Almost4x4

Another great drive with great marshal @Solmaz who took us for unfogrttbale crests and proof excellent role in leading , you just amazing .
It was vip two convoys lead by @Solmaz and @Daggerfall , we cant forgot the precence of @alshamsi_m @Rashidjass and @Scorpio .
Thank you all for making this drive special , looking forward to have more drives with you .
Special thanks to @Loca hope you replace your air pump shortly .

Hi Almosters,

Less is more....

Thanks to our organizer @Solmaz for giving me the second convoy, we had only 5 intermediates in each convoy which I believe helped to increase the pace and fun of the drive . After seeing the first convoy "Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines and got airborne" through the biggest dune next to the meeting point straight away, I had a feeling that this is going to be a good day

I put my glasses on ......and we scrambled too!

As we mentioned before the level of the drive is mostly determined by the performance of all the members in the convoy and we had a very good team yesterday!

Everyone did great and we didn't have much issues (At least I didn't notice ) with any of the obstacles we attacked and I had a great day!. Thank you guys! Hope you liked it too.

Thanks to @Rashidjass for the amazing support and superb rescue of two cars at the same time (One of them was me XD ) you did at the top of one of the highest dune

Thanks to @Mabubaker for the great second lead and @Loca , @Rooies , @Sostick and @Ammaxterra for the great drive and others who organized supported and participated!

See you on the next adventure!

I can't imagine that all the action of yesterday was only one hour drive from home!

I was assigned as the second lead with @Daggerfall's convoy. During the quick briefing, we were told that first part will be a warm up before heading to the bigger dunes..

Well,, the drive started with @Daggerfall heading to the biggest dunes around , he was hunting for the most challenging obstacles around!! Seriously!! Is this just a warm up!? My passenger innocently asked.

The real drive started when @Daggerfall got the limits of the convoy so he opened his RedBull. And a new chapter of adventure began. I wish @giorgio was here, man we really missed you and your trip reports in such drives.

Eye contact and driving skills weren't enough to keep track of Valkyrie, I had to to activate the 6th sense and predict what would be the next obstacle concurred by @Daggerfall.

Many o#$#!+ moments have been witnessed, some of them were really extremely tricky, and required full concentration, the drivers in the convoy did really well and kept the flow of the drive as smooth as possible.

Thank you @Daggerfall for the extraordinary drive, you managed to challenge the drivers limits and proved that we can do more.

Thanks @Rashidjass for supporting our convoy. The guardian angel was everywhere making sure the safety of the convoy.

Thank you @Solmaz for organising this amazing trip.

Looking forward for the next challenge!

Thanks,
M Abubaker

This is one of those trips that keeps me in my driving seat throughout the week, when I struggle to do anything else till almost the middle of the week, then I realize I'm an actual junkie and i need my next dose as soon as the last one starts wearing off!

I was lucky once again to have a first row seat of the Solmaz show, the track with the area was one of the best intermediate drives I had so far, one that had the full spectrum of driving that you end up seeing clearly where you struggle and what exactly you need to work on, and this drive definitely exposed some areas I need to improve,

Thank you Solmaz for the weekly dose and valuable lessons, you kept me on the edge the whole drive that i felt like i was in a physical workout, it's a pleasure seeing you driving up close,

Thank you Bu Salem for taking your time to watch on us and for the sarcastic comments on the radio, kept us focused all the time and set the bar high for us, we will be forever learning from you!

Scorpio, can't wait for Blade Runners brother, it's always great to have you around!

Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Run, live to fly
Fly to live
Do or die
Aces high

Those are the lyrics of an Iron Maiden song. In the song they talk about fighter jets which go all over and do all sorts of stunts. It’s a faced paced song. That was the theme of the drive.

I have read in the past exciting trip reports of this area and when Solmaz posted a trip in this area with the same theme I planned my entire schedule weeks in advance to join. The name of the song associated with the drive also excited me.

My wife also joined me in this trip . This was her first intermediate drive. On the outset I figured it was going to be a very intense drive. There would be a lot of twists and turns and I was expecting my passenger to get sick and me to be tired.

The drive style and the area were new for me. Within the first 20 minutes I had told my wife that this lead is different than what I got used to and there was a lot of twist, turns and surprising number of leeward side climbs.

Solmaz leads with lady like charm and finesse all her line were graceful. Solmaz my wife says go girl power. She also noted the joy on your face when climbing.

She smartly put me behind @Petr in his wrangler. In the first hour and half of the drive I was struggling to keep the right distance from him. Either I was too far or too close. Hence the number of second tries or almost cresting.

Petr drives well, he was calm & confident while going over crests, A thorough gentleman. Me on the other hand was a bit on the fast and on the wild side. His jeep needed less momentum while crossing whereas my set up required more speed hence I couldn’t keep a proper gap. After an hour or so I sort of figured out his driving style. I understood how he would approach a climb or a crest and then I figured out when to wait or when to climb.

Bu Salem had told me earlier that learn to read the dune. By following Petr and observing his driving style, I sort of learnt to read the dune or challenge ahead and figured how Petr would tackle it & in turn I adjust myself to the challenge.

Btw, two of Bu Salem’s advice came in handy. Once when I got belly crested, I just stopped the car. I didn’t even try to reverse the car out at first. I turned off the car, switched off the kill switch, put the car on 4L and just calmly reversed the car out.

The second time there was an area that I had to climb a sharp face with less run up and cross over to the other side. I did it three time and was not able to do it, bu salems advice “drive it like you stole it” …. I conquered it the fourth time.

We didn’t have many recoveries, I got to pull out one car. And there was a popout that got fixed in less than 5 mins.

At the end of the drive as we got out of the car a little woozy sick but smiling. Both of us were very satisfied. A fun weekend away.

Solmaz the trip lived up to the name of the song. Good Job

Thank you @Solmaz for the lead @alshamsi_m & @Scorpio for the support. Thank you @Daggerfall & @Rashidjass for making a second convoy so we could get a more VIP treatment.

Fair warning to the other drivers there are few of these leads who like rock & roll & loud music in their drives, be ready for a lot of oh shit moments in their drives. XD XD XD XD XD

I was really happy that thanks to @Solmaz and @Daggerfall I could join this trip as I was a bit late with my registration.

I was put in the convoy led by Solmaz. We had just five members in the line - a nice VIP setup - and @alshamsi_m kept an eye on us from behind. I like the driving style of Solmaz, it is both relaxing and challenging, if something like that is even possible to imagine . She brought us immediately from the meeting point to the top of the high dune and the fun started. We climbed may sharp dunes from the steep side, climbed some walls, but the drive was smooth and we just had a couple of second tries. The radios were mostly silent, interrupted by Bu Salem's hints and funny quotes such as "don't spread rumors" when someone claimed I got stuck while I was just recovering for the second try .

It was an afternoon full of action, we didn't have many stops and the time passed so fast that when Solmaz announced the end of the drive, I realized I didn't manage to take a decent picture of this beautiful desert on that day.

Many thanks Solmaz and Daggerfall for the VIP convoys and Bu Salem and @Scorpio for their excellent support.

Alexandar wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:29 pm
Petr drives well, he was calm & confident while going over crests, A thorough gentleman. Me on the other hand was a bit on the fast and on the wild side. His jeep needed less momentum while crossing whereas my set up required more speed hence I couldn’t keep a proper gap. After an hour or so I sort of figured out his driving style. I understood how he would approach a climb or a crest and then I figured out when to wait or when to climb.

I like your report @Alexandar, nobody called my driving style a gentleman one yet, especially considering it made you hard to follow, for which I apologise arr.!

Hello Everyone,

The meeting point for this drive has been serving us as the end point in previous Remah drives and it was a nice twist by @Solmaz . Although we had 10 intermediates that could have been accommodated within one convoy but since there were 5 marshals in the drive so, we made 2 convoys of 5 intermediates each . One convoy was lead by Solmaz and the other by @Daggerfall. @Rashidjass supported Daggerfall’s convoy and @alshamsi_m and myself supported Solmaz’s convoy.

The drive evidently had two parts; first ‘warm-up’ and then ‘rev-up’ arr. . As we know the area is amazing with a lot of potential, and Solmaz utilized it superbly to give us a fast drive packed with side cresting, high climbs, driving on the walls. There were a lot of tracks in the area, some from fresh our other convoy and some old, but still the convoy enjoyed many fresh crests. We took the first proper coffee break when one of the passenger felt a bit sick and after that hit the dunes again with even more pace yuush . It was an enjoyable afternoon with you all and hope you all had a great time.

Thank you Solmaz for taking us to this beautiful area. Thank you Bu Salem for the coffee and your continued guidance.

See you soon in the sand..

Cheers

Petr wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 12:30 pm

Alexandar wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 6:29 pm
Petr drives well, he was calm & confident while going over crests, A thorough gentleman. Me on the other hand was a bit on the fast and on the wild side. His jeep needed less momentum while crossing whereas my set up required more speed hence I couldn’t keep a proper gap. After an hour or so I sort of figured out his driving style. I understood how he would approach a climb or a crest and then I figured out when to wait or when to climb.

I like your report @Alexandar, nobody called my driving style a gentleman one yet, especially considering it made you hard to follow, for which I apologise arr.!

Thank you @Petr

Compared to me you were a gentleman driver. I am sure the guy behind me will tell you that Alex was a wild bronco & kicking all over the place. I must have messed up quite a few tracks.

nothing to apologies for I was forced to learn & adapt. Which was brilliant.

Hello Everyone

It was quite interesting to see how @Solmaz & @Daggerfall executed the plan " 5 intermediates in the same area " which resulted with maximum fun for all but at the same time you don't feel there is another convoy competing with you on the same dune, Well done guys .

Frankly speaking the meeting point was new to me although I ALMOST know every single place in the desert but our organizer showed me that she found few spots " WELL DONE " @Solmaz .

We had great time in the sand and I believe that @Scorpio had the most. As a result I had 3 times air lost in one tire and 1 pop out arr. I'm not sure to be honest was it because I have a problem with my left tire or because I was driving against the physics laws .

All in all, all the intermediates dis well and we had a beautiful day in the sand.

Looking forward to see you soon

Shamsi