Re: Stars Tracks
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 8:42 pm
Stars Track XXI AUD Edition 28.04.2025
My first trip as a new member was in the Abu Dhabi sands by Madinat Nahil. After deflating to 12psi we were organised into a convoy, the trip started with a surprising view opening to a lake between dunes. From there we went uphill. Our lifted FJ takes the climbs surprisingly easy. My only offroad comparison is an old stock Nissan Pathfinder, where I really had to consider every single detail in the sand to manoeuvre through. In the FJ, it just feels that my lack of skill is countered for with engineering and technological capabilities. But the careful hands of the Marshal leads us to places which will question the newbie’s drivers confidence :)
When challenge is overcome, it builds skill.
The first lesson was the need to fix my flag post that is vacuum-attachable to the window on the back right side of my car - it slipped backwards with the speed-generated wind. I got out to fix it, and while doing everything in haste, I left my sunglasses on the wheel, and this way probably squashed it and forgot it with the sand as we moved on… Farewell!
Next we were encouraged to further decrease our tires due to the increasing heat. Since I use BF Goodrich tires, I was recommended to even go down to 9psi. With that low pressure, the FJ just felt like a tank. There was a good amount of fun-drive then, bringing a crucial opportunity to learn how to fit back a pop-out tire to the rim. Never happened to me before, so I thought….
Then the marshals commented on some of the things they saw as we were driving. One thing that stayed with me is the respectful means to communicate on what they observed among the newbies, teaching us how take care of each other as a team-convoy, i.e. keep to the same track, because even if I could climb higher, and as the people behind me in the convoy might do the same, and members at the end of the convoy could then find the final track increasingly difficult, perhaps follow it, and get injured. Being a lone driver, or someone who only occasionally drives with friends, I did not think about this before. I’ll try to keep this mindful mindset with me for my next drives.
Lesson number two punched after the drive, when I thought it is a good idea to try to go back to lake just next to the starting location and look for my sunglasses, as I remembered the exact spot where I fixed the flag post. It was easy to reach from a dirt road on the way back. I could not find my sunglasses, but I watched the sunset over the lake between the sand-dunes, listened to the wind arriving with sunset. Starting at 3pm afternoon, this trip really ended for me as the drive was called, “Stars-track”.
I thought it is time to leave after dark, and as I turned something changed in our car’s behaviour. I got out to check and found a pop-out tire! I thought, &@!%$, what an unlikely moment to try out what I have learned today. So, I called for help, and begin the procedure. While thinking what to do, I figured that the tires deflated to 9psi in the heat must have shrank further at night. At the station I have found that I only had 5,5 to 6psi in my tires. Hence the pop-out. Something to keep in mind for the future.
Help arrived in 30-minutes-ish from my buddies, Tomek and Joana, and then from the founding marshal Mr Al Shamsi bringing his dinner shawarma with him take-away. As someone said on the Almost4x4 chatbox, there is no better means to meet and “network” with the marshal than being rescued :D). By the time they got there, I was done with digging, lifting, and tilting the tire to 6 o’clock. The rest was a blink of an eye with Mr Al Shamsi. What a learning experience I thought. At the station Mr Al Shamsi helped to change the a punctured tire of someone at the station too, while we inflated our tires.
That day I learned about tire pop-outs, how to be there for each other in need of help, but more importantly also compassionate support and leadership. Thank you for being part of my day!
My first trip as a new member was in the Abu Dhabi sands by Madinat Nahil. After deflating to 12psi we were organised into a convoy, the trip started with a surprising view opening to a lake between dunes. From there we went uphill. Our lifted FJ takes the climbs surprisingly easy. My only offroad comparison is an old stock Nissan Pathfinder, where I really had to consider every single detail in the sand to manoeuvre through. In the FJ, it just feels that my lack of skill is countered for with engineering and technological capabilities. But the careful hands of the Marshal leads us to places which will question the newbie’s drivers confidence :)
When challenge is overcome, it builds skill.
The first lesson was the need to fix my flag post that is vacuum-attachable to the window on the back right side of my car - it slipped backwards with the speed-generated wind. I got out to fix it, and while doing everything in haste, I left my sunglasses on the wheel, and this way probably squashed it and forgot it with the sand as we moved on… Farewell!
Next we were encouraged to further decrease our tires due to the increasing heat. Since I use BF Goodrich tires, I was recommended to even go down to 9psi. With that low pressure, the FJ just felt like a tank. There was a good amount of fun-drive then, bringing a crucial opportunity to learn how to fit back a pop-out tire to the rim. Never happened to me before, so I thought….
Then the marshals commented on some of the things they saw as we were driving. One thing that stayed with me is the respectful means to communicate on what they observed among the newbies, teaching us how take care of each other as a team-convoy, i.e. keep to the same track, because even if I could climb higher, and as the people behind me in the convoy might do the same, and members at the end of the convoy could then find the final track increasingly difficult, perhaps follow it, and get injured. Being a lone driver, or someone who only occasionally drives with friends, I did not think about this before. I’ll try to keep this mindful mindset with me for my next drives.
Lesson number two punched after the drive, when I thought it is a good idea to try to go back to lake just next to the starting location and look for my sunglasses, as I remembered the exact spot where I fixed the flag post. It was easy to reach from a dirt road on the way back. I could not find my sunglasses, but I watched the sunset over the lake between the sand-dunes, listened to the wind arriving with sunset. Starting at 3pm afternoon, this trip really ended for me as the drive was called, “Stars-track”.
I thought it is time to leave after dark, and as I turned something changed in our car’s behaviour. I got out to check and found a pop-out tire! I thought, &@!%$, what an unlikely moment to try out what I have learned today. So, I called for help, and begin the procedure. While thinking what to do, I figured that the tires deflated to 9psi in the heat must have shrank further at night. At the station I have found that I only had 5,5 to 6psi in my tires. Hence the pop-out. Something to keep in mind for the future.
Help arrived in 30-minutes-ish from my buddies, Tomek and Joana, and then from the founding marshal Mr Al Shamsi bringing his dinner shawarma with him take-away. As someone said on the Almost4x4 chatbox, there is no better means to meet and “network” with the marshal than being rescued :D). By the time they got there, I was done with digging, lifting, and tilting the tire to 6 o’clock. The rest was a blink of an eye with Mr Al Shamsi. What a learning experience I thought. At the station Mr Al Shamsi helped to change the a punctured tire of someone at the station too, while we inflated our tires.
That day I learned about tire pop-outs, how to be there for each other in need of help, but more importantly also compassionate support and leadership. Thank you for being part of my day!