All Stars - Special Edition II

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Sorin
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Hi everyone,

I arrived at the meeting point among the earliest, looking out for gazelles & oryxes on the way as @brett made us aware of the traffic conditions thumbsup

The weather was hot but windy which made it ok overall. Everyone else arrived on time and the briefing started with the convoys being split between Newbies 10+ and 10-.

I was assigned in the middle of the 10- convoy along with @Jasper and @rapailo, leading was @Barish . Our sweeper @Gabor had to abandon right at the start due to technical issues.

We had a good pace and the Marshall took the lower level newbies through a very good and challenging terrain with mostly arches and straight-cresting.

I was happy that I got some customers I could assist yesterday with a pop-out, a few rescues and also unleashing some Balkan power with @rapailo to push a car out as well. I even got stuck myself while attempting to do a rescue and I got pulled out from the bottom of a small bowl by @Jasper. All this action is really useful for building my confidence further in assisting others and myself when stuck.

The members did well and although there were a few bruises on a certain front bumper (nothing that plastic straps can’t fix) grin

It was a great drive that ended near the same point where it began with a beautiful sunset and reuniting with the other convoy.

We sat down for chatting & coffee and other treats after the drive but for me the action wasn’t over yet.

As we got up to leave, I packed my stuff and tried to start the car… nothing happened … tried again … no cranking, no power wtfsmilie

Assuming the battery was dead I enlisted the help of @Seldon whose car was next to me to try and jumpstart my car but to no avail, the battery was completely flat. So being almost left behind I asked @Arminjune to pull me to the road where I could call for a battery delivery. He did a great job towing me and I would like to thank him again for the help. At the roadside @Rashidjass kept me company until my new battery arrived and also helped me inflate my tires with his compressor, thanks again Rashid!

In about an hour my battery arrived and I was able to drive home thumbsup

Thank you to the marshals @Barish and @alshamsi_m for the drive and good times enjoyed by all.
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Stephan
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Good morning everyone.

It feels good to back in the desert! We arrived at the meeting point with a warm welcome from the summer sun! We had enough time to deflate and have a little chit chat with everyone before the drive started. The convoy was split into two groups. @Barish led the first convoy and @alshamsi_m led the second convoy.

I was second lead in @alshamsi_m convoy! Man, what an amazing drive it was! @alshamsi_m was flying over the dunes and it was amazing to see him maneuvering through the dunes from the back! I was a bit rusty in the beginning, but everything came back to me during the drive. The convoy was small which made it more fun for everyone to enjoy. The drive was a fast pace drive with little room for error and I am sure that everyone enjoyed the drive in the summer sun.

Thank you to all the support and marshals for making this drive possible.
See you next time.

Cheers
Stephan.
See you soon
Cheers
Stephan
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brett
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Good morning All,

I headed to the meeting point early as i wanted to be set up and ready for the drive. Knowing it was going to be hot deflating. And it was !

On the access road i was led to the meeting point by approx 8 Gazelles sprinting along the road ahead of me. They were clocking around 35kph !

Thanks to @Barish for organizing the drive. I was in the 10+ convoy. Lead by @alshamsi_m with support from @rooies @Rashidjass @arminion
@mpodroid

I took my place at the back of the convoy. It is a very different experience driving as last vehicle- the track is well cutt up and rutted, which adds to the challenge. There were a lot of 2nd Tries and recoveries- which means the convoy was really being challenged and learning. At one point i was too much on the gas fighting gravity as i bounced twice going over the crest. Wise words over the radio from @Rooies and some well received advice from him later. We had one major popout towards the end of the drive that took over an hour to sort out - but thats what we are there for. Help each other and learn.

When we were miving it was a reasonably fast pace. At one point after getting myself crested (i managed it self recover) there was a large gap between me and the convoy. So like the novice that i am i started going too fast to catch up. Track was easy to follow but i failed to anticipate a couple of nasty drops and managed to make good use of my skid plate.

At the end point it was nice to meet the other convoy. Sitting around chit chatting and sharing the camaraderie.

Take aways
Listen observe and learn.
Slow down - floor it is not always the answer
Keep the right distance
Keep the right pace
Keep radio on untill we reach the point of inflation- sorry @Sorin didnt realize we left you with dead battery.

Last but not least thank you to @Jasper for realizing i left my off-road lights on when we were back on the road headed home

Until the next adventure
Brett
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Until the next Adventure

Brett
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Zain
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Hello Almosters,

The meeting point for this drive was deeper compared to previous drives and reaching there meant some pleasant encounters with gazelles.

As usual after reaching the meeting point, started deflating, setup the flag, said my hellos and heard the briefing. I was in the 1-10 drives convoy lead by @baris with @rapailo, @Sorin @Jasper as support. I was towards the end of the convoy (3rd from the last).

The drive mostly consisted of arches, medium and small ones. After every arch @Barish would face his car towards the arch to monitor how the convoy is doing. Based on his observations, he controlled the level and pace of the drive. He also shared some very helpful feedback on how we were doing by having a debrief half way during the drive. One important point he shared was that we at the back of the convoy were fighting gravity on some of the arches. Point noted, thanks for the correction.

Met the second convoy at the end and had some good karak chai. Had to leave earlier since I had to be somewhere after the drive so couldn't stay around to chat. Overall as always, the drive was amazing. Thank you to all Almosters from the Marshals to the drivers for making it an enjoyable experience.

Kind regards,
Zain
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Seldon
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Thanks @Sorin for keeping an eye out for me and for the well done recovery. Glad to hear that something as simple as a new battery got you back on the road. Thanks to all who picked up the various parts of my car along the way. It was a busy day yesterday but everything is secured again and I don't even think my wife will notice. grin . Got to get a proper skidplate though. Any cost effective recommendations?
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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

Well, this weekend I didn't have a morning drive so I had the chance to do my Dragon Mart afternoon window shopping :yarr: then I went to the meeting point to reach on time.

Even I reached on time, still there were many early birds at the deflating point ready for action. Once I came out of my car, I felt the hot wind " Very good to dry off your weekend laundry" if someone is interested I can share the location you're kidding, right

@Barish split the convoys as planned and I had @Rashidjass aka the Guardian Angel as supporting marshal which gave me the peace of mind that I can GO FAST !!! :ninja:

We had a blast in the first area, where we had fast safari arches with side to flat or flat to side cresting " NEWBIE VERSION " grin Also we did many straight cresting to practice. The second area was a uniqe with it is strange formation " You have to drive it to understand what I mean " yaeh am not durnk which came up with new challenges. I'm defiantly going to do these two areas again because they were amazingly cool

Before we know, we finished 42 km of pure fun to go to our final distination to meet up with the other convoy to share fooooooooooooooooooood and God mooooooooooooooood blank

Looking forward to see you guys soon

Cheers
Shamsi
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jeepers76
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Hello Almosters….!

What a drive it was, speed was the name of the Game. I saw my speed-o-meter clocking 80 kmph on certain patches. Simply said, it was exciting, thrilling and overall, one of the most adrenaline filled ride since joining ALMOST 4x4 Club.

It was very warm and bit windy Friday afternoon, on the drive day. As part of routine, deflated and installed flag; however, this time I avoided social networking at the start of drive and remained mostly in my ride (obviously cool insides are better than windy 44 outsides)

Convoy was divided amongst participants with 10- and 10+ drives with the club, led by @Barish and @alshamsi_m respectively. My ride was designated as 3rd ride after the lead vehicle. The interesting thing was that first 5 vehicles in the convoys were all FJs and knowing the drivers, all were good drivers in their own class.

@alshamsi_m started the drive with a bang, and accelerated to 90 kmph on the flats, followed with high speed cresting, switching, U-turns and straight dune negotiations. After initial few minutes of warmups, I could only see 5 FJs followed up by the rest a with a little gap. It seemed like practice run for Catch me if you can on low height dunes (but I may be wrong). After about every 10 mins, we had to take a short halt for the convoy to catch up, followed by the same high speed runs which lasted till the end.

Initially I failed to keep sufficient distance, and although marshal cautioned me for that, I ended up getting stuck twice for not having to maintain sufficient momentum. Both times I bellied out on high dunes, tried A-track and crawl control but futile as had no traction at all. However, both recoveries were quick thanks to Marshal and @Rashidjass . But it was a good learning, lesson learnt thereafter I maintained sufficient distance and did not had any mishaps during rest of the drive.

Convoy suffered no major casualties, except one difficult pop out, which was a great learning as the founder@alshamsi_m and Marshal @Rashidjass were directly involved in fixing the same.

Ride ended up, with a gathering and lineup of all convoy vehicles in a nice flat area, chairs, food and drinks were pulled out of vehicles and shared with and by all with a nice chit chat session.

Last but not the least, Lessons Learnt:
• Distance, Distance, Distance
• Play safe, if you think so can’t negotiate a certain obstacle; play safe. There is always a next time and enough chances

Thanks to Founder, Marshals, support crew and participants for making it fun and memorable.

See you soon on next drive.
Last edited by jeepers76 on Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Umer Jameel Shah
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@jeepers76
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Nabeel
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Hello Almost Offroaders..... grin

Was a fun afternoon and as the name suggests a special one....

Reached the meeting point early.... thou there were a bunch of eager ones who were already busy deflating.... thumbsup Always keeps the spirits high as a team even though the temperature outside was :eyes_on_fire: ......

The convoy quickly split into to 10- & 10+. I was on the 10+ convoy with @alshamsi_m on the lead, supported by @Rashidjass & @Arminjune

The first hour was real quick and an exciting drive.... A little later had a few 2nd tries and stuck situation. The side to crest and then to the other end proved to be a bit challenging to me and had a stuck and few 2nd tries in that area. however thoroughly enjoyed the fast paced drive... Had a pop out recovery as well in the convoy which turned out to be a challenging one, however able get thru finally with the spare tire replacement....

overall an evening well spent.... and looking forward for more ones to come..... thumbsup

Thanks to each and every one for the support...!

Regards,
Nabeel.
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Deadpool
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Hello Almosters,

I would like to thank all of marshals and support teams for organizing one more amazing and safe drive.

I was assign in 10- convoy lead by @Barish with support team @Rapailo, @Sorin and @Jasper.

Being fourth car in convoy gave me opportunity to closely observe skills and movement of our lead @Barish.

During the drive we had one pop out which was quickly fixed and one impressive self recovery hand assisted by @Rapailo and @Sorin.

This drive as name says was special for me as I really enjoyed doing those arches.

Once more thank you all for beautiful afternoon.

Regards.
Deadpool
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ImranFJ
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Hello everybody

Words cannot describe how fantastic the drive was. You just had to be there to know. First off I would like to thank @alshamsi_m for honoring me the position as the third lead car. It was one hell of an experience. for the first time, My engine was louder than my music :XD: . It was without a doubt the best drive I have participated in so far.

The track was pretty interesting. We had a mix of side cresting, Straight cresting, and lots and lots of beautiful arches. But, let's not talk about the ditches Psmiley . At some points in the drive I found myself over 90 KMH and I was just like Woo hoo!!. It was a great drive with great company. A special thanks to @Arminjune and @Rashidjass for taking care of the punishments @alshamsi_m was giving us. pacman .

Finally we arrived at the end point and had some karak and snacks + good laughs while we watched the sunset from the opposite direction :XD: . Unforgettable weekend. Hope to see you guys soon!

Regards, ImranFJ

PS: I think the marshal was trying to draw Mona Lisa :XD:
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