Re: Solo Challenge Reborn
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 7:21 pm
I think he mean al khateb and zikogiorgio wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 7:13 pmAlthough social it was not me. I did not see another driver until I arrived at AS 25Petr wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 5:03 pm Let me say first: this was an amazing and completely different experience.
I was driving to the meeting early morning in the pre-dawn dark and passing thick fog patches. Since I abandoned my FJ I had been too worried about the size of my JK tank so I decided to go and take petrol at the nearest station to the meeting point that was actually 9 km past it, so it made me to drive another 18 km forth and back. I also filled a 20L jerrycan scared. Later that day @Agalon explained what I should have realized by myself - even if I consider 20l/100km consumption I would be out of the desert several times before emptying the tank. Yet I arrived to the camp on time.
At the briefing I took away a couple of important points @alshamsi_m mentioned:
1) it is not a competition, the time to the destination doesn't matter
2) don't drive beyond your capabilities, don't stretch yourself
3) you will be a different person after this drive (which @giorgio mimicked promptly :-D)
I was grateful for this information. I decided to maximize the enjoyment - I stopped at several view points to enjoy the scenery in total loneliness and take a couple of pictures before proceeding. I also didn't follow exactly the track, when I saw an interesting crest or a "virgin" sand, I wen't on that route. Sometimes the excitement brought me quite far from the given track and I had to give it a large correction. This is why I didn't meet may cars on the way - just @Scorpio, @Saeed FJ and a Jeep couple - I suppose it was @giorgio and @Issa. I thought Giorgio is such a social person that he couldn't simply help himself to make the solo in the way it actually honours it's meaning :-D.
This way i got to the middle of a huge bowl. It was somewhere between AS1 and AS4. With heart beating I made a few cycles inside, when the devil started to 'whisper in my ear "Hey buddy, go and make a side crest on the top, you can make it!" . But the idea was too much "shit in my pants" and also I replayed @alshamsi_m's voice "don't do anything beyond your capabilities" so I told devil f*ck you and instead made another circle and exited at the bottom.
I felt I played really hard, and all the excitement and adrenaline made me tired, so for getting to Old Lady I chose the easiest path I could. Here I met many family members playing at the wall. I took a break, got a snack and somewhat refreshed I continued in more playful mode to the end. Again there were many interesting dunes and bowls, but I felt I had enough and didn't want to make a mistake at the very end.
Then I spotted the trees and most of the members already sitting in the shade. Knowing the fun is getting to the end, I was looking to some last challenges, and I found a razor sharp dune of a middle size that was untouched, at the end of desert before the plateau. For a moment I thought - don't be silly, if you get stuck there, you will be displayed to the eyes of the whole group, don't show off! But the devil saw a second chance and said "Go, you are skilled enough to handle it".
So I climbed up this beautiful untouched dune that appeared to be a heap of super soft sand and in a second I ended up sitting on the top helplessly like a crippled duck. The next second I heard in the radio @giorgio, who was comfortably sitting under the palm with others and puffing from his midwakh, "Petr, engage A-Track, hahaha". F*cking devil (to make it clear, I don't mean Giorgio ;-))
Thanks to @Scorpio and @presa the duck was pulled down and limped on it's own towards the trees.
The drive was a fantastic experience, and I truly appreciate having the chance to experience it. Driving alone is a very different, I'd dare to say a spiritual experience. Thank you marshalls @Abu Jimmy, @JockJKU, @rashid, @Daggerfall and @Solmaz and the non-marshall ;-) @alshamsi_m for us to have the chance to be there.
Because they were together and i saw them couple of time