Almost4x4

What an Awesome drive. Firstly thank you to [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] who were the lead and sweep for my convoy and also to [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] and [MENTION=22]zico[/MENTION] for arranging the trip.

Alshamsi described this drive to me as ‘on the edge of intermediate’ and ‘we take you to some of the famous places’.

What this really means is it is designed to test you, intentionally taking you through tricky dune sequences/formations to test you as a driver and a convoy, and test you it does. The first half of the drive is tricky technical dunes where in the second half the pace really picks up and as the size of the dunes increase having the right momentum becomes more and more important.

I think our convoy managed well with only a few rounds and stucks, I think mostly where we had problems as alshamsi pointed out on the radio was that in some places the gap was a bit too small meaning you didn’t have time to react or keep the flow/momentum going. But as we went through the drive this happened less and less.

One of the great things about this drive was rotating the second lead through everyone. This meant you really had a chance to learn how to drive behind each person and see the difference in styles for person to person and car to car.

I really enjoyed this drive and look forward to doing more trips at this kind of pace and in this kind of style. It’s a big step up from the newbie drives, so if you put your name forward make sure you’re ready!

I remember the last really tricky bit was a big dune with a double crest / ditch over the top, after we’d all bounced through it, while alshamsi was reattaching his front number plate I walked over and said with a big smile on my face ‘That ditch on the top was EVIL”. [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] laughing and with an even bigger smile said ‘Yes and with no warning either!’.

Catch Me If You Can.... Every Newbies dream drive.... You get accepted and jump with joy.... at the same time... You dont sleep on Thursday night... Not because you dont want to miss the drive... but because you dont know what the Marshals have in store for you.... especially after them warning you... 'No passengers on this trip, as you require full concentration and it could be dangerous'

Morning started with all of us meeting at the Khatam intersection... The morning meet and greets session was done... short briefing.

The groupings were already done on Thursday and were sent to all participants.

1st convoy lead by @Yoghybear and sweep @zico.
2nd convoy lead by @alshamsi_m and sweep @Rashidjass

I was in the 1st convoy and you know what a pleasure it is driving while Yoghybear leads.... Your heart gets fitter and stronger just because of the times your heart beats in 1 minute (it surely jumps to double or triple the normal rate)

There was no warm up like the normal drives and the plane just took off without racing on the runway.

15 seconds into the drive and we saw ourselves moving from left to right and up to down.

The first side sloping and we had a few members who had to do a second try + missing the tracks.

The first 60-80 minutes saw a mix of everything in it. Retries, stuck, pop outS, tire cut + change.

After the fossil rock drop, the covoy started performing at a faster and better pace with very few second tries or incidents. Yoghy was pushing us all to our limits. Name a move in the desert and Yoghy made us do all that.

At regular intervals the drivers were to rotate the second lead.

As usual, the Airbus F150, was the last car in the convoy. This time with a plan to get up close to the lead...:like:

From the 8th position, I moved... 7...6....5...4...3.. and finally to the second lead... :yaeh am not durnk:

Crossed the first dune and I guess the airbus wasnt used to being so far ahead in the convoy:x_x:... And just before going up the second dune... I had to report to Yoghy that my car had a problem... I got a warning sign on the Dash with no message. No throttle at all while pressing in the accelarator.

The convoy had come to a halt while @zico started working on the Air Filter... At this time we all got a really good advise... 'NEVER TRUST YOUR CAR DEALERS WITH THE CLEANING OF THE AIR FILTER' After the air filter + sensor was cleaned and put back (after removing almost 5kgs of sand)... restarted the car.. unfortunately the same problem still existed. Repeated the cleaning and restarting of the car 2 more times with no success... At this point Zico suggested we leave the car for 15-20 mins then try restarting... At this point @arun_pandyat contacted one of the mechanics he knows and we had a chat with him... A lot of technical stuff was discussed... and a lot of different terms were used out of which I only understood 'FUEL PUMP' :hidden:

Went thru the owners manual :faill: and checked for something for fuel pump. 'After any collision, the fuel pump will automatically shut off. To restart: 1. switch off vehicle / 2. switch on ignition (only to battery level)
Repeat steps 1 & 2 twice and then switch on the engine.

We did exactly that... and there it was... the engine was back to life and ready to go.

Sorry to all members who had to wait while my car was being checked/fixed and Thank you all as well for all the support.

Just as we were getting back to our cars, Yoghy announced "We will take the gatch road and race to Badayer now as time is up and its getting HOT":oh noes:

Once again... didnt get a chance to be second lead during a drive for long... But there is always a next time ;)

I would like to thank the marshals for organizing this drive and trusting us by giving us a chance to be a part of this next level trailer.

I know it is a long report... but this is a shorter version yet :059::059::005:

Till next time... tc everyone and see you all soon.

[MENTION=8900]Duli[/MENTION], after reading feels like i was in your passenger seat... well narrated man !!

As 2 weeks before I did two drives within the same day. It started with Catch me if you can edition 13. I was in the smaller convoy led by al_shamsi. I did the earlier catch me event in November 2014 when it was led by strawb and I remembered the early challenge climbing the Fossil rock. As Yoghy mentioned in the briefing that area could take anywhere between 30 minutes to whole day to cross. Maybe it was the training from the previous event , but this time it went pretty smooth for my convoy and we overtook Yoghy’s convoy which had some 20 handicap. The first difficulty appeared when it was a tricky climb followed by a 90 degree turn on a ‘balcony’ and further ascent. I managed the first part ok, but at the turn point I realized that matts had not yet cleared it fully (it was not visible from the bottom), and I lost the momentum and got stuck. It could have been ok, but I made things worse as I did not properly assess the situation and dig myself deeper and had to avail the kind service of RashidJass for the recovery. Overall I personally felt more confident than last year and despite some minor hiccups there was no time I got scared and the car did not take any hits (I had a bumper damage last year). My particular problem in this drive was staying on the right side of the crest. Few times I fell on the wrong side and needed to take a second round. There was also one educating recovery when margarita got stuck in a big bowl near the crest and I had to pull her out gently under Bu Salem’s instruction. Mohammad and matts were quite impressive in this drive! Al I could recall was just very few second tries. Guys, you did extremely well in my humble opinion. We finished the drive exactly on time at 11 am at Badayer and I swiftly left to recharge for the afternoon drive.

Back to Badayer at 3.30 for the afternoon drive led by al_khatib. As one would expect it was pure leisure after the morning drive. Bu Salem joined as a passenger first in margarita’s car, and after some time I had an honor to host a VIP in my car. In just about 40 minutes I got more useful advice than in months before. In particular it was the choice of gears in different terrain and the approach to the crest. As it was towards the end of the drive I could not immediately apply this new knowledge fully, and cannot wait for the next drive to develop it into practice. The weather changed when we got back and there were even some rain drops as we were inflating.

This was an awesome drive lead by @alshamsi_m and sweeped by [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION]. Convey #2 consisted of [MENTION=9136]margarita[/MENTION] [MENTION=9649]matts[/MENTION] Mohammad [MENTION=9008]orlantsev[/MENTION]. There was no warm up and straight hits the dunes. off course, Bu Salem tricks will never end in this drive and had to made sure that everyone faces a challenge. I think everyone did ok as I notice the radio was silence for some times :).

I loved the triple tricks by BuSalem taking us on top of the dunes then going down to small ditch and up again to crest to the other side, and he would park his car on the other side, stepping down of his car, and I could hear Rashidjass says someone stuck in the ditch and BuSalem say I know :wtfsmilie:. It is sort of I made it this way so I could see a victim :gangs:.


It is was an excellent exercise to test what could happen after you have your 10+ drive.. Thank you [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] & [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION]

[quote=Mohammad;42544] I loved the triple tricks by BuSalem taking us on top of the dunes then going down to small ditch and up again to crest to the other side, and he would park his car on the other side, stepping down of his car, and I could hear Rashidjass says someone stuck in the ditch and BuSalem say I know :wtfsmilie:. It is sort of I made it this way so I could see a victim :gangs:.

[/quote]

Lol

Well each and every drive with Almost4x4 tends to have a unique flavour, and this drive probably was a great fusion of many flavours!

I had already nominated myself for the 'Dunes Fitness' drive planned on the same day, when I noticed this drive being available. My other commitments did not permit me to do two drives in the same day. I was in a big dilemma and sought advice. Alshamsi was quick to respond and I am glad I didnot think twice before accepting his advice.

I was in the first convey led by Yogybear while Zico watched our backs. An interesting briefing, before the drive, was done by Yogy which was quite clear with elements of humour thrown in! We were warned about Fida's ditch that we were to encounter in the initial part of the drive itself.

The drive started on a high note with absolutely no time for warm-up. Before I knew it we were already going up and down the dunes at reasonable speed. As it happened I had to do a retry in the first 5 minutes of the drive itself. However was able to manage that. As we neared the fossil rock drop, there was a very interesting patch wherein the ground was largely flat (so we were not really ascending or descending significantly), however we were driving on an inclined surface with the right wheels of the car being on lower ground than the left wheels, and the sand was soft. So we were moving ahead with our cars at an angle for an extended strech, almost like side cresting on a flat ground!

Soon we had our second popup. I guess it was Duli's truck. Somehow it took a while to fix and while waiting at Fossil rock drop, the other convoy led by Alshamsi_m overtook us and we were left clutching our fists!

In some time, after the thrilling Fossil rock drop we were moving at much faster speeds now. It is here that Yoghybear decided to change the second lead, by giving opportunity to each one of us, turn by turn. It was first time for me to be the second lead and I thoroughly enjoyed doing that. Naturally I await feedback from Yogy about the same.

A small no of stucks and a no. of retires, including few by me, were in store for us going forward. The drive involved a lot of side cresting, and I think a got a better hang of it during this drive.

Then as the convoy reached 2nd December, I sought Yogy's permission to part from the convoy as I was beginning to feel tired a bit. While he was open to the idea, but did taunt me a bit about getting old! After a brief discussion we agreed that I shall complete the drive. Yogy did reconfirm with me if I was feeling well and I said yes.

We were now onto the bigger dunes of Badayer and as came Duli's turn to be the second lead, it seems his car didnt like the idea and started throwing some tantrums. We stopped for a while to get his car in order. A very important lesson for all the drivers, came from Yogy during this stop. He discussed the importance of cleaning the air filters after every drive. Zico set out to repair duli's truck. His magical tool box came handy as it seemed to have the right tools for the most uniquely shaped bolts as well. Another trick learnt here was using a T-shirt as a filter, as the original filter had more or less become useless. But anyone who has not actually seen how it is done, plz donot do any such thing just by reading this message of mine since you may end up having the T-shirt sucked into your engine!

Finally we managed to get the truck moving with Zico's efforts and some additional telephonic tips from a mechanic.

We now tool a relatively easier route to Badayer and ended the trip there.

I think each one of us enjoyed a lot and also learnt a lot from this drive.

Thank you Almost4x4, and all the marshals and fellow drivers for this experience.

Cheers!
alok

All other members described well about the trip. We all arrived at the starting point on time. While briefing Yohgy mentioned in humor number 13 is bad as well about the Fida’s ditch. There was no warm up in this drive and straight in to test and at its highest form. Before reaching the Fossil Rock I had a pop out. We applied buddy system and @Defragmentor was my buddy and [MENTION=8900]Duli[/MENTION] also help me to fix the pop out. While climbing the Fossil Rock I lost my rear tire and it took lots of time to fix. I really appreciate [MENTION=22]zico[/MENTION], [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION], [MENTION=1803]Zorro[/MENTION]w, @Defrag they really help me to change the tire. While changing tire [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION]’s convoy passed through us and I felt sorry about the situation (all other members in our convoy was resting at the Fossil Rock). But [MENTION=22]zico[/MENTION] really motivated me. After the Fossil Rock drop we all got chance to be the second lead. I got a nice chance to see how Yoghy is choosing the track and got chance to watch a self-recovery by @Yoghy. We met [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION]’s convoy and had chit chat at the top of Al-Faya dunes. All of you know the rest of the story.

All in all we all got a chance to know how the intermediate drive looks like and got tips from Marshalls that what all main things to take care of your car after each drive.
Whether we moved to next level or not, we all learned many things from the drive. We saw different useful handy tools from the marshals and learned the importance of having them. Also we saw how they are being cool, motivates and handling the situations. Here I want to say my sincere gratitude for giving me a chance in Catch Me If You Can XIII.