Almost4x4

Solar Sand - Trip Report

Drive Statistics:
Length : 32.17 mi / 51.77 kms
Total Drive Time : 3:15 Hours
Minimum Elevation : 381-ft / 116.129 mtr
Maximum Elevation : 591-ft / 180.137 mtr
Highest Speed : 38 mph / 61 kmph

Drive Report:
Lovely weather with amazing people. Quick chit chat before the drive and we get divided into two convoys with the 1st convoy lead by [mention]JockJKU[/mention] and swept by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] (-5) and the second convoy lead by [mention]Booy[/mention] and swept by [mention]Gabor[/mention] (-10). As Booy was doing the convoy layout plan he gave out positions to everyone including the advance, intermediates and the newbies. Then he looks at me and I was standing way in the back of the crowd of our convoy and he tells me you will be my second lead. Without a second of any hesitation I give him a firm nod although I was scared inside, never been a second lead regardless of the level of drive.

We set off and all I remember saying to myself, “don’t screw up!!! Don’t you dare screw up your first ever second lead!!! Maintain distance and watch your six. Concentrate!!!”

We went up the first dune and I realized how critical the second lead position is. A couple of meters to the left or right and I am responsible for the whole convoy behind me. In just the first 10 minutes I learned my lesson about being a responsible second lead when Booy went over a climb to the other side only to find himself in a very soft and technical area and by the time he radioed in to stop I was already on top of the climb so all I heard on the radio was “STOP STOP STOP !!!”. I stopped with Outlaw pointing down on top of the climb watching Booy make his way out of the tight technical spot with super soft sand and he reminds me to wait for his clear before going up any climbs. He finds his way out but I can’t reverse so I wait for his orders and continue, taking his route out of the tight spot. After this we continue the drive with the track changed, from that point on I kept a very close eye on Booy and how is car reacted. He would go up a wall, make an arch as per the level of the drive but looking at that I would think “probably others won’t be able to make that” and within a second Booy would radio in “make a lower arch phoenix” and I would smile with having my thoughts put in words by the marshal. At one point there was a bowl on the other side of a climb and Booy radioed in “3 meters to my right”. It felt pretty awesome to radio in to others “Copy that, 3 meters to the right. Every one follow my line”
After driving for about an hour we came across a bit of a technical spot with soft sand I had to make a second try due to lack of momentum, I turned down the climb and radioed in for making a second try but the car behind me was too close to me so when I did turn down to make a circle and go up the second time there was not enough space to gain any extra momentum. So I had to shift my line by 3 meters to the left in order to climb up the soft sand patch and continue. Later I informed Booy about it and explained that I only did that because just like there was not much ground to gain speed on for me it would have been much harder for the 2 bigger cars following me and we agreed that it was the right thing to do. I understand that this is not an inter or advance drive or even a 10+ drive but it felt so good spotting and noticing something by the help of all that we have learned and all that has been taught to us and make a quick decision which turned out to be good for the convoy.

[mention]Haani[/mention] had a pop out and booy, me, waseem & james had gone ahead and already made some distance between us and the others by the time we got the news of the pop out. So we stopped and Booy turned around to drive back to the main convoy But there seemed to be some kind of confusion on the radio and as a few people were talking at the same time. As soon as we reached the convoy it was action time with me, [mention]Johanna[/mention] , [mention]Barish[/mention] , [mention]Gabor[/mention] , [mention]Kris_K[/mention] and a few others tackled the pop out repair and had to dig on the opposite side as well to balance the car. Once the pop out was fixed we realized that there is a teeny tiny air leak from the edge of the rim for some reason, may be it still had some granules of sand wedged in there stopping it to make a proper seal. So Booy decided to keep the tyre pressure upto 35psi and drive the rest of the track as we weren’t far away from the end point.

Now that we started to move again Booy drove off and just as I was about follow him Krisk got his Patrol stuck so Barish and everyone else waited to get Kris’s Patrol out. It didn’t’ take much time and effort to get it out but that put some distance between the convoy and Booy. Within a minute I hear Booy on the radio “Second lead where are you?” I inform him about the stuck patrol and just then the Patrol is ready to move and Booy tells me to bring the convoy to him and I had a smile on my face bigger than the Joker (Heath Ledger is the best Joker yet, do not even think of arguing with me on that I will straight up slap you in the face and then laugh just like him) Although it was not like I had to lead the convoy through a 20 minute drive or anything, it was just crossing a few small dunes but damn it felt good when I radioed in “Ok everyone, follow me” thumbsup thumbsup . But inside I was like “don’t screw up !!! don’t screw up !!! don’t screw up !!!”


At one point we waited for the other convoy as we could see them in the distance but they were not moving and it took them a bit longer than expected to start moving towards us so we just left towards the end point.

Drive Conclusion:
Maintain safe distance (repeated again and again within the drive)

Radio communication is a must and equally important is to keep the radio channel clear for others to speak and hear without disturbance.


Just like Barish says, if it’s not improvement then you are just wasting time changing.

See you all in the sand

Ouch [mention]Phoenix[/mention] just posted the first report while I was starting mine ... good report [mention]Phoenix[/mention] I'm going to revisit mine in order to avoid unnecessary duplications brigade.baka-wolf.com
Oh by the way, you did a great job as 2nd lead mate thumbsup

The drive was technical, one of the most technical I've ever done. The beginning was smooth, with bigger dunes and space to maneuver in between then it changed into smaller dunes very close to each others and spots of soft sand.

I was one of the last cars in the convoy and I realized how much my Pajero dislikes the deep tracks formed by the other cars before me. Deep tracks do also include many small bumps where the wheels jump and lose traction. Second, the dunes close to each others in the technical area required a lot of focus in order not to lose momentum and speed when steering sharp.

I started the drive with some headache and in the technical area the headache disappeared .. I think my mind couldn't cope with both: focus and headache and decided to drop headache as focus was the priority Psmiley

Definitely I learned something in this drive

Many thanks to all the crew .. [mention]Booy[/mention] first for the amazing lead, [mention]Phoenix[/mention] for 2nd lead, [mention]Johanna[/mention] , [mention]Barish[/mention], [mention]Kris_K[/mention]. Special mention to [mention]Gabor[/mention] as he was very active at the end of the convoy to control, help, assist

Looking forward to meeting you All-mosters next week at the Anniversary

It was a nice breezy morning and was nice to see Qudra after some time. Cyclists, campers; life starts early in Qudra or maybe never ends.

We had 2 parts in the drive which was really managed well by [mention]Booy[/mention] . First part was smooth and easy which i can say was the long heat up and second part was the fun in the tecnical area which you could notice in the eyes of the drivers.

It was clearly mentioned by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] the soft sand in the area and seems we all experienced the same and all drivers managed it well gradually.

Thanks to [mention]Booy[/mention] for the lead managed accordingly to the level and all support team for help.

Dont forget; if chg is there, improvement should be there as well. If it is not then dont talk about chg..!

Barish

Hello all,

it was a nice fresh morning in Al Qudra, most drivers arrived early at the meeting point so there was time for some chit chat before the briefing.

I drove in the 5+ convoy lead by [mention]Booy[/mention] and we started the drive with some safari style through the dunes.
I was struggeling in the beginning, I had the impression something was wrong with the car but I could not say what exactly, it just felt weird. wtfsmilie

@Booy tested my car, turned out that the driver was the problem and not the car. I started driving again and found my balance and the connection to my car and from this point I really enjoyed the drive. grin

After we passed the first dunes, the area got more and more technical and Booy increased the level a bit, as the convoy did well. Some second tries and one pop out, but no stucks, nicely done everybody thumbsup

It was great morning with all of you guys and I hope everybody had fun and learned something new, I did for sure.
Hope to see all of you next Friday. have a nice day

Have a great week everyone

Hello Almosters!

I'm a bit late in posting my trip report but here goes nothing.

I had a bad start to the morning because someone had blocked my parking assuming who would leave their house at 7am on a Friday. I was lucky enough to reach on time.

Once everyone had gathered up,Bu Salem called out our respective convoys. We were given the safety brief and then we were asked to get into our positions.

I was the 2nd lead in the 5- convoy that was led by @jockjku. Jock reminded me to maintain safe distance and to stay alert on the radio, in case I need to change the approach slightly for the rest of the convoy.

The weather was great and the convoy was passing thru nice dunes when we found out someone was beached in the middle of the convoy. The recovery was swift and we were back in action but it didn't last long as we had a pop soon after. At this point @Alshamsi_m decided that he will be sweeping in the back.

There were some instances where Jock would radio me to change the approach to the left or right. I must say, Jock would instantly radio it in without any time delay. (Y)

We kept moving forward and the convoy had to keep stopping due to cars being stuck. At this point, I could notice Jock had dropped the level of the drive in order to accommodate the skill set of all the drivers in the convoy. Even though Jock was in a merciful mood, the terrain was getting the best of many drivers and the support team was always on alert.

Side Note: The support team was cooperative and always assisting drivers with second attempts or recoveries so hats off to you guys!

The last bit of the drive was through an area which reminded me of EIB. At this point we were having stucks and 2nd attempts at every 100m's. There was one place where I had to do a quick 2nd attempt and catch up with the lead car while trying to maintain the distance with the car behind me.

The dunes we're unusual and they soon claimed another victim with a pop out. The recoveries were not easy as the area was compact and crowded with cars from the convoy.

We made it to the flat stretch of land and made our way for e-gress. It was a good drive and a great learning experience.

Thank you to Jock, But Salem and everyone else who made this drive possible.

Until next time.

Hello Dears

It was really nice trip with all of you , looking to see you all on sands again ...

thanks [mention]Phoenix[/mention] for all information you shared up and specially after the drive to me .

good day to you Almosters best club ever... cool

Hello everyone,

It was great drive. I was in convoy lead by [mention]Booy[/mention]. I could say that this was most demanding drive for me till now, and I really enjoyed it. Quite technical, with some soft sand, but everything went very smoothly. Some of us had second tries, one pop out, but all in all, I believe we all agree, quite successful Friday morning.

Till some other time,

Warm regards,....

and yes,... few pics, as usual... https://www.flickr.com/photos/4wheeling ... 572733350/

savate wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 4:48 pm
and yes,... few pics, as usual... https://www.flickr.com/photos/4wheeling ... 572733350/

Great pics, [mention]savate[/mention] thumbsup

Yet another thrilling drive with Almost4x4 led by [mention]Booy[/mention] .


I was in the 5+ convoy and car No.4 sandwiched between [mention]James[/mention] and [mention]Johanna[/mention] watching over us. The track started off with relative high speed arches and crestings and then slowly progressed to become far more technical.

To make things more interesting, Booy started to throw in some tiny side crest action into the mix to see how we hold up. It was during one of these moments that I was caught off guard by various tire tracks and while quickly making a correction, I had my very first pop out!

I'm sure some of you might find it strange but I am going to cherish this memory for a long long time. I had fun learning how to deal with a pop out, how to most effectively use our tools and how to properly seat the bead.

As [mention]Phoenix[/mention] pointed out, we faced an issue getting the the bead to sit tight as the sand between the tire and rim kept air from leaking. As a result, I was told not to deflate and drive for the next few minutes with 1 wheel on 35 psi. Coincidently, my uncle who was also driving a patrol in the -5 convoy had a pop out on the same wheel on this drive. Safe to say, Pop outs were the topic of discussion on the lunch table with family.

This was my 2nd 5+ drive and each drive seems to top the other in terms of excitement, difficulty and skill development.

Hope to see you all soon!

P.S Thank you [mention]savate[/mention] for the great pics!

Nice pictures - thank you [mention]savate[/mention]

Our convoy did really well. As mentioned, we started off with safari style driving, and when I saw that everyone was doing well, we went for a more technical approach.

Remember to always increase the gap between the cars in technical areas. This will allow for safe second tries, and also ensure that you do not put yourself in danger.

We had fun, and I am looking forward to seeing you at the 12th Anniversary on Friday for even more fun.

Regards,

Booy