Almost4x4

Hello Everyone,

First of all thanks to ourbeloved Marshal @Solmaz for arranging this drive to the hungry 10+ drivers.

I guess, I could classify this drive as "witnessing a legend's rising" since this was one of the first Almost 4x4 leading experience of our fearful explorer @giorgio

At the meeting point, while I was chitchatting with good friends @giorgio realized that I committed an offense to Linda by standing upon her and sipping my coffee And told me to wait until the briefing to understand what is coming on me. So I was expecting a second lead from this but promise is not delivered yet .

It has been a nice drive involving a fast pace, high dunes and some technical areas. This area is so beautiful but the main problem is the crowd. As @alshamsi_m mentioned, it was like an open desert day. Thanks to the experienced team, we have been taken out of this mayhem without any problem.

Thanks to @giorgio for the lead, @Rathica, @Rooies and @orlantsev for the support and @Tomvanhouten for sweeping in Linda! (Man I believe you had a great experience while the founder is as a passenger, and shout to your ear as "Floor it!" can't imagine the thrill

Waiting for the camp season to start and gather around fire! See you in the sand!

Back on Track 111
I think we all need a Back on Track IV to get that show on the road.
It was a beautiful morning. We all met in Refada, set up our flags, and had a bit of chit chat.
We then drove to the deflation point, got our vehicles set up and met for briefing. The convoy was split into two. I had to say goodbye to my beloved @Solmaz and Joanne as I joined the support crew for @giorgio .

It was a new area for our Newbies and they got to experience different sand and different challenges as we made our way from Refada to SuperBowl. I remember Giorgio saying that we only had to cover 12km but what 12km it was...beautiful big dunes; high climbs and big arches. @Giorgio found fantastic lines and gave us many thrills. Part of the thrill was the Newbie practicing their Pop-Out fixing. We also had a challenging stuck Pajero - caught between a sharp drop and a steep climb But our Darling Founder @alshamsi_m knew exactly which angle to pull from and at what tension, so our Carlos was rescued quickly and easily.

Time ran out, so we made our way towards the exit only to hear the sweet voice of @Solmaz . We found her convoy along the way as they were performing a tricky rescue. As the hot sun was changing us into toast, Solmaz and AlShamzi decided to take Solmaz' convoy out too. The eager drivers tagged on and we were off following Giorgio's course out to Sony Ericsson.

Lessons learned today:
1. On big arches: do not rush behind the car. Wait until the driver in front of you has cleared the arch and is descending before you start the climb.
2. Keep your momentum up on the big climbs and if you feel like you are losing momentum, take the safe choice and turn down.
3. If the car in front of you is losing momentum on the climb - you should turn down to be safe.
4. If experience has shown you that your car is not a climber, no problem, take a LOWER line and make a LOWER arch so that you start on the track and finish on the track end point.
5. Never fight gravity. If you feel your car slide especially the back end - safe choice - turn down and try again.
6. Respect the verticals of the desert. If you are reversing or going down a dune: always make your car go straight down. Straight up - straight down - never sideways!!!! The desert is not a highway. Your Tyres behave differently on the road vs the sand.
7. Finally, keep the right distance. Ensure that you can see the driver in front of you:
Then you can see the track;
Then you can see any obstacles like ditches etc based on the movement of the car in front of you.

I really enjoyed the spirit and energy of all the Newbies, support and lead. Thank you everyone for an amazing morning

See you in the sand

I met up with @AndreAJ & we headed over to the meeting point. When we got there, there were already a few cars. We erected our flags & the headed to the deflating point.

There were 2 convoys, I was in the convoy with @giorgio leading, @AndreAJ was second lead, myself @Rathica was in the convoy for recovery, @orlantsev was sweeping & @alshamsi_m & @Tomvanhouten was floating.

The beginning of the drive was a lot of up & down, small dunes, but tricky here & there. Eventually it opened up & @giorgio also opened up . As @giorgio explained there were a lot of tracks, but the convoy kept it tight, sometimes to tight, not enough space between each other. I also got caught out a few times & ended to close to the car infront of me. We did some "big" arches & some of the cars did not make it. We stopped at a flat area & waited for the rest of the convoy to join us. @alshamsi_m was giving advice to the cars at the back & after a while all the cars joined us & we were off again.

We headed to the bigger dunes & found several other convoys in the area. @giorgio avoided them & took us in a new direction running up & down the dunes. Further on we found more convoys, the desert was busy. The Pajero behind me reported a pop out, the convoy got together & it was not long before the pop out was fixed & we were off again.

@giorgio put the guys through there paces & @AndreAJ second lead did a good job to keep up with him .

Eventually we ran out off time & @alshamsi_m said we neede to head out to the flat area. We connected with the other convoy & headed out to the end of the drive.

It was a nice drive, not to many stucks, few issues with radio comms & following distance, but overall a good drive.

Thank you to @giorgio for leading, @orlantsev for sweeping & @alshamsi_m & @Tomvanhouten for keeping an eye on us.

Till we meet again, stay safe.

Greetings
Rooies

Hope I am not too late for this trips report....

Everytrip is special and unique with the experience and the skills that it caters....

This one also had all the elements to excite and learn....

Although I had some experience in this area before, the track that @Solmaz took was simply amazing and equally challenging.

The big climbs, archs sometimes ended or started right after quick turns or shifting the dunes and to know when to slow down and when to floor it is the trick..... also to maintain the right distance being the key. I struggled at some points with controlling the power and distance and ended up with second tries....!

Overall an experience 2nd to non..... Thanks to the great Almost 4x4 family... its a blessing to be a part of you all.....

Regards,
Nabeel.

Hello everyone,

What a great experience this was!

The plan went all over the place a few days upfront, registering and remove myself again and eventually registering again. Anyway thanks to @alshamsi_m I had the chance of experiencing some V8 action in Linda. Fantastic!
I got the feeling that I needed to learn how to handle her properly, so off to a slow start, but finally got some feeling towards this beautiful car and we were doing alright at the back.

@giorgio leading the 10+ people in a great way and I am sure everyone got his/her right amount of action. Absolutely lovely lead.

Thanks all for the support and see you soon!

Tom

Hello my dear Almosters,

I tried to reach the meeting point a little early for this drive but to my surprise, most of the drivers were already there. This shows our club's mutual love and respect for one another, and I really want to thank you all for that.

The meeting point, Area 53 as we call it, is close to a Military camp and to a little town -that does not like offroaders much-. This was the reason why we immediately moved inside after the meeting to deflate and get ready for the drive.

After our usual morning chitchat, we had the attendance and divided the drivers into two convoys. Leading marshals of the day, @giorgio and I had our separate briefings and we kicked off soon after.

This area, stretching from Badayer shops to Al Madam, is very popular among offroaders as it holds the highest dune formations of the Northern Emirates. The beautiful orange sand is surprisingly soft at places and popularity brings its own challenges.

My initial plan was to start from low to mid dunes to warm up and increase the pace and height gradually. My convoy did great so in a short time, we found ourselves flying at the top of the highest available dunes.

The few issues we had were mostly due to the distance. In areas with lots of tracks, it is important to keep the visual contact with the car in front and observing how it passes the upcoming obstacle.

Thanks to all support team @David , @Johanna , @Jasper , @osman and @Agalon for helping the drive run smoothly. Especially @Arminjune who bravely blocked the approaching convoys.

Also thanks to @giorgio for taking over my convoy at the end. You saved them from an hour of unplanned sunbath.

It was overall a great day and a great opportunity to get to know our fresh batch of 10+s a little closer.

I hope to see you all in the sand again soon.

Back on track lll

Trip organized by @Solmaz

Climate was ok when we arrived at the meeting/deflate point, later it was much better when the drive was at its pace. Missed these morning drives we used to have before summer, but its not too far when the winter will rule again.

Sincere thanks to @Solmaz @alshamsi_m and all the marshals and supporting crew for giving us such a wonderful experience, infact building our experience to be expert in every drive. Badayar is as always beautiful place with big size dunes and with technical areas too. Drive was set to experience different bowls at the height and maintaining the momentum while being disciplined in the convoy.

I was behind @David for half of the drive and later he had to be at the back to keep an eye on the broken links. Benefit of following intemediate is that you get a chance to observe the driving line closely.

Overall it was a good experience i would say and everyone of us did great. Just few second tries at the back but its was manageable with the assistance of the support team. Only one stuck took lot of time and we had to merge with the other convoy to end this drive.

Spotted @brett at the meeting point but didnt see him after. Got to know from other member, he had some medical issues and he came to the meeting point just to complete one of the club task. Loved your dedication to the club @brett , get well soon.

Usual suspects @jeepers76 @dorudoru @CARLOSS @Johanna @Laarni @Ehab @David
@Nabeel @Stephan @Rathica @Tomvanhouten

Thanks again to almost 4x4 community.

Hello everyone.

I just realized that I haven't posted my trip report from last Friday's drive. Better late than never they say.

I was an early morning drive and everyone arrived at the meeting point on time. I was a humid morning but the weather will never stop us from having fun in the sand. I was in @Solmaz convoy and it was a nice drive. We started of with a bit of warm up and after that we were ready to hit the big dunes. We had a few second tries in the convoy especially on the big dunes to make your way to the top and down on the other side of the dune. The area was a pleasant area with loads of tracks so you needed to concentrate. Staying too far from the car in front of you will cause you to loose the track but staying to close is dangerous. So, maintain the perfect distance was key during the drive.

Thanks to the Marshalls and Support for organizing the drive. I was a good experience.
See you soon.

Cheers
Stephan