Sharping Up!

[Sorin]

Hi everyone,

This was my second drive as Intermediate and I was really looking forward to it because it would be my first inter drive in Badayer area.

Last year I joined @alshamsi_m as a passenger in this area on an intermediate drive and I was absolutely amazed by the speed, the big dunes and the intensity of the drive (the music on the radio helped)

Today I experienced it as a driver myself and I was also lucky to be assigned second lead by the leading Marshal @presa

Started across the road from Nazwa and moved thru smaller dunes area to reach the big dunes clusters and that’s where the fun began!

I found myself side-cresting dunes that not long ago I would be terrified to attempt, speeding up on the downward slope then going back up to side-crest another big one.

We played in the area until sunset, finished at super bowl and moved toward Ghost Town where we stopped to inflate and chat.

The weather was great, the company awesome

It was as thrilling as I expected and the best drive I’ve been part of so far



Thank you @presa for the amazing drive, thank you to all the marshals & support and a special thank you to @Petr for loaning me a spare radio when mine died.

Can’t wait to see some of you in Liwa next week!

[Johanna]

Hello everyone,

I am so happy to be back in the (intermediate) game
Drivers who just changed cars are usually requested to join some drives below their level to get familiar with the new toy. But when I saw the trip posted, I could not hold myself and contacted @presa asking for permission to join. I have a new toy and I wanted to test it.
The plan was to drive in the back of the convoy, so I could skip some maneuvers if I feel not comfortable enough.
I was nervous to be honest, as I have an ambivalent relationship with the Badayer area in general, my last intermediate drive was months ago and i am not familiar with the FJ...
We entered behind the Nazwa shops and drove towards the big dunes.
While driving in the small dunes I noticed that in an FJ you can see...not much
Luckily I had @optimus in front of me as a reference, otherwise I might have hit something several times
I was concerned how I could manage the sidecrests in the big dunes, but I decided to simply trust my skills to evaluate risks fast enough and react accordingly...
We reached the high dunes, did the first bowls and crests....
AND IT WAS FREAKIN FANTASTIC!

The crests in Badayer are usually not very sharp and perfect to train sidecrest skills and thats what we did! @presa did an amazing job leading the convoy of old and new intermediates finding the perfect balance so I believe everyone enjoyed the track.
The flow of the convoy was very nice and we had no major issues, only the normal second tries.

I was getting more and more comfortable with the FJ during the drive, it is such a big difference between an FJ and a Patrol. Handling an FJ is way easier than handling a Patrol.

When we reached the famous bowls the area got more and more crowded with al types of desert vehicles playing around.
I had two close calls with a Truck cutting my way and some buggies approaching the same dune from the other side... I lost my flow a bit after that and the last climbs in the iftar and super bowl I shortened and played safe.
We stopped at super bowl for a while for watching and playing and reached ghost town at sunset.

I am so happy and thankful to be back in the game and to see my fellow intermediates again, I missed you guys

And to the new interemediates: welcome to the fun level! If you enjoyed this drive, wait until you go to Sweihan, Wagan and Co... If you survive Liwa

[David]

My 2nd drive as an intermediate, Badayer, Nazwa to Ghost Town.

I must admit I was intrigued on how it would go, I used to love Badayer, even to the point of sneaking early out of work one summer every Tuesday afternoon to drive there a couple of hours with some friends, at some point, and I believe that due to the amount of traffic and the zero chances of finding a dune without tracks I stopped enjoying it ... well, Friday was GREAT!!!, there is no doubt that a good Marshall can make you enjoy any route and this was the case.

Presa went for every single line that he saw on the horizon, great pace, beautiful sidecresting, a few climbs were just fantastic, both sides of super bowl, left when we reached there, climb on the left side to the top sliding left at the end, right side when leaving, full throttle to gently fall right at the end.

The convoy moved really well, just a few 2nd tries but nothing major, main distractions came from roll over buggies that required assistance, other convoys "invading" our dune, cars crossing our convoy ... at some point I looked at the back mirror and instead of seeing Abu Jawad behind me I had a white Lexus ...

Only negative that probably due to the delays assisting the buggy we did not make it to the last couple of big dunes near Ghost Town, not to worry, I am pretty sure there will be another time.

One more thought to a strange feeling, normally when driving in the desert I do not like to stop, I can drive for hours happily, now I seem to be enjoying the breaks to chitchat with the fellow drivers & friends, still do not know if it is the fact that it is a fantastic group of people or me getting old but an enjoyable sensation that also allowed me to learn a lot about Lada Nivas, the roll-overs that "never happened" ...

Finally to thank the Marshalls and all the drivers that joined for another fab afternoon in the sand. Can´t wait for the next one!!!

See you soon on the sand.

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

Let me share with you some facts about this drive :
1. The leading marshal drove in Sharjah but didn't enter the area from Sharjah " Excellent Planning "
2. The leading marshal took us to all the interesting places without having encounters with our friendly police "Smart Leader"
3. Marshals avoid any high level drive prior to Liwa or important events , Nevertheless, our organizer did an intermediate drive for the new intermediates " Hat Off"

Let me share with you a fact about Liwa drives :
- Once you drive in Liwa all the other areas looks like " walk in the park " I just want to make it clear that it was not my intention to give an example

Let us start the trip report :
I was the last one to arrive at the meeting point with my sons, excited for this adventure. We deflated and run to the briefing and off we go ……………………………

Let us engage the 4X4 !!!! Ooops the four-wheel is not working ??? My land cruiser " Linda" decided to act like a jeep or what ??? So I told the boys let us inform the leading car that his sweeper might not be able to catch up or if lost , please come and find me

The flow was really nice and the weather made it better. Although I didn't have the 4x4 but the cheering team inside the car with loud screaming made all the climbs possible " Please don't ask me how ?"

Finally, I would like to apologize to the members because I was not interacting with everyone as usual and either because I know that I'll have a long weekend with you guys after few days and because I wanted to give some quality time to my boys.

Till next time , please stay sand and Thanks to @presa & @baris

See you in Liwa
Shamsi

[Loca]

One more thought to a strange feeling, normally when driving in the desert I do not like to stop, I can drive for hours happily, now I seem to be enjoying the breaks to chitchat with the fellow drivers & friends, still do not know if it is the fact that it is a fantastic group of people or me getting old but an enjoyable sensation ...

neither the one or the other .. it's the need to breath after the many "oh-shit" moments you face during Intermediate drives

[presa]

Hi Almosters!

Good to see many reports!!

This trip was designed, as @alshamsi_m mentioned, to cover many of the big dunes in Badayer, but avoiding the crowded areas....

Usually the first few drives at intermediate level is adaptation for the fresh ones, so we drive at areas where they are used to.

Everyone did well, the flow is improving, although it still can be improved.

We had two moments that we stop to chitchat, being the second one at the bowl. I was impressed that very few were willing to play at the bowl :)

At Ghost Town we inflate and after a few moments chitchating each one went home!

Thank you all for coming and specially @alshamsi_m, @Barish, @Youssef.Abdelhady and @haider alnuaimi for the support! Hope to see you all in Al Ain & Western Region soon!

[Barish]

I believe it was a memorable day for our fresh intermediates. Badayer is a well known area but interestingly exciting each time we drive although we know every single dune there since it is always challenging there for a reason each time.

Area was crowded; many tracks around but thanks to @presa for great lead finding the secure way among these tracks.

The convoy was amazingly well, considering the warnings, good flow and almost no jeopardy. There were fun convoys around and our convoy looked really and different among those jumping from left and right since trying to drive rather than playing, not jeopardizing themselves and others and enjoying being one team.

@alshamsi_m, being the brave heart of the drive, once more prooved that it is the driver not the car. Still unknown how come you reached us in 2 mins with 2wd while you were invisibly far at the back.

Make sure to improve your momentum while you chg the gear.

See you on the sand.

Barish

[alshamsi_m]

All credits go to @Sorin