Summer Salutatio..

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dorudoru
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Hello Everyone!

First of all thanks to @SINGH for gathering us to welcome the Summer in the desert. After a driveless weekend, seeing the usual suspects and chitchatting with everyone then getting on sand and practicing your skills is priceless.

Originally, this drive supposed to be for 5 - 10 drives Newbies. However, thanks to our Founder @alshamsi_m, "10+ big boys/girls" also got a drive out of it.

I've been to the meeting point nearly 10 minutes earlier than the meeting time and there was nobody at the exact point. It was surprising because generally there are many early birds in this club... After I just looked around, I saw few cars parked on a dune 100 meters away from the meeting point.

Apparently, @giorgio came to point before the dawn and he was chilling out over there. @Laarni, @NahorJP, @jcarlosgarme and finally me were lured to his nest.

After a short briefing from @SINGH, first convoy was ready to go. Just after they leave, @alshamsi_m turned to us and said "that is their plan, you are big boys I am not going to treat you like them". Plan was quickly passing the area reaching to pink rock, big red and crossing the flyover to reach the other side and play there.

We get in our cars and started to line up, I was pretty excited because this was the first drive with my new tires (Kumho AT51 Road Venture) after the stock ones. Lining up started with an incident and left few beautiful scratches at my rear bumper OSMILEY.

Drive started fast and before we got warmed up convoy started having some issues on side to flat crossings. Either due to incorrect approach angles or due to not enough momentum. Maybe after 15 mins driving, @alshamsi stopped the convoy and reminded us the main principles. The point has to be taken from my side was "brute force is a bad habit and will make you roll over sooner or later, practice your skills instead of cheating with brute force".

After this talk and warming up (also our founder started to be nicer to us), convoy was flowing without major problems. Only few second tries but without hampering the flow.

This drive was a bit different for me because I was following @desertwrangler, this was the first time we met but from the talks I could understand that he was an old member. It was a pleasure to follow him and his gentle lines. It was obvious that he had more experience than our convoy and he was always getting a better line than the ones in front of him. Whole drive I watched him closely to learn some new stuff and tried to improve his lines as much as possible. Additionally following a manual wrangler teaches you the importance of keeping the distance and force you to practice split second decisions.

Additionally, kudos to @brett! I was always keeping and eye on him from my mirror and its looked like he had a spotless drive.

At the end we couldn't cross the flyover but enjoyed the Pink Rock and Big Red pretty well. Even challenged the Big Red several times.

One note on the tires, I choose those tires considering the experienced member's suggestions and I am extremely happy with the choice. Comparing with the stock tires, these have much more grip and floats on the sand with a better stability. It has been only one drive and it is very early to express the opinion, but I can feel we will get well with those tires.

Thanks again for everyone who make this drive possible (@Jasper, @Abu Odai, @AbuJawad) and thanks for the usual suspects @Flor, @Laarni, @brett and @CARLOSS.

Have a great week and see you next week on sand! (Extremely excited for the next weeks drive under the lead of @Solmaz)
Laarni
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Dear all,

hello to everybody...wishing a good health for everyone.

the plan was to be a passenger with my husband's drive..but an unexpected drive came for our level...
and then a fun weekend is expected..

drove to the meeting point and already other people is already there. deflate and soon as everybody comes  @SINGH regroup us in our respective convoy and brief us about the tracks..i was placed at @alshamsi_m convoy and with no further talks he ask us to lined up ourselves..shamsi leading, @Jasper as second lead and girls followed and everybody..

from the beginning i have the chance to be 3rd following another fj..but I decided that i will be behind @Flor or...coz finding out from the last drive as im following another type of car,  i needed to learn to choose my own style of driving ( line) that works for me..and most of all to applied what i've learned previously...the 'safe distance between u and the car in front of you,

as the drive progress we encounter the usual and unusual dunes..and having new tyres makes me feel the difference between my last..and I struggled and fight gravity..but that is not my main issue right now...as they say..its not the car..but the driver..and whatever happen during the drive is our learning process, and this drive for me is an important reminder that I have to really really learn now to be more focus in what im trying to do..that includes the proper speed, right momentum in the right places..
I have also developed the fear driving...well its my own definition of becoming a careful, watchful and prepared for whatever is coming ahead.. desert driving should be fun but to enjoy it...i needed to learn how to do it properly..i am now a ten+ driver and as we drove more, the obstacles becomes higher also...so what im trying to say is..the marshals, support and all the people who did give us their precious free times is responsible for our safety...and i cannot imagine what trouble i can give them i being in a wrong position. so in return i also have to be a more responsible driver.

the drive was a step further for me, and in this report i choose to highlight my own opinion and thoughts as im growing and learning more. but the drive was fantastic..

thank you so much everyone who joined the drive and to @SINGH and @alshamsi_m and all the supports
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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

The distance between PinkRock and BigRed is 7 km , We finished the drive with 52 km which means that we didn't leave a single inche of that beautiful area without trying  😀.

The little of the drive was " Welcome Summer " which I felt on my skin towards the end of the drive.  But generally speaking,  we had a very nice drive practicing:

1. Right distance
2. Finding the right track among others
3. Side to straight climb
4. Straight to down arche
5. Climbing up with the right momentum

The convoy was not big and the support team did very well.

Well, this is my last day drive before Ramadan and I am looking forward to see in the night.  Get your offroading lights ready because it is going to be a hell of fun .

Finally I would to thank our organiser @SINGH for making this  drive possible.

Shamsi is singing out. Cheers
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brett
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Good morning everyone,

What a great drive !
Thanks to @alshamsi_m for leading us and of course for the invaluable guidance.
Other reports have covered most of the highlights of the drive so i wont bother to repeat what has already been mentioned.

The Dunes in this area are amazing and it was my 2nd drive in this location. from my point of view, I started off with a more relaxed mindset, and managed to stay calm throughout, not to say i didn't find my adrenaline pumping a few times in the early stages of the drive.

My performance in the 2 preceding drives was very poor - as I struggled to control my jeep and the new tyres. After some wise advice from @alshamsi_m @Booy and others I came to realise I needed to adapt my driving style to control my jeep. being more relaxed in the application of the accelerator made a huge difference, less fishtailing and realising I could climb and cross the dunes without going flat out at every obstacle. many of us are currently driving on new tyre setups and I am reading in other reports similar stories of "learning" the new tyres. We are all newbies and as the name suggests almost every drive has "new" aspects and challenges.

Not long into the Drive @alshamsi_m pulled up and decided it was time for a little theory lesson. as we were all 10+ he mentioned this drive was to show us that just by completing 10 or more drives does not automatically qualify us as "intermediate" potential. how true is that ! still so much to learn and master.

We arrived at "Big Red" on the first climb i managed to miss read my speed and climb, i had to "abort" the climb before the cross into the bowl. my apologies to @CARLOSS for the confusion I caused by saying for him to go ahead of me, he didn't move and then i decided to move at the same time as he moved.once we sorted the order out without further incident.

We proceeded to the other face of Big Red. The instruction was clear and simple - Floor it climb as high as you can then gently turn the arch at the top and return down to the flat - staying in control without stalling or fishtailing. Everyone managed it without incident on their first try. The option was given for any who wanted, to line up and do it again. I choose to simply observe and enjoy watching the others who went 2 or even 3 more times.

We were entering the last 10 min stage of the drive and headed to the exit point - not without hitting the other side of Big Red for one last "Climb".

following @dorudoru was a pleasure to watch, he now takes to the dunes and drives without interruption. He can no longer be referred to as the "popout king"

All in all it was a great drive and flowed almost continually, from memory no pop outs, no recoveries. only a very few 2nd tries.

Thanks to the support crew for keeping a valuable watchful eye on us and everyone who took part in both convoys, big thanks to @SINGH for arranging the drive.
@alshamsi_m, @Abu Odai @AbuJawad @Defragmantor @giorgio @Jasper @kareem.alameldin @Loca

and our convoy
@dorudoru @Flor @desertwrangler @CARLOSS @Laarni

if i missed you sorry.

My Takeaways from the drive
- leave your ego at home
- stay focused
- full throttle at every obstacle is not the answer
- Watch Listen Learn
- be clear with radio communication and ensure everyone understood.

Regards

Brett
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Until the next Adventure

Brett
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CARLOSS
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Hello Off-road family,

Here is my drive’s report starting with a special thanks to both @SINGH and @alshamsi_m for organizing this lovely drive. I was not supposed to qualify for it but worthwhile to try and finally made it. thumbsup

With summertime we started earlier than usual (not used to drive at 7:30) so I was a bit sleepy & rusty that dood is up to something during the first part of the drive…and it seems that I was not the only one as Shamsi made a first technical briefing of convoy’s mistakes when doing side to straight climb. playingsmiley

After that, the pace of the convoy was much better with a few second tries but quite good, I would say. When it comes to my performance it was not fantastic but still acceptable: In 15 drives it is the first time that I felt myself in full control (sometimes) of the car when doing side to straight climb and straight to down arche: The appropriate angle & speed when reaching the crest makes a huge difference not loosing the car’s control or missing the tracks. thumbsup

At the end I was blessed with some issues at the back of the convoy and became the sweeper of the convoy for around 30 seconds! "That's one small step for the convoy, one giant leap for my off-road career" pacman

My lessons learned from Summer Salutations' drive:

- Keep appropriate distance...it too less you may hit the car in front of you
- Keep enough but not too much velocity, too much power may jeopardize the whole thing
- Don’t eat doritos (nacho cheese) in the breaks: it is not healthy and does not help your stomach to be “light”: Not a good idea driving with your stomach plenty of glutamate :sick: . From now on only a coffee and a piece of fruit. Promised!. cool

Thanks to all the Support and the usual suspects: @Flor , @Laarni , @brett , @dorudoru and @desertwrangler .

See you soon in sand

Carlos
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NahorJP
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Summer Salutation Trip report (Organizer Marshal @SINGH )

Good day everyone !

Well past few weeks i was grounded (off to my home country) and returning back with fresh mind to the sand with this great drive organized by @SINGH & founder @alshamsi_m . Morning sunrise with fog was amazing to admire in summer days (Wish the winter could last little more).

Met @jcarlosgarme at the fuel station and headed towards the meeting point. After reaching at the meeting point spotted @giorgio with his FJ almost 100mtr away and myself @jcarlosgarme & @Laarni followed his location to began with the deflate. soon @dorudoru also arrived and it was nice to see everyone after the break.

@SINGH gave brief intro about the drive and split all the newbies in two convoys, i was in @SINGH's convoy with @kareem.alameldin , @giorgio & @Loca as support, @jcarlosgarme as a second lead followed by @Claude @jayslens myself @Abu Hasnain @ImranFJ . My old friends @brett , @Flor , @CARLOSS , @Laarni, @dorudoru was part of @alshamsi_m 's convoy (missed you guys, hope you all had fun there).

Drive started with a good speed, side cresting, sand bashing and with few stucks we reached fossil rock and took the technical break. Had good interaction with @Claude + guest, @CARLOSS @SINGH . and at the same time we had to say bye to @Abu Hasnain (his passenger was car sick) and @kareem.alameldin escorted him till the nearest exit. Soon we began with our drive by getting down from the fossil rock and continued our journey till the end. Overall it was a safe and smooth drive, learned to keep the right momentum and maintaining right distance to observe the car in front of you. As there were many tracks in that area and chances to loose the convoy was easy. @Claude got few opportunities to explore the power of FJ :) Happy for you !!

Once again thanks to @SINGH , founder @alshamsi_m for making it possible and giving us a good exposure. for sure every drive with you has been a good learning and inspirational.
Thanks
Roan (Night Fury)

See you on Sands!! Sooner the Better!!
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