Outdoor Educator, Adventure Sports Coach and Instructor Trainer
Its taken me too long to get around to start exploring Dubai’s Creek in my kayak and it turns out I’ve been missing out. The first afternoon spent in the bottom section of the busy, bustling waterway was brilliant and I’ll be heading back to continue exploring asap.
The World in this case being, of course, the Dubai World. A series of man made islands just off shore from Dubai and in the news at the moment for all the wrong reasons (Telegraph article).
I needed a plan and inspired by a facebook post I’d seen about a team of SUPers doing the trip recently as a charity paddle it seemed like as good a plan as any. Seeing as there are not many places on this planet you can live and go for an evening paddle around the ‘world’ it had to be done. I checked Google Earth and worked it out to 32km and that seemed fine so printed off a couple of copies of the image and laminated them, threw some stuff in a bag, loaded up the kayak and went to Neros for a coffee and some lunch. Its one of the advantages to solo paddling, there is no one else to organise, no one to organise you and only your own timescale (if you have one) to adhere to.
It was quite a long cafe lunch, I’d been out on the road bike in the morning and I wasn’t feeling in the mood to rush. Eventually I was on the road and found myself at Sunset Beach, Um Suqeim, Dubai. By the time I’d unloaded the boat and done the quick kit faff it was about 1630hrs when I paddled out through the surf.
The weather was very unDubai like, overcast with rain in the air and a stiff North Easterly breeze blowing. I set a northerly course that made the ‘World’ about 5km away. Once into the shelter of the islands the going was pretty easy and with the GPS showing a speed consistently over 7km/h the tide was obviously with me.
There was still plenty of daylight as I got to the sea wall that surrounds the development. You can’t paddle through the islands of this proposed millionaires playground, no oiks allowed and the security boats on the various entrances made this very clear.
Heading NW, anti clockwise direction, I continued to make good easy progress in the fading light. It seemed strange to see Dubai’s distinctive skyline through occasional rain and with a very overcast sky. The weather made for very comfortable paddling though and a change is as good as a rest.
As I rounded the far edge of the sea wall the light gave out. The wind was now right in my face and the sea was getting quite choppy. I was concious I wouldn’t be obviously visible to the few speed boats out so I had already put a light stick on the back of my cap and had my head torch on my head ready just in case. In the end I hardly saw any boats for the whole journey, just a few water taxi’s beating a path between the Creek and the end of the Palm.
By the time I reached the most northerly point of the trip I was moving much slower than my earlier average of 7.2km/h. The tide was obviously against me and a reasonably chunky sea was coming at me from the side slowing me down to between 4 and 5km/h.
Now in the Arctic regions of the Dubai world, on its seaward side, the seawall was hiding the bright lights of the city skyline. To my left was the yellow/red overcast sky of the cities light pollution, to my right was just gloom. It was out of this murky darkness the waves were coming. In normal daylight they would have appeared quite small but coming at me unseen meant I was kayaking completely reactively on a very choppy sea. There were plenty of small whitecaps just visible in the murk and every now and then I’d get hit broadside by an unseen bigger than normal wave.
It felt great!!!! Just me and the sea. Not the sunny-day-everything-will-be-alright-no-matter-what-you-do-sea thats normally found off Dubai, this one was one to be wary of, one to respect, one to keep me concentrated. I needed to know where I was and where I was going. I was on my own so there was no one to look out for me, the buck stopped here, there could be no mistakes, get knocked over by a big rogue wave or caught too close to the seawall by a breaking wave and it would be a problem. But it wasn’t going to be a problem, I was well within my abilities and I was concentrating so I could just enjoy the conditions, the wildness of it, the steady roar the sea makes when its like that. It made me feel robust and strong.
It felt like quite a long way down through the ‘Arctic’ regions. As I rounded northern Canada the the bright lights of Dubai skyline started to reveal its self again. First of all Atlantis on the end of the Palm, then the cluster of towers making up the Marina, next came the distinctive Burj Al Arab and finally the Burj Khalifa rising out of the city centre. It was still an hour or so back to the beach so I had plenty of time to take it all in. Something I didnt realise happened is the top section of the Burj Khalifa puts on a spectacular light show including very powerful spot lights sweeping the sea and pointing laser like into the heavens. I allowed myself the smug self satisfied grin of the sea kayaker who knows they have the best view possible.
It was about 2230hrs as I surfed onto the beach. The trip had taken almost exactly 6hrs. Tired, satisfied shoulders carried the boat to the truck, the impromptu ‘trip around the world’ had definitely been a good plan.
Trip Info:
Distance / Time: 34km. 6 to 8 hrs
Access / Egress: From any of the Jumeria Beaches
Tides: A bit of tidal planning will help but not a huge issue here as you’ll be able to paddle against them.
Navigation: Easy. Google Earth shows the sea wall that surrounds the developement and once you get to it you can just follow it round. At night it is lit with marker lights.
Difficulty: Medium. Its quite a committing trip. While your close to ‘land’ there is no where to get out either to rest or in an emergency.
The results for the Inaugral Wadi Bih Adventure Race are up on the Premier Marathons website.
The various links are:
Have a look here for my experience of the event- https://ianganderton.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/inaugral-wadi-bih-adventure-race-2011/
Yesterday I competed in the mountain bike inaugral Wadi Bih Adventure Race, What a great event! www.wadiadventure.com
UPDATE 14/1/2011: results are up https://ianganderton.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/results-for-wadi-bih-adventure-race-are-up/
The event had 2 races. First out of the gate where the 13 teams of 2 competing in the adventure race. The mountain bike leg climbed up Wadi Khabb Shamsi for 35km to an altitude of 1000m before ditching the bikes and continuing on foot to the summit of Jebel Kiwi then returning back to the bikes to finish.
Starting a couple of hours later was the mountain bike event that just raced the 35km to the 1000m high point. There were over 40 competitors and one of them was me.
Now I’m not really the kind of mountain biker that enjoys cycling up hill and as I was sorting my kit I was questioning the wisdom of entering an uphill only event. Even weirder was I started seriously considering entering the duathlon. Fortunately the person I’d most likely have teamed up with didnt have his trainers packed and I was off the hook. Why is it we love to torture ourselves?
For me events like this are as much about the crowd of folks that turn out for them as the event itself. Its a great mix of people, some talented athletes, some not so talented, but all motivated to get up in the morning and facing the challenge of the event with a smile on their face and a positive can do attitude.
The mountain bike race started at a steady pace. My game plan was to take it steady from the start with the aim of not blowing up half way through, which is my normal trick. But in the first half a kilometer I noticed a small peleton form at the front so I put in put in a spurt and made the jump to the group. this proved a good decision as the extra speed I gained before I was dropped got me the jump on a load of folks who didn’t spot the opportunity. it improved my time no end and this reflected in my end placing.
Once I had been dropped I settled into a steady pace. I was by cycling by myself from about the 6km mark all the way up to the steep section at around 25km, my only company was provided by the guys in the support vehicles coming by and taking photos. (Thanks to Adrian of http://www.probike.ae for his).
Wadi Khabb Shamsi is spectacular. The track is has a steady gradient up through the steep water worn cliff sides. For most of the ride I wasn’t having to hunt for shade and was pretty comfortable temperature wise.
At what I estimate to be about 20km (I didnt have a bike computer) the wadi opened up and I caught myself looking for indications of where I might be headed and the finish. This is a psychological road to no where as you’ll either see something that will make you think the finish is closer than it is and be horribly disappointed when it isnt or spot something really high and far away that will just depress you. Fortunately I caught myself and made myself keep my head down, focus on my breathing and grind away as hard as I dare without risking blowing up. I was getting pretty tired at this point and could feel my legs starting to get very heavy.
At around 25km the track really steepens up and climbs at about 23% (apparently) up a series of loose sharp corners. Up to this point I’d been checking behind me every now and then to see who was catching me up but, much to my relief, didn’t see anyone. I was keeping the cushion that extra effort jumping into the front group had brought me. Now just at the bottom of this brutal steepening I heard bike gears changing behind me! Oh no! My heart sank. A quick glance round and I saw 2 cyclists behind me 😦
My energy tank was running pretty low at this point and i just didn’t have enough to keep off the guy who over took me. The track was brutally steep and I was the first of the 3 of us to plump for walking. Once one person walks often the others follow. I heard a clatter behind me and the other rider was lying in the track. It turned out later as we were swapping race stories she’d got caught up in her spd cleats as she’d gone to walk and had the classic but horrible rolling around in the dust experience.
Everything was hurting now, there was nothing good. The sun beat down, my quads cramped, the track was relentlessly steep. I tried cycling, its never good walking, I couldn’t, I cramped up even more and just felt miserable as another ride cycled past much stronger than me. I looked behind me but the girl who’d had the spd fall had fallen back. I put one foot in front of the other until the gradient eased off a bit and I could get back on the bike but the damage was done, I was hurting now.
As I went past Jonathon he shouted “there’s just one girl in front of you, show no mercy!!”
Mercy?!? Mercy was a luxury I could no longer afford, I was hanging in there trying to lose no more places to those behind me. The gradient had easer but my legs were so heavy, I could see the finish line but it was all hurting. I was feeling quite sorry for myself (lol)!!
Crossing the line without losing any more places was the reward though, the harder fought the fight the greater the sense of achievement. I knew I’d done ok and given a fair account of myself. I could now stop moving for a bit, get some fluids down, recover a bit and share race storied with the other riders.
The Duathlon Teams were still out on the run and it seemed quite a while before they started to come in. It sounded like the terrain had been tough. Don’t quite understand why but a big part of me still wishes I’d done that event and as I’m typing this I’m planning to do it next year.
So a great time was had by all. A huge thanks to John Young and the team of folks and sponsors that gave up their time to enable the event to happen, it really is appreciated.
I need to make a particularly big thank you to Damian for lending me his titanium hardtail. I wouldnt have entered on my big clunky Enduro. It really was appreciated
For more details of the event go to http://www.wadiadventure.com and save it in your favourites so you can find it next year.
But more importantly its the infamous Wadi Bih Run coming soon!! http://www.wadibih.com
11 February 2011 – Held every year since 1993 the Wadi Bih Run is the oldest regular expatriate sporting event in the UAE .
There’s a facebook group too – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159677900717284
See you there!!
Ian
SOLO 35 km Mountain Bike Hill Climb – 1000 m
TEAM of 2 35 km Mountain Bike Hill Climb – 1000 m & 10km Mountain Run
“Starting at the Golden Tulip Hotel Dibba , Oman, the route follows the Wadi Bih run course through the dramatic wadi Khabb Shamsi into the stunning Musandam mountains to the high point of the road.”
For details and registration please check out:
www.wadiadventure.com
e-mail info@wadiadventure.com
Tel. 04 3429259
Entry fee 150 AED per person
(including post event buffet)
Here’s the article from the Kalba Kayak Photoshoot Phil and myself did. Thats me on the front cover that is!! Click on the photo to access the rest of the article.
Its alway cool to have a plan. The weekends plan was to get out for my first 120km road ride with the Dubai Roadsters early on Friday morning before meeting up with Ben for an overnight kayak foray into Musandam. As we were driving towards Dibba I was wondering if it was such a good plan. My legs were really feeling the morning ride and sitting in a kayak didnt seem such a good plan at all.
With kayaks packed and underway all the doubts vanished
It’s about 15km across the bay. I love the feeling of being off shore. The bay feels full to the brim with life, my favourite are the flying fish apprearing from the bow of the kayak and gliding for impossible distances across the surface of the sea.
We reached camp just in time to settle in in the last of the light. While the location was stunning as a campsite it was lacking. The incoming tide came right up to the stones leaving us sleeping under a clear bright starry night in amoungst the rocks and fishing detritus. It was a hot sweaty night without any breeze. I wish I’d used more deet or a mosi net as I had quite a few small insect bites on my shoulders and arms where they hadn’t been protected by the sleeping bag liner.
Suprise suprise the day dawned bright and clear just like it always seems to in this part of the world.
We spent a great morning drinking tea while laughing and videoing the numerous hermit crabs making their way from the stones, down the sand and into the sea.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
We eventually made a move off the beach and explored the inlet we’d camped in and the surrounding coastline for better campsites with future trips in mind.
On the way back across the bay we had an incredible chance encounter:
A great little trip. Its always good to finish a trip knowing that you’ll be back. There’s lots of coastline I want to explore that I’ve missed out on on previous trips up the coast towards Limah and on up to Khwar Habalayn.
Trip info: Access / Egress point: Public Beach, East of Royal Beach Hotel, Dibba 25° 35.812’N 56° 20.884’E Campsite Used: Dawhat Haffah 25° 44.707’N 56° 18.139’E
My road bike arrived in a container a couple of weeks ago and it coincided with a strong desire in me to get fit. I quickly put the bike together and took it for a local lap. Its feels great to be back on the bike 😀
The roads here in the UAE tend to be flat and well surfaced but they are busy and the traffic fast, cycle unaware and uncompromising. Cycling as part of a group is the solution and there are a series of places to start.
Most well known is the Dubai Roadsters Friday morning ride outs – www.dubairoadsters.com
Leaving early from the Lime Tree Cafe (GREAT Carrot Cake!!) they take in 40km before splitting into groups to total 80km and 120km rides. These are not the best rides for folks not used to road riding in a group as groups are big (150 is typical) and the pace sprightly.
For those that havent been on the bike for a while or new to group riding the Saturday Bab Al Shams Coffee Run is a great way to get miles in the legs. Just over 30km each way and coffee, croissants and a chance to meet lots of other cyclists this is the perfect way to start getting up to speed. http://www.cyclechallenge.ae/weekly-rides/saturday.html
Lastly, as part of the Cycle Safe project, Dubai Autodrome and Yas Island Circuit now have evening sessions for cyclists, runners and rollerbladers. Spinney’s are picking up the tab so the track use is free. Laps of the tracks are great safe miles and also a great place to meet the cycling crowd. http://www.cyclechallenge.ae/cycle-safe-dubai/training-schedule-dubai-autodrome.html
Still lots of miles to do to get back to where I was a year ago but I can feel the benifits already.
Happy miles 🙂
Damian has just spent a few days up north here in RAK. After a couple of days on the water I took the opportunity to show him what the mountain biking up here has to offer. I thinks its safe to say he was impressed and had a hoot
Guida has just uploaded the photos from her camera and found this photograph of Damian. Check out whats in the background!
Click on the photo to view a bigger image
The photo was taken early yesterday morning as we kayaked south west on the outside of the Um Al Quwain area
Funnily enough I was talking to a friend yesterday evening in Cafe Nero about rays jumping, he’s seen it for the first time that day off Mina Al Arab. As this photo shows its a spectatular sight.
The photo was taken during a Noukhada 2 day Intro to Sea Kayaking Course details of which can be found HERE
Ian Ganderton 