Almost4x4

Hello Almosters,

its been a while since my last intermediate drive in Badayer as I missed the last inter drive...I like it, although I have a ambivalent relationship with that area - I had my best and my worst offroad experiences there. beaten

As Abu Dhabi is closed, Badayer is the only area with high dunes, so
I expected it to be very crowded, even more than usual on a Friday, but it was ok, we only had a traffic jam once or twice.

The convoy was lead by @Scorpio followed by @rapailo and with @Booy as support.

Characteristic for Badayer area is the mix of tracks and soft sand and although the dunes are high, they are relatively narrow and you have to be prepared for sharp turns.

Just shortly after taking off we reached the first tricky spot leading to multiple second tries and me loosing the convoy After everyone checked the tyre pressure again and the convoy got reconnected everyone was warmed up and the real action began.

I was literally working my a.. off to keep up with the FJ dominated convoy XD I dont think I even switched to second gear at all. At one crest I suddenly heard a very loud knocking sound coming from the back of my car. I got so scared that I fell of the crest, thanks god it was only a small one and I could catch the car back. I did not stop in this moment, but I was waiting for the car to fail, but nothing happened. I heard that noise again couple of times, but I decided to ignore it until the problem becomes obvious
The drive was technically challenging (at least for me) and I had to focus all the time but I managed to keep up better than expected
The difficulty was specifically a loss in momentum due to sharp turns or crests. That´s usually my knock out moment. I remember a climb followed by an arch and a side crest. At the end of the climb, just before the arch, there was a ditch. So I had to reduce my speed - first Patrol rule: You brake, you loose. I could not make the arch high enough to reach the side crest - knock out
I often hear that other tyres would make my life easier, but for wadi drives the BFGs are unbeatable, so instead of change my tyres I will have to learn how to master them in the sand ninja

Close to the end I managed to get a pop out as I hit a wall after sliding down the dune... We crested over into a bowl and as the crest was relatively slow, I started sliding down on the other side. I tried to catch the car back, wrong decision. I just saw the wall coming and...pop out. beaten

We fixed the pop out fast and easy and continued the drive towards Al Madam. @Scorpio went all out the last half an hour giving us the grand finale before we reached Al Madam and the end of this absolute fantastic drive!

Thanks everyone for this great morning and I hope to see ya all soon in the sand

Regardless of the heavily populated area, @Scorpio managed to slalom among other convoys and kept the flow smooth so that we didn't realize that he had to change his plans often at the last moment. The first part was thus smooth, we passed one side crest after another in a total radio silence. Later we reached a more technical area with smaller dunes and more sharp turns. I was at the end of our convoy that was watched by @Booy from behind.

Only when I started to be proud that I was doing quite well without a 2nd try on the account yet, the moment came. We were climbing upon a crest in a soft sand. When I noticed the cars ahead lose their speed and I had to slow down, I decided to turn back, but it was too late - I lost momentum and got stuck on the way down from the crest. So to report, we had a few second tries, one pop out and one stuck .

It was a nice drive and @Scorpio did the maximum that we enjoy this busy area, and we did. Thanks to him, thanks to @Booy for watching us and thanks to @Ammaxterra for the recovery.

image courtesy of @Rashidjass