Dubai to Jebel Hafeet

[Sin_Tiger]

Friend of mine from Singapore now resident in Dubai suggested we go for a ride if he could rustle up another bike. He had recently let go his Speedmaster and picked up an HD Night Train in a distressed sale. It all sounded like a great idea over coffee and a shishah, no alchol involed fortunately. Suddenly he says OK lets go around and talk to the Triumph dealer, time to put up or shut up! Everthing booked I had to cross my fingers I could get off the boat and back to Dubai in time.

Made it back by Thursday and arranged an 08:00 kick off and only just decided on the route at the last minute, there is even less choice than in Singapore. It all seemed sensible in the nice underground car park, that is until he handed me the keys for the HD, first clue was trying to get my feet on the pegs, this is going to turn out badly. Then he fired the thing up, I was expecting police sirens any second and started rummaging around for my industrial ear plugs.

Off we go, me trying to get to grips with steering little better than a supertanker and wishing for a Bonnevile stock silencer. It's a pretty dreary slog once out of Dubai city on the E66 towards Al Ain, where I hadn't been for many years. Temperatures weren't too bad yet in the mid 30's but we knew it was only going to get worse and secretly envied the half a dozen bikes we passed, all going the other way I might add, who obviously had had the good sense to do the run leaving before 06:00. The skydivers apparently had figured this out too and were already descending as we passed the base.

I got used to the HD in a not too long and learned why HD owners don't smile, in case their teeth fall out and why they wear open face helmets, you can't see the instruments without bending down in a full face. The brakes were at least pretty respectable and the gearchange was much better than I expected, certainly better than on the BMW GS but what I iinitially thought was going to be comfy seat with a good support turned out to be sore after the first 70 km.

Maybe it was me or my bum at least, but not being able to move around in the seat and having to keep forward pressure on the pegs to stop my Doc Martens falling off them just reinforced previous encounters and the conviction that Cruisers are definately not for me. Leaving lumps of my Docs heels on the corners was not impressing me either but hey I was riding and enjoying the rare company.

[Sin_Tiger]

For those never having heard of it before, Jebel Hafeet is a renowned isolated rock outcorop 1240 M high (although not obvious from teh photo's with the surrounding desert being so featureless) near Al Ain in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, about 160
kms from Dubai. It is notorious for mad races up and down and many fatalities, mostly at night thankfully. The road surface is fantastic and the concrete barriers reassuring, you'd have to be really mad to go over those. There isn't any sand on the corners to speak of and the diesel leaking trucks are not allowed on this road which is reassuring. Near the top there is now a decent hotel where we stopped for some late breakie, bacon butties were not on the menu I might add but we stuffed our faces never the less. A quick sprint right to the top observation area past another of the Sheik's many palaces, the temperature here was only 31 though it felt more without any shade nor a breath of wind.

The road down was as much fun as the road up but in a different way but I don't think either of us were prepared for the heat that hit us as we headed back accross the long stretch of the E66 back to Dubai. I was on the Explorer now and would have quite hapily taken a chainsaw to the screen if the bike had been mine. You open your visor in the hope of getting some sort of benefiit from the windblast and it's actually hotter, the same effect as opening your turbo fan assisted oven door and sticking your head inside, closing the visor it's relatively cool again within a second, can one of you bright physicist types explain that one to me please.

A brief stop to water up and stretch legs, although I really didn't feel I needed it on the Dora, with a photo opp and a "has McGreggor fallen off again" moment, at this point our ambient thermometer was topping 45, an underground carpark never felt so inviting and was very happy to see the unmissable tower of the Burj Khalifa in the distance. A good run and worth the slog, put up with the Night Train (it is probably so named for the best time of the day to look at it) again, yes but only for the fun of riding with my mate which I can't do often enough but an earlier start next time or wait for winter.

[Bixxer Bob]

Wow those photos take me back!!  I used to love mountain (jebel) roads although my experience is you can't push too hard because the talcum-powder-like sand, which blows everywhere, makes the tarmac a bit slippery.

I want to go back......

[Advwannabe]

I did the mountain in 2008, sadly in a tour hiace and have always wanted to go back and ride it.

Nice one Sin.

[Sin_Tiger]

Not much sand on the mountain roads, the usual spilled gravel and diesel from the ill maintained crappy trucks that get used here, mostly on roundabouts and there are a lot of them in Al Ain.

Definately worth doing if you get the opportunity, bit of a slog to get there and do it during the winter months if you have a choice