint and exposure to the major hydrocarbon basins. ITS operates from over 20 facilities strategically located worldwide, active in more than 50 countries with a highly-skilled workforce comprising over 900 employees. ITS provides a wide range of oilfield equipment crucial to the success of various stages of drilling operations.
ITS works closely with oil and gas exploration companies, drilling contractors and oilfield service firms and are now widely recognized as a first choice for services in Rental and Sales, Fishing, Casing / Tubular Running and Manufacturing & Repair. ITS have a complete service to cater for all your drilling operations and our people are always thinking of new ways to improve our services – it’s our competitive advantage

National Oilwell Varco is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production, the provision of oilfield inspection and other services, and supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry.

Halliburton Sperry Drilling Services is a global supplier of reliable, innovative, and highly technical drilling and formation evaluation services to the oil and gas drilling industry. Throughout its 75 year history, Sperry has sustained a spirit of innovation, determination, curiosity, and integrity.

Sperry Drilling Services' range of products & services include Directional Drilling & Surveying, Measurement-While-Drilling/Logging-While-Drilling Services, Multilateral Systems, Surface Data Logging (SDL) and Underbalanced Applications

We welcome Schlumberger, IADC, Duty Free, Life Healthcare Group, International Tubular Services Middle East, NOV Rig Solutions and Halliburton Sperry Sun to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We currently have just less than 460,000 AED in committed sponsorship from our corporate and individual sponsors. We are now closing our corporate sponsorship for 2008 to allow us to get team shirts and banners printed with the logos of all our various sponsors. However, our individual sponsorship will stay open right to the end of the race.

We look to have fallen just short of our target of 500,000 AED. However, I know that the UAE CC team takes great pride in the level of sponsorship we have been able to muster in our inaugural year.

As always, we would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their support and all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

TECHNICAL

Gecko Motorcycles continues to carry out the necessary modifications in stage to get the bikes ready for the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

With only 3 weeks remain until D-day, and the bikes are now fully kitted out looking like proper rally machines. One of the major jobs was to finish all of the electrical wiring, connecting the navigation and lighting equipment to the wiring harness. Brake lights, fog lights, GPS connector, Sentinel, and road book all had to be hooked correctly. Any mistake in this wiring, especially concerning the navigation equipment could end up in a very interesting race indeed.

As we had mentioned in our previous update the navigation equipment had to be setup in the last few weeks in order to avoid and expensive damage during training. The possibilities of this became quite obvious when we picked up the bikes fully modified with the front faring with all its brackets and supports protruding up a good 15 inches above the handlebars directly in front of the riders face. The front faring is quite simply a plastic extension inserted above the headlamp which serves as a shield for the fragile equipment located directly behind it. Its primary role will be to deflect any rocks, wind, sand etc which could cause any damage. However, in the very likely event of a front end crash where the bike nosedives in soft sand the rider could quite possibly cause quite significant damage to himself and the entire navigational setup.

The GPS (Global Positioning system) will serve as a directional device which literally points us in the direction of the next waypoint. However, riders must remember that the GPS will point them in a straight line and does not take into account all the possible hazards between point A and point B. This is where the Road Book comes into play. Put simply, this gadget is no more than a roll of paper handed out the night before by race organizers which is fixed onto the handlebars and contains written instructions and warnings about the track ahead. The riders must manually unwind and frequently adjust it according to the GPS coordinates throughout the ride. The Sentinel is another ingenious bit of kit. Its primary and only concern is for rider safety. One of the biggest dangers with this race is vehicle collisions, especially between the lighter – more exposed motorbikes and the faster/heavier cars and trucks. As the bikers always start the day ahead of everyone there is always a risk that the cars and trucks will catch up, passing the riders at superior speeds and sometimes resulting in what could be a fatal collision. The Sentinel is a system by which the passing vehicle sounds an alarm in the vehicle ahead, warning him of the upcoming overtaking manoeuvre. Even though this early warning system is welcomed by all riders, it is not full proof. Sometimes the passing vehicle is travelling at such high speeds that by the rime the rider has heard the alarm the vehicle has already passed them.

The heavy duty bash plates do exactly as their name suggests. With all the additional weight on these bikes, combined with hundreds of kilometres of punishing terrain, the bikes will at some point be subjected to big knocks under the chassis where the fragile engine casing and cooling systems are located. Simply put, these bash plates are made of thick steel positioned under the chassis protecting all the vital machinery from potential hits from rocks, tree’s and the like.

Emergency water tanks are compulsory for all bike riders and are located in two positions. The first is placed in front of the engine block, whereas the second is located under the rear mudguard. Each of these holds 1 to 2 litres of water and is intended for the rider to eventually drink or to use for any other purpose as a last resort in the event of an emergency in the desert.

Finally, each of our bikes has had a complete top end rebuild to the engine. Pistons, cam shafts, seals…etc has all been replaced a few weeks ahead of the final race. We know that these bikes are reliable, but by doing this we are greatly limiting our chances of a mechanical failure. Each of our bikes have been pushed hard during summer months and with more than 70hrs logged per bike some wear and tear is unavoidable.

So the bikes are now complete!!!

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of September are as follows -

· The 8th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
· The ‘Sponsors’ Page will be updated with all our latest sponsors.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.7

2008-09-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the seventh update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

With summer holidays almost over the Dubai Centre for Special Needs is due to reopen its doors in September for another year. Judging by the reaction of the students when we last visited – I bet they can’t wait.

Our charitable project in Uganda is starting to take shape. I will be travelling to Uganda in the September/October as part of my work commitments with one of our Platinum Sponsors (Heritage Oil & Gas). During this trip I will be meeting with Ugandan Ministry of Health officials and a representative of the WHO to discuss our plan to supply up to 10,000 ITN’s (Insecticide Treated Nets) to the people living on the edge of Lake Albert (Hoima District) in Uganda.

Our intention is to work with the Ugandan Ministry of Health to compliment there existing Malaria Control Programme and speed up the process, focusing on the Hoima District on the edge of Lake Albert.

More to come on this in the October update!

TRAINING

The month of August has seen temperature drop slightly from the scorching temperatures seen in July – but not much! Generally it has been an improvement on previous years with the anticipated humidity staying away for now. The UAE CC team continue to train out in the desert every weekend. The high midday temperatures inevitably still reach +40ºC which means that we are continuing to train in the mornings (up at 4:30am) to take advantage of the milder temperatures (32-34ºC).

We also recently took delivery of our Garmin Foretrex 201 GPS units that can be mounted to the handle bars and used in navigation route training. Small enough to strap on to the handlebars this device literally points you to the direction of the upcoming waypoint. Although this will not be actual GPS used during the race, it does teach us how to navigate whilst negotiating high speed technical routes, and constantly keeping an eye on our soon to be fixed road books (a roll of paper fixed onto the handlebars with written instructions and warnings about the track which the rider must manually unwind and frequently adjust according to his GPS coordinates throughout the ride)

Gecko motorcycles have stepped in here and have started inviting the UAE CC team along to join in training runs using the Garmin GPS units that reflect the various race conditions we could see on a day to day basis. These GPS training runs are invaluable as you need to ensure you are within a 200m radius of each of the respective waypoints – or you will incur a time penalty.

Thanks again to Gecko for their continued support!

MEDIA

Wednesday 6th August 2008 / Dubai Eye 103.8FM – Jonathan and I appeared on Dubai Eye 103.8FM Nightline with Jeff Price for a fourth time to promote the UAE Charity Challenge. We were amount a large group this time which included representatives from the newly formed Dubai Social Responsibility Fund and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), Caribou Coffee and more.

Abdulaziz Al Hinai (Manager - Social Responsibility Fund) gave the listeners a brief explanation of the role the Social Responsibility Fund hopes to play in increasing both corporate and community involvement in terms of Social Responsibility.

Jeff ran another great show with several calls from the public.

Thursday 24th August 2008 / Xpress – Xpress wrote an article on the UAE Charity Challenge Team highlighting the progress the team had made in securing sponsorship. A copy of the article can be viewed on the Xpress website at the following URL - The Magnificent Four – Xpress.

Sunday 24th August 2008 / 4Men – 4Men magazine wrote an article on the UAE Charity Challenge Team. A copy of the article can be viewed on the 4Men website at the following URL – 24/7 - 4Men Magazine .

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a solid month for the UAE CC in terms of securing further sponsorship. In the month of August we managed to secure one Silver sponsor and two Bronze sponsors.

Dubai Duty Free has joined the UAE CC as a Silver sponsor.

Located in the heart of Dubai International Airport, Dubai Duty Free is regarded as one of the most innovative retail operations in the world and is currently ranked No. 3 in the world in terms of turnover. Established in December 1983, the operation celebrates 25 years of retailing success which has seen the sales figures grow from US$20 million to its targeted US$1 billion in 2008.

Sponsorship and the support of local and international sporting events has been an integral part of Dubai Duty Free’s marketing strategy since 1983, and it has proved to be a highly successful platform for the global promotion of Dubai and its world-class sporting, leisure and business facilities.

Pemco Supplies and U&A Drilling Services have joined the UAE CC as Bronze sponsors.

Pemco Supplies Middle East is internationally recognized as a leading supplier of Tubulars to companies in the Oil, Gas & Water Industries worldwide. Their primary objective is to supply OCTG products, which exceed the governing specification(s), providing the most economical final cost in hole to End Users within the required time frame.

U&A Drilling Services is one of the leading suppliers of OCTG, Drill Pipe, Line Pipe and General Oilfield Equipment in the world. U&A is committed to supplying quality products to the Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Industry at competitive prices and quick deliveries. An extensive inventory strategically located in Jebel Ali, Houston, Aberdeen, Singapore and Tianjin assures quick deliveries to your doorstep using only the most reliable shipping lines.

We welcome Dubai Duty Free, Pemco Supplies and U&A Drilling Services to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We currently have just in excess of 370,000 AED in committed sponsorship from our corporate and individual sponsors. We remain committed to achieving our final goal of raising 500,000 AED. Only 2 months to go – its going to be tight!

We are in negotiations with some additional sponsors and hope to make some further announcements in our next News Update.

As always, we would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their continued support and all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

TECHNICAL

Gecko Motorcycles continues to carry out the necessary modifications in stage to get the bikes ready for the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

Quite a few modifications have been made in the past month. Although there is still a fair bit to do to, our bikes are now looking like proper rally machines equipped for the rough terrain and punishing heat. We have logged 50+ hours on these bikes so far, mostly through the summer months where engine and gear box fatigue is much more prominent. Taking the high temperatures and rev’s into account not much has broken down on these Honda 450’s. The bikes are well known for their reliability and high performance, hence the reason for their popularity in Dubai, allowing Honda to capture the majority of the off-road motorbike market.

Our new heavy duty Pro Taper handlebars have been installed. Being both lighter and stronger, they’re less likely to bend in the event of a fall. Their higher profile has also allowed us to install the Steering Dampers on the front fork which in turn helps to stabilize the bike while travelling at high speeds. Ultimately they should prevent a number of potentially very dangerous crashes where the rider would not normally have been able to control the rapid left/right movement of the front wheel. Even though we are still to test its true performance (as most of our training rides have been on the slower, more technical routes where dampers are not vital), we will undoubtedly be using them from today onwards as Gecko Motorcycles have kindly offered us to join them on their longer, more high speed GPS runs. These GPS routes are designed to simulate the various conditions we will be expecting in the Desert Challenge, without having to drive far from Dubai (these additional routes will be posted on our website).

After much initial debate, it’s now been a good few weeks since we’ve all been in 100% agreement about installing the new high performance pipes. So far we’ve all had a good couple of rides with these new exhaust systems and have all noticed a huge difference in the increased low end power it delivers. This should now decrease the chances of our bikes overheating, and the extra torque should see us through the softer patches of sand.

The seats have had their plastic covers removed and swapped for a smoother suede material, in hopes of somewhat relieving our rear ends after 6-8 hrs of daily chafing. Gecko Motorcycles had also offered us the option of replacing the seat foam with a taller/thicker version which raises the sitting position, thereby reducing the distance the rider needs to lift his body to a standing position. When done hundreds of times a day, this squatting movement between the sit and stand positions can really sap a riders energy. Nevertheless we have all opted out of this tall seat setup, worried about the possible changes in riding style and not being able to easily touch the ground when the bike is at a standstill.

Much of the electrics/wiring installation has been completed with brake lights connected (race regulations to road registration). The remainder of the wiring harness will be used to connect other devices such as the sentinel, road book, and GPS, all of which will be done last minute in order to avoid any expensive damage during training.

There are still some final modifications to come. We will keep you updated and also look to capture these upgrades in the ‘Technical’ section of the website.

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of August are as follows -

The 7th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
The Sponsors Page will be updated with all our latest sponsors.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.6

2008-08-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the sixth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs PR Coordinator (Delhna Cama) was a special guest again on the third radio show we recorded with Dubai Eye 103.8 FM Speak Easy. We hope to have this uploaded to the website soon.

We are finally settling on our charitable project in Uganda. The UAE Charity Challenge is looking to supply mosquito nets to the people living on the edge of Lake Albert (Hoima District) in Uganda.

“Malaria accounts for more than a million deaths each year, of which over 80% occur in tropical Africa, where malaria is the leading cause of mortality in children under five years of age. Aside from young children, pregnant women are among the most affected by the disease. Depending on malaria transmission intensity, the main complications of malaria during pregnancy include maternal death, severe anaemia, and adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight. Constituting 10% of the overall disease burden, malaria places a substantial strain on health services and costs Africa about US$ 12 billion in lost production each year.

In areas with stable transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 25 million pregnant women are exposed each year to malaria. Of these, about 10.5 million become infected with malaria in the second or third trimester. An estimated 10,000 of these women and 200,000 of their infants die as a result of malaria infection during pregnancy, and severe malarial anaemia contributes to more than half of these deaths” – WHO (World Health Organisation - 23rd June 2004)

According to the WHO (World Health organization), treated mosquito nets are the simplest and most effective means of preventing Malaria. The biggest problem previously with treated mosquito nets was that they needed to be retreated on a regular basis and this was not being carried out in an efficient manner. However new technology nets are now just being produced that have a slow release system that lasts for 6-7 years negating the need for regular retreatment. They cost about 5-7 USD / 15-20 AED each.

We estimate that we can potentially procure in the order of 10,000 ITN’s (Insecticide Treated Nets) for distribution along the Lake.

We have recently approached the Ugandan Ministry of health with the objective of working with them to assist their current Malaria Control Programme, focusing on the Hoima District on the edge of Lake Albert.

More to come on this in future updates!

TRAINING

The month of July is recognised as being one of the hottest months on the UAE calendar. However, the UAE CC team have still been out in the desert training every weekend. The heat has pretty much reached boiling point with midday temperatures inevitably +40ºC and sometimes climbing as high as 45/46ºC on particularly hot days. We are continuing to train in the mornings (up at 4:30am) to take advantage of the milder temperatures but even then the temperature may already be 34ºC.

MEDIA

Monday 7th July 2008 / Dubai Eye 103.8FM – Jonathan and I appeared on Dubai Eye 103.8FM Nightline with Jeff Price for a third time to promote the UAE Charity Challenge. We announced our charitable plans to supply ITN’s (Insecticide Treated Nets) to the people living in Uganda. We also discussed the training techniques and riding equipment for the UAE Desert Challenge.

Jeff ran another great show with calls to Delhna Cama (Public Relations Coordinator for the Dubai Centre for Special needs) and Matt Wilson (UAE CC Website Designer)

Delhna Cama again gave the listeners a brief explanation of the role the Dubai Centre for Special Needs plays in the community and explained the reasons behind our challenge of raising enough money to purchase a new bus.

Matt Wilson gave a great recount of his recent first off road bike riding experience that resulted in a spectacular summersault over the handle bars. He also talked about his ever increasing involvement in the UAE CC Team.

The show will be on the website shortly – feel free to listen in.

Monday 7th July 2008 / Timeout – Timeout wrote a feature article on the UAE Charity Challenge Team. A copy of the article can be viewed on the Timeout website at the following URL The Heat is On (http://www.timeoutdubai.com/dubai/features/review.php?id=3389) - TimeOutDubai.com.

Sunday 20th July 2008 / 7 Days – 7 Days wrote a follow up article on the UAE Charity Challenge Team highlighting the progress the team had made in securing sponsorship. A copy of the article can be viewed on the 7 Days News website at the following URL - Bikers blazing a trail for DCSN (http://www.7days.ae/en/2008/07/20/bikers-blazing-a-trail-for-special-needs-charity.html)- 7 Days.

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a good month for the UAE CC in terms of securing further sponsorship. In the month of July we managed to secure two more Gold Sponsors.

MI Swaco and Boma Pipe have joined the UAE CC as Gold sponsors.

MI SWACO is an Oil Service Company, with locations in more than 75 countries around the world, MI SWACO is a vital part of the world’s hydrocarbon exploration and production industry. They are the leading supplier of drilling fluid systems, engineered to improve drilling performance by anticipating fluids-related problems, fluid systems and specialty tools designed to optimize wellbore productivity, production technology solutions to maximize production rates, and environmental solutions that safely manage waste volumes generated in both drilling and production operations. M-I SWACO is committed to the continuous improvement of its global health, safety and environmental processes while supplying high-quality, environmentally responsible products and services to their customers.

Boma Pipe was established in Aberdeen Scotland in 1991 and subsequently opened a branch office in Jebel Ali Dubai in 2000. Boma Pipe are a worldwide supplier and stockist of Oilfield Country Tubular Goods (casing and tubing) in sizes from 36’’ to 2.3/8’’ in various weights and grades and in both API and premium gas tight connections. Primarily they supply/target oil and gas exploration companies requiring ex stock tubular’s on short lead times. Stock locations in Aberdeen, Holland, Houston, Singapore and Dubai are all located on major shipping routes enabling quick delivery times. Our customer base includes major and minnow exploration companies as well major trade houses purchasing on behalf of clients.

We welcome MI Swaco and Boma Pipe to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We currently have just in excess of 350,000 AED in committed sponsorship from our corporate and individual sponsors. We remain committed to achieving our final goal of raising 500,000 AED.

We are also in negotiations with some additional sponsors and hope to make some further announcements in our next News Update.

As always, we would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their continued support and all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

TECHNICAL

Gecko Motorcycles continues to carry out the necessary modifications in stage to get the bikes ready for the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

Our bikes have now undergone a few more alterations which have had a direct impact on the bikes performance. All four bikes have been fitted with new heavy duty chains which, in theory, should see us up to the race and past the finish line. These heavy duty chains are a necessary addition, ensuring none of us will be forced to abandon the race due to a relatively cheap, yet significant upgrade in chain strength and durability.

The gearing of each bike has also been revised to match the predominantly fast paced nature of the race. The huge expanse of salt flats and high speed tracks located in and amongst some of the largest sand dunes in the world will enable us to open up the throttle and get us back to camp before sunset…in theory. These adjustments in front and rear sprockets translate into huge variations of the ‘power vs speed’ ratio… which in our case has resulted in a massive increase of top speed. However, more speed does sacrifice power. Jonathan and I have noticed this the most as our bikes which are still fitted with the existing stock exhausts lack those few extra horses, needed for the softer dunes.

Thanks to Gecko Motorcycles, Steve has been able to test out the new high performance HGS exhaust with this new gearing and has been more than happy with the results. Combined with the new jetting this new set up seems to make life a little easier for both bike and rider. On several occasions we’ve noticed that the bikes fitted only with stock exhausts have overheated in the softer dunes and lost a substantial amount of radiator coolant, which could easily prove to be a race-ending situation that all of us are naturally keen to avoid. A restriction in power from these stock exhausts leads to the rider having to consistently shift down a gear to transfer the required power to the rear wheel. The bikes are therefore constantly operating in the high rev’s which results in an overheated engine, and ultimately a mechanical breakdown.

Consequently, we’ve all decided to have these high performance pipes installed.

There are still a lot more changes that need to be made. We will keep you updated and also look to capture these upgrades in the ‘Technical’ section of the website.

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of July are as follows -

The 6th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
A ‘MEDIA’ page has been added where we will load links to all the media exposure generated by the UAE CC.
The ‘GALLERY’ page has been upgraded with a new look.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.5

2008-07-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the fifth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs PR Coordinator (Delhna Cama) was a special guest on the second radio show we recorded with Dubai Eye 103.8 FM Speak Easy. Jeff Price also invited Delhna to appear on the show in the near future to further promote the Dubai Centre for Special needs.

We are still in the process of finalising the charity organisation we plan to support in Uganda. We will be making an announcement in the near future.

TRAINING

The UAE CC team made the 3 hr trip to Liwa for training during the first weekend in May. It is the region where much of the actual UAE Desert Challenge takes place. Out here in an area known as ‘The Empty Quarter’ the dunes can rise over 300m above the salt flats. The dunes here are not only substantially higher than those we are training in closer to Dubai but they are also substantially softer. The base camp at Moreeb is a massive slip face that can only be appreciated in real life (Check it out on Google Earth - 22°58'30.00"N / 53°47'17.00"E). We managed to get in two solids rides over the weekend that proved to be invaluable experience in regards to what we can expect to have to deal with come October.

The UAE CC team have also been out in the desert training most weekends during the months of May/June. The heat has really kicked in now with temperatures climbing to +40ºC during the afternoon. Hence we are tending to ride in the mornings as much as possible to take advantage of the milder temperatures (±30ºC). This usually means getting up at some time around 4:30am to ensure we have completed the training ride before the temperature climbs above 40ºC.

MEDIA

Monday 19th May 2008 – Jonathan and I appeared on Dubai Eye 103.8FM Nightline with Jeff Price to promote the UAE Charity Challenge and hopefully spread the word on what we are trying to achieve. Jeff ran a great show with calls to Mr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem (President of the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE and founder of the UAE Desert Challenge) and Chris Kinsville-Heyne (part of the Search & Rescue Team for the UAE Desert Challenge).

Mr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem was particularly complimentary with regards to the amount of money the UAE CC Team had raised to date in sponsorship funding and also of our approach to combining the challenging sport of enduro racing with giving back to the community.

Chris Kinsville-Heyne provided some valuable insight into the workings of the Search & Rescue teams that ensure the highest safety levels are maintained with the shortest possible response times to actual incidents.

Sunday 2nd June 2008 - Jonathan and I appeared on Dubai Eye 103.8FM Speak Easy for a second show with Jeff Price to promote the UAE Charity Challenge. This time the show was limited to 30min, but we managed to make calls to Sean Linton (Founder of Gecko Motorcycles) and Delhna Cama (Public Relations Coordinator for the Dubai Centre for Special needs).

Sean Linton gave some background on his involvement with the UAE Desert Challenge and also highlighted the role Gecko will play in getting the UAE CC Team to the finish through setting up the bikes, training advice and technical support during the race.

Delhna Cama gave the listeners a brief explanation of the role the Dubai Centre for Special Needs plays in the community and explained the reasons behind our challenge of raising enough money to purchase a new bus.

Both shows will be on the website shortly – feel free to listen in.

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a relatively quiet few months for the UAE CC in terms of securing further sponsorship. We have all been extremely busy with work and other commitments which has limited out ability to chase down potential new sponsors. However, in the month of June we managed to secure our third Platinum sponsor.

Oil Search has joined the UAE CC as Platinum sponsor.

Oil Search Limited is an oil and gas exploration and development company that has been operating in Papua New Guinea since 1929. It is publicly listed on both the Australian and Port Moresby Stock Exchanges. It is PNG's largest oil and gas producer and operates all of PNG's producing oil and gas fields. Oil Search's major project is a 34% share in the PNG LNG Project which is operated by ExxonMobil. Oil Search also has exploration concessions in Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and Iraq (Kurdistan). Oil Search is committed to the highest standards of health and safety and prides itself on being able to work effectively with local communities and governments in the countries they operate.

We welcome Oil Search to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We currently have just in excess of 310,000 AED in committed sponsorship from our corporate and individual sponsors. We remain committed to achieving our final goal of raising 500,000 AED.

We are also in negotiations with some additional sponsors and hope to make some further announcements in our next News Update.

As always, we would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their continued support and all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

TECHNICAL

Gecko Motorcycles has completed the first stage in the upgrading of the bikes from stock short distance rally bikes into race prepared long distance endurance bikes

The first stage of upgrade work involved changing out the fuel tanks, suspension and rear tires.

The existing 7 litre stock fuel tanks were removed and replaced with much larger 27 litre endurance fuel tanks. These larger fuel tanks increase the effective range of the bikes from ±60km to ±250km. It also increases the weight of the bike significantly from 119 kg to 137 kg (full fuel load) - something that takes a little getting use to.

They also changed out the existing suspension to a stiffer race suspension to accommodate for the additional weight created by the larger fuel load. It was necessary to change out both the front and rear suspension. Adjustments then need to be made to the suspension for each ride.

The last change has been to replace the Bridgestone rear tire (as supplied with the bike) with a Dunlop rear tire that is more suited to the desert terrain and in particular the soft sand.

There are still a lot more changes that need to be made. We will keep you updated and also look to capture these upgrades in the ‘Technical’ section of the website.

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) suffered a major computer malfunction that saw his pride and joy spending several days with some IT specialists. However, he is now back up and running and continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of May / June are as follows -

The 5th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
Matt has added updated a Countdown Counter to the ‘HOME’ page.
Photos from our trip to Liwa have been added to the ‘GALLERY’ page.
Recordings of the two Radio Shows will be added shortly.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.4

2008-05-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the fourth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

During the month of April, the UAE CC team received a wonderful email from the Dubai Centre for Special Needs PR Coordinator (Delhna Cama) expressing the centres gratitude to the UAE CC team, our supporters and all our sponsors for all their efforts to date. Matt Wilson received a special mention for the volunteer work he is doing to maintain and constantly improve the website – good job Matt!

We are still in the process of finalising the charity organisation we plan to support in Uganda. We will be making an announcement in the near future.

TRAINING

The UAE CC team was out in force in the fourth and final DMX Baja Challenge Race for 2007/2008. Steve, Paul, Jonathan and I all competed in a race that was marred by a serious crash to a fellow competitor. We all stopped to check he was OK and Steve and I waited until help arrived in the form of DMX support personnel. (Note: A broken collar was just one of the injuries suffered by the nameless rider - a gentle reminder that this sport is not for the faint hearted). The UAE CC Team finished 15th, 17th, 23rd and 26th respectively. Overall, Paul finished a credible 11th in the Clubman Class for 2008 having competed in only 3 of the 4 events – nice one Paul!

The UAE CC team was also out in the desert training every other weekend during the month of April. We concentrated this month on Route 2 (The Triangle) and Route 5 (Schwaib). We also made the trip out to a new location just north of Al Ain where the dunes are generally bigger and are separated by salt flats – good training for the UAE Desert Challenge.

We are also planning a trip for May to the Liwa area where much of the actual UAE Desert Challenge takes place. Out here in an area known as ‘The Empty Quarter’ the dunes can rise over 300m above the salt flats. The base camp at Moreeb is a massive slip face that can only be appreciated in real life. Check it out on Google Earth (22°58'30.00"N / 53°47'17.00"E)

Note: We have still not resolved the vibration problems we have been having with our helmet camera. Once we get these sorted out we will upload some live footage to the Website so that you can experience what it is like to ride in the deserts of the UAE from the comfort of your living room.

MEDIA

Sunday 20th April 2008 - 7 Days News covered the UAE CC team as they took delivery of the 4 x 2008 Honda CRF450X at the Honda show room on Sheikh Zayed road. A copy of the article can be viewed on the 7 Days News website at the following URL - http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=71100. We will also add a copy of the article to the website in the near future.

Monday 19th May 2008 - Dubai Eye 103.8FM have invited the UAE CC to appear on their evening radio show from 8-9pm with the aim of further promoting the work we are doing as a non-profit venture dedicated to raising money for worthy charities both in the UAE and abroad. Don’t forget to tune in!

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a huge month for the UAE CC in terms of securing sponsorship. The support shown by companies in the UAE and abroad continues to be first class. In the month of March we managed to secure the support of ten additional sponsors.

Baker Hughes has joined the UAE CC as Gold sponsors.

Baker Hughes provides the worldwide oil and natural gas industry products and services for drilling, formation evaluation, completion and production. They create value for oil and gas producers by providing practical and reliable technology to find, develop, produce and manage oil and gas reservoirs. Baker Hughes operates in over 90 countries worldwide providing products and services to international oil companies, independent oil and gas companies and national oil companies.

AGR, Weeks, Target, Wood Group, Weatherford and Smith have joined the UAE CC as a Silver sponsor.

AGR Petroleum Services is one of the world’s leading providers of professional services to the upstream oil and gas industry. Their core competences are geology, geophysics, petrophysics, reservoir engineering, well construction, field management, and project management of production facilities including FPSO and subsea services. They specialise in assisting oil companies with low-cost, fast-track commercialisation of hydrocarbon resources using leading-edge technologies and world-class processes. They can provide clients with a complete solution from prospect generation through to field management. They also specialise in the provision of recruitment and consultancy services to the upstream oil and gas industry with offices situated in the UK, Norway, Dubai and Australia

Weeks are a family owned multi-disciplined organisation, trading for over 25 years, providing integrated technical construction services throughout Europe, Asia and Africa.
Weeks specialise in the provision of services to the construction and oil/gas industries. Topographical surveys, design, contract strategies, procurement and the supervision of civil engineering and building works. Projects range from well sites, base camps and access roads to production facilities and underground gas storage schemes.

Smith International, Inc. is a leading supplier of premium products and services to the oil and gas exploration and production industry, the petrochemical industry and other industrial markets operating through four business units, M-I SWACO, Smith Technologies, Smith Services and Wilson. The company provides a comprehensive line of technologically advanced products and engineering services, including drilling and completion fluid systems, solids-control and separation equipment, waste-management services, water treatment systems, oilfield production chemicals, three-cone and diamond drill bits, turbine drilling products, drilling and fishing tools, underreamers, casing exit and multilateral systems, packers, liner hangers and tubular products.

Target Well Control Limited, a subsidiary of Target Energy Group, is a UK based Directional Drilling Company proving service to the Oil and Gas industry internationally. The Company focuses on performance and service quality and has experienced customer focused personnel and reliable equipment to provide exceptional service cost effectively. Targets product range includes Drilling Engineering, Directional Drilling, well planning, Rental Tools, Mud Motors, Rotary Steerable tools, MWD/LWD and fishing and milling equipment on a rental or service basis. In addition to these products Target provides field engineers and office based supervisors who are experienced in the management of complex and challenging drilling projects to assist in delivering projects successfully on time and on budget.

Wood Group is an international energy services company with $4.4bn sales, employing 24,700 people worldwide and operating in 46 countries. The Group has three businesses - Engineering & Production Facilities, Well Support, and Gas Turbine Services - providing a range of engineering, production support, maintenance management and industrial gas turbine overhaul and repair services to the oil & gas, and power generation industries worldwide. Wood Group Pressure Control manufactures, installs and services wellheads and Christmas trees for land and offshore platform installations around the world. Both conventional and service specific wellhead designs are available. Trees can be provided with WGPC valves and actuators for single source supply of all equipment. WGPC employs over 1,400 people at 57 location in 14 countries around the world

Weatherford is the fourth-largest diversified upstream oilfield service company in the world. Their global network includes more than 38,000 people, 730 service bases, 87 manufacturing facilities, and 13 Technology Centres in more than 100 countries. Their products and services span the lifecycle of a well, including drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention. The Company’s range of production-enabling technologies include evaluation services, directional drilling services, controlled pressure drilling (CPD®) systems, cased hole completion systems, expandable technologies, intelligent completion technologies, production optimization systems and all major forms of artificial lift systems.

Corpro and MT Clothing have joined the UAE CC as a Bronze sponsor.

Corpro Systems Limited is a global company specialised in providing Coring Solutions to the Oil Industry. Corpro have been heavily investing in Research and Development to meet the challenges of the 21st Century by improving coring efficiency, recovering high quality material for conventional and special core analysis.

MT Clothing symbolizes Deviancy, Intelligence & Strength. It is a distinctive intelligent brand, of super clean and dark creations. Aiming at the darker side of freestyle extreme sports and the punk rock metal music scene, MT Clothing brings you the highest quality alternative street wear clothing. MT Clothing believes that everyone has the ability to make a difference in this world. “Environmental and humanitarian issues are very important to us. With each apparel a free sticker stating such issues is given, in hope to provide our customers, especially the kids, with the possibility to be more opened minded to the world and not only be concerned with appearances”

Gecko Motorcycles has joined the UAE CC as a Special sponsor.

Gecko Motorcycles is a bespoke centre specialising in motorcycle sales and after-market apparel combined with a modern workshop facility. Under the direct supervision of the proprietor Sean Linton (a 20 year veteran in this field) Gecko Motorcycles has established itself as the premier off road biking first point of call in the UAE.

We welcome Baker Hughes, AGR, Weeks, Target, Wood Group, Weatherford, Smith, Corpro, MT Clothing and Gecko to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We would also like to thanks all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

TECHNICAL

THE BIKES ARE HERE!!

We picked up our 4 new 2008 Honda CRF450X bikes from Honda in the 3rd week of April. Anton Fisher of Honda was on hand to officially hand over the paperwork for each of the bikes. The bikes have all been ridden in and the initial service completed by Honda FOC. Our thanks go out to Honda for the continued support of the UAE CC Team.

Taking delivery of the bikes is just the start. The bikes need to be specially modified for the race with the modifications costing almost as much as the bikes themselves. This job falls to a local company that specializes in just this type of work – Gecko Motorcycles. Here mechanics with years of endurance racing experience make the necessary modifications to turn these bikes from stock short distance rally bikes into race prepared long distance endurance bikes. Everything from the fuel tank to the suspension needs to be changed to accommodate up to 9hrs a day of riding in conditions that would have most of us running for the air conditioned safety of our living rooms.

The support from Gecko Motorcycles doesn’t stop there though; they are also providing the UAE CC Team with advice on training techniques, training runs and just about anything you can think of to help us prepare for the UAE Desert Challenge. Our thanks go out to the Gecko team for their invaluable advice and support.

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) has been hard at work as usual keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of April are as follows -

The 4th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
Matt has added updated the ‘SPONSORS’ page to include all the latest sponsors (Baker Hughes, AGR, Weeks, Target, Wood Group, Weatherford, Smith, Corpro and MT Clothing) to join the UAE CC team. Thanks again for your generous support.
Go check out the ‘Training’ page to see the various training runs we have been using to prepare for the UAE Desert Challenge. The routes have all been captured using GPS and cover the main training rides. However, we are now also moving into bigger dunes in Liwa / Al Ain to better prepare us for the worst the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge has to offer.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.3

2008-04-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the third update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

During the month of March, the whole UAE CC team accepted an invitation from the Dubai Centre for Special Needs to tour there centre. The PR Coordinator (Delhna Cama) again generously gave up 2 hours of her time to show the guys (Steve, Paul, Jonathan and Matt) through the four wings that make up the DCSN. They all agreed it was a great experience meeting all the kids and seeing where all their hard effort was really going. Jonathan returned later that week to represent the UAE CC team at the DSCN Annual Concert (see the pictures in the Gallery page)

We are still in the process of finalising the charity organisation we plan to support in Uganda. We will be making an announcement in the near future.

TRAINING

The UAE CC team was out in the desert training every weekend during the month of March. We concentrated this month on Route 1 (Fossil Rock) and Route 5 (Schwaib).

We are still trying to resolve the vibration problems we have been having with our recently purchased helmet camera. Once we get these sorted out we will upload some live footage to the Website so that you can experience what it is like to ride in the deserts of the UAE from the comfort of your living room.

The UAE CC team was well represented in the third of the DMX Baja Challenge Races for 2007/2008. Paul and Jonathon both flew the flag proudly coming in 9th and 22nd respectively in the Clubman class covering a distance of 169km. It was JQ’s first ride back after a 2 week break and his first Baja race – a good experience of what it is like to be in race conditions.

SPONSORSHIP

It has been another big month for the UAE CC in terms of securing sponsorship. The support shown by companies in the UAE and abroad continues to be first class. In the month of March we managed to secure the support of three additional sponsors.

Grant Prideco and WOMME have joined the UAE CC as Gold sponsors.

Grant Prideco is the world’s leader in drill stem technology and drill pipe manufacturing, a global leader in drill bit technology and manufacturing, and a leading provider of high-performance engineered connections and premium tubular products. The company has 25 manufacturing facilities and more than one hundred sales, service and repair facilities strategically located in all major oil and gas regions around the world.

Since 1981 WOM began improving existing high pressure valve designs for the oil & gas sector to increase reliability and reduce maintenance. In 1985, WOM introduced a breakthrough sealing concept for gate valves used in the petroleum industry. After thorough testing and retesting at WOM and third party test facilities, WOM's Magnum gate valve design proved its superiority. After two decades,WOM has greatly expanded their product offering, manufacturing capabilities and service to provide customers a single source to control a wide range of demanding flow applications found in all facets of the oil and gas industry.

Reed Hycalog has joined the UAE CC as a Silver sponsor.

Reed Hycalog is a leading manufacturer of premium drill bits for use within the oil and gas industry globally. The company manufactures Fixed Cutter, Impregnated Diamond, Roller Cone and Bi-centre drill bits at plants in Conroe Texas, Stonehouse England and Singapore. Reed Hycalog products hold several world records for drill bit performance and the Middle East Region Office is located in Dubai, UAE.

We welcome Grant Prideco, WOMME and Reed Hycalog to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We would also like to thanks all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) has been hard at work as usual keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of March are as follows -

The 3rd News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
Matt has added updated the ‘SPONSORS’ page to include all the latest sponsors (Grant Prideco, WOMME, Reed Hycalog) to join the UAE CC team. Thanks again for your generous support.
He has also added in details of the protective gear each of the riders will be wearing when riding in the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge. If you have ever wondered what the guys will be wearing to protect them from the inevitable falls - go check it out in ‘The Bike Info’ page.

NEWS UPDATE - NO.2

2008-03-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the second update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

During the month of February, I accepted an invitation from the Dubai Centre for Special Needs to tour there centre. The PR Coordinator (Delhna Cama) generously gave up 2 hours of her time to show me through the four wings that make up the DCSN. It was a really positive experience as we toured the centre and had an opportunity to meet the students and see the great work the DCSN is doing to improve the lives of these special residents of the UAE. (see the pictures in the Gallery page)

The whole of the UAE Charity Challenge Team will be visiting the Dubai Center for Special Needs during the month of March to remind ourselves exactly what we are working towards.

We are still in the process of reviewing charity organisations in Uganda and plan to make an announcement in the near future.

TRAINING

Training for the UAE CC team members during the month of February was limited due to individual work commitments and annual leave.

Jonathan is back having recovered from the ‘minor’ injury he sustained 3 months ago whilst riding the Enduro (Route 6) for the first time. The UAE CC team got out into the desert to do a training run and also get some footage with our newly purchased helmet camera. It was a learning experience getting the setup right and adjusting the mounting to minimize vibration. We plan to upload some live footage to the Website during the month of March so that you can experience what it is like to ride in the deserts of the UAE from the comfort of your living room.

The second of the DMX Baja Challenge Races for 2007/2008 coincided with three of the UAE CC team being out of the country for work commitments and annual leave. This left me to fly the flag for 6 laps through a desert course covering a total distance of 159km. It was a tough day in the desert as I managed to finish in 9thin the Clubman Class (see the pictures in the Gallery page)

SPONSORSHIP

It has been a big month for the UAE CC in terms of securing sponsorship. The support shown by companies in the UAE and abroad has been first class. In the month of February we managed to secure the support of five additional sponsors.

Iteco has joined the UAE CC as a Platinum sponsor. Iteco is a major supplier of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) and has been doing so to respected International Exploration and Production Companies for over 10 years. The Company has sales offices in the Middle East, France, Germany and India with a collective Industry experience of over 165 years.

Honda has joined the UAE CC as a Gold sponsors.

Honda are also the largest supplier of off road 2 wheel motorbikes in the UAE with a market share that exceeds 60%. Honda has a long standing relationship with supporting the UAE Desert Challenge. Honda bikes have in recent years dominated the field making up almost half of the two wheel bikes competing. They have won the M2 category for the last 2 years.

Honda will be providing the UAE CC team with the CRF450X motorbikes at reduced costs as well as spare parts free of charge during the UAE Desert Challenge itself.

Akamai, Seven Seas and Pentagon have joined the UAE CC as Silver sponsors.

Akamai is an independent strategy consulting, corporate advisory and investment firm established to deliver high-value corporate advice based on a unique business model which combines the consulting skills and entrepreneurial innovation of a leadership team with real world execution expertise. They have knowledge and experience in multiple industries and have helped companies develop and implement the strategies needed for growth and ongoing success.

Seven Seas Ship Chandlers was founded in Dubai in 1986 by Mr. Freddy Sidhwa, now Chairman and Managing Director of the Group. They offer a genuine one-stop marine supplies and services centre, unique even in the United Arab Emirates. Today Seven Seas has a presence in every port, every emirate, and in almost every aspect of the shipping industry. Some of the many marine services provided include: general ship repair, insulation works, refurbishment of crew accommodation, supply and servicing of all fire and safety equipment, life-rafts, life-boats, fixed fire-fighting installation systems, supply of charts and navigation publications, tank cleaning, sludge collection and disposal. Recent additions to the group include branch companies in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and USA.

Pentagon Freight Services LLC are specialists to the oil and gas industry for freight and logistics services. Established in 1974 and now covering 6 continents with 22 offices worldwide they can offer turnkey solutions to any oilfield project for freight and logistical services.

We welcome Iteco, Akamai, Seven Seas, Pentagon and Honda to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We would also like to thanks all those people who have begun to contribute personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson of Wilson Griffin Design continues to generously donate his time and expertise to the UAE CC by managing and updating the website.

Here's the News

2008-01-21T01:06:00.001-08:00

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the first update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team. We will plan to provide at least one update a month to keep everyone informed of our progress leading up to the 2008 Desert Challenge.

Charity

We will be aligning ourselves with two non-profit charity organisations with funds raised being evenly split between the two selected charities. We are happy to announce that we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Center for Special Needs.

The Dubai Center for Special Needs is an established, non-profit organisation dedicated to providing the highest standards of service in specialized education, therapy and vocational training, for children with various disabilities. Their aim is to provide each and every one of their students the key to a positive life, thereby "Lighting the path to a brighter future".

We are still in the process of reviewing charity organisations in Uganda and plan to make an announcement in the near future.

Training

The lads are continuing to ride weekly in the desert to keep up their ‘bike fitness’. We have primarily focussed on the Triangle (Route 2) with a second run at the Enduro (Route 6) (See the training section for details of each route)

Jonathan has been a noticeable absentee due to a ‘minor’ injury he sustained several weeks ago whilst riding the Enduro for the first time with Steve and myself. He managed to create a crash where there was no crash to be created and in so doing sustained a fractured metatarsal. One operation later to install pins in the fracture bone and he is well on the way to recovery. We expect him to be carving up the dunes mid Feb 08.

Steve and Paul both recently competed in the first of the Baja Challenge Races for 2007/2008. It was 5 laps through a desert course covering a total distance of 146km. The lads did the UAE CC proud coming in a respectable 6th and 15th. See the photo gallery for some great shots that capture the day nicely. Paul recovered from a crash on the last lap where he sustained some minor cuts and managed to bend the handle bars and radiator bracket – both which later needed to be replaced.

Sponsorship

We have secured our first Sponsor. Heritage Oil Corporation has joined the UAE CC as a Platinum sponsor.

Heritage Oil Corporation is a Canadian-based independent, international oil and gas exploration, development and production company. The Company has exploration projects in the Republic of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Mali and Malta, and producing properties in the Sultanate of Oman and Russia.

Heritage have a long standing relationship with non-profit charitable organisations. There support of the UAE Charity Challenge Team is simply an extension of their existing commitment to giving back to the communities where they operate.

We welcome Heritage to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

Volunteer Work

Matt Wilson of WilsonGriffin Design has generously donated his time and expertise to the UAE CC. Matt originally offered to help out with the initial graphic design work for the website. However, it was not long before Matt found himself an integral member in the UAE CC team. Having completed the initial graphic design work, Matt is currently responsible for construction and management of the website. He has also offered to join the support crew that will shadow the UAE CC team during the 2008 Desert Challenge. Matt has truly embraced the goals of the UAE CC and we are lucky to have him on board.

WilsonGriffin is an award winning design and communications company established in the UAE. Visit their website for more information www.wilson-griffin.com