Abu Dhabi - Part 3

by Sim Bradley
15 / 02 / 2010

The main reason we had all been flown from every corner of the globe to meet in this very precise spot was to gather media content and promote for the Wakestock Abu Dhabi contest in March. So on the Wednesday we had a bit of a lay-in before heading to the beach to ride some cable, throw some high-fives and generally schmooze with the world’s media.
 
As part of the run up to the event, Flash have hired our very own Tim Woodhead to put up a System 2.0 rig just off the main beach on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, where the public can come along and ride for free over the six weeks surrounding Wakestock. Lee Debuse and Damon Bull are operating the rig and it was great to see the boys, although we’re slightly concerned about how close they’re getting from living together in a small room for two months! After some speeches by the organizers our crew did some demo’s on the 2.0 and behind the boats while a load of photographers snapped away, after that the guys answered questions for the journalists and TV crews. The whole thing was a huge success with every newspaper in the region reporting on the event, and NickyD even got a couple of cover photos on the national broadsheets!
 
The next couple of days were unlucky at best, as on Thursday a huge sandstorm blew in from the desert, completely engulfing the city in a cloud of dense dirt and dust. It was just like the fog on the first morning, except instead of being humid it was extremely dry and everything you took outside turned brown after a few minutes. With all the sand in the air we decided to leave the boats in the marina, and the riders got some rest while the rest of us worked to get photos and video edits ready for our hosts.  Friday wasn’t much better. Although the sand had gone, the rain clouds had replaced it along with strong circling winds that blew out every possible spot. So instead of riding on our last day we had some different fun!
 
First of all we hired pedal cars and had some races around the square by the beach. We managed to break every rule on the agreement sheet, but thankfully nobody noticed and deposits were returned in full. After that it was some western entertainment, as we headed to the Marina Mall where you can shop at the Apple Store and Ikea on your way to the bowling ally; It was quite a weird place in the grand scheme of where we were. That evening everyone had a load of Dirhams left over, so we went to dinner at a great little Thai place called ‘Bam Bu!’ with our guides and boat crews, Rudi & Dolly and Vinny & Emma. A lot of food was eaten and even more wine was drunk. We had a great last night and briefly said our goodbyes knowing we’ll all be back there for Wakestock on March 4th.
 
Despite not riding the last couple of days, this really was a fantastic trip. Everywhere we went people treated us with genuine kindness and were incredibly helpful. We got to ride in some breathtaking locations and most importantly of all I got to show photos of the Formula 1 track to my very jealous friends back home!
 
Thanks to everyone at Flash Entertainment, particularly Mira, Wakestock Abu Dhabi, Vinny from Epic boats, Rudi from Tige boats, their significant others Emma and Dolly, and big thanks to Dave, Keith, Steve, Joy, Michelle and the whole staff at the Sheraton Hotel - I have no idea what their real names are, whenever I asked they just say ‘Good morning sir’, but they were great. Especially Steve, he’s a legend.