Back on track II

[Tomvanhouten]

Ok...for the short time , I was in the drive, i can say...a different dimension!
Let me try to explain:

Driving behind several marshalls, one more then another, actually teaches you the lines and what their flow is, so that it becomes pretty predictable and you know exactly the distance you want to keep, you know the speed you can drive with..

All that changed today!
Like i said, only a short drive for me, but what an amazing experience behind @Daggerfall . Fast, every single crest and also the famous moments that you feel..shit, why am I too close. A different dimension, but fantastic experience!

Early in the drive, i actually heard my car behaving as a jetfighter....what is this?? Didn't even hear the exhaust anymore. Looking and trying to find it during the rescue breaks, resulted in no success. So decided, let's check later. That was till we took a medium dune and arched it, big kaboom under the hood and the issue was identified.
Turns out that my radiator fan blown to pieces and actually punctured the expansion tank. As there was still fluid inside the tank, i could drive it out of the desert and repaired it with the famous ductape (and a little bit of rtv), so driving it home on the airflow thru the radiator was no issue.

Once home, i found the problem being a seized coupling of the fan...well not completely seized and that is why the issue resulted in the blow out of the fan due to the massive heat in the coupling.

Searching for the parts tomorrow and today, i can only say thank you for bearing with me, i had a fantastic time!

Thank you @mpodroid , @Jasper , @Daggerfall and of course@Booy

See you soon again!

[Johanna]

Hi everyone,

wow @Tomvanhouten if you break something you do it properly...
Hope you get it fixed soon...And I agree @Daggerfall leads are legendary, wait for the intermediate drives....

Seems that the convoy lead by @Daggerfall had a blast, but mine lead by @Solmaz was for sure not less action packed and fun

The first part of the track is a bit technical until you reach the bigger Al Faqaa dunes. @Solmaz was leading, with @dorudoru as second lead, I drove in the middle of the convoy, @Rathica had the sweeping position and @Agalon was floating. @Solmaz promised us to push it and that was not an empty promise.
In the beginning we had stop and go due to some second tries in the technical area. Very important in this kind of area is the right distant. If you are too close to the car in front of you, you will instantly get in trouble.
To ensure a better distribution of support, it was decided that @Rathica and myself will float too...And that worked very well, as we could directly approach situations where help was needed or positioning ourselves on tricky spots to give instructions if needed.

Furthermore floating round is not only fun, but a very good exercise as you have to predict the leading cars lines so you dont get in the way, choose a track you have a good overview over the convoy, predict potential tricky spots and dont get in trouble yourself....Thank you for giving the opportunity to practise these skills!

The last 1-2 hours of the drive the flow was super nice, we drove a fast safari style with some tricky climbs and easy side crests here and there...

We hit the fast track towards the solar farm as planned around 6:30, I hope everyone had as much fun as I had, looking forward to read your reports...

See you in the sand...

[NahorJP]

Trip report: Back on Track II (Organizer: Marshal @Solmaz )

Great Day ahead Almosters!!

Well it was well planned area for this drive to overcome the fear of cresting. i was part of @Daggerfall 's convoy and he gave us brief theory on the cresting part before we could start our drive. It was an awesome lead and whatever @Daggerfall did mention or explained during the briefing was totally useful.

For some time @Tomvanhouten was the second lead until his car had a 'kaboom' experience and he had to leave the drive in between. @Stephan took over the second lead and took all the blind arches for us. @Booy was floating with 'Big red' (trust me, Big Red can do anything which is impossible. ofcourse it's the driver and not the car!!). @mpodroid @Jasper - great support from you guys.

Just after the drive was started, i found myself stuck on the dune due to a silly reason 'not engaging 4W' instead i was driving in 2W. It was a self recovery but need to keep this in mind and not to get lost in the excitement.
After some time while doing the cresting, i had to take @mpodroid 's help to rescue me from the crest. Thanks @mpodroid , i didn't feel the pull at all, it was so simple for your Rubicon!

Usual suspects @CARLOSS @Flor @brett @dorudoru @James @Tomvanhouten @Laarni @piotr @Kris @Stephan @Asadwrangler @AndreAJ .. sorry if i missed anyone... good driving by everyone and had good interaction with all of you during the break time.

Thanks again to our marshal @Daggerfall , @Solmaz @Agalon @Booy and supporting team @mpodroid @Jasper @Johanna @Rathica ..

[Daggerfall]

Hi Almosters,

It's been a while since I had to give a break to driving in desert due to my back injury. I was looking for an opportunity to see my condition. Thanks to @Solmaz I had this opportunity yesterday.

It was a nice gathering with new and old faces, beautiful weather and when @Booy told that "our members in my convoy has already done very challenging drives so I can push them" all the boxes were checked for me

Our convoy did a great job and they followed the safety principles we discussed in the briefing most of the time. As a leading person when the members following you give you the feeling that they will always try to apply the right technique and make the right choices when they encounter risky situations this gives you confidence to increase the level gradually. Which allows members to gain more experience and have more fun! We reached to a very good pace time to time and our members did a great job yesterday!

It was good to be back!. Thanks to @Booy , @Jasper @mpodroid for the great support and all members for the amazing afternoon!.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Best Regards

[James]

I would like to start by thanking @Solmaz for setting up the event with the true spirit of the Almost family, lots of eyes smiling with all of the masks on at the meeting point. Deflate and on to business… A safety brief, open discussion on what to expect and on to business. Second convoy was led by @Daggerfall… a real legend as a lead, I was asked when we stopped at some point, who is he, I have had the absolute pleasure of being part of a convoy where he lead previously so could only say that this will be very interesting and challenging as you will drive like have never before.. hopefully more to come.

Great line of approach on the dunes, cresting and the drops, real life experiences on the method, climb and over and a brilliant opportunity with the now FJ, no one knows what would have happened if still with the now retired LC… she was a beautiful lady and really made what I have today possible so have utmost respect for her.

Great support from @Jasper and @Booy, not only with support on an any stuck situation as there was a few in the convoy, but also the shared knowledge of the adjustable suspension….. it just got better and improved each time there was an adjustment but this is what may be acceptable in the first drive and then setup.

A great second lead from @Tomvanhouten until the fan decided to take flight, all home safely I believe and some minor repair work to do. @Stephan then stepped up to the mark and did the needful.

This was a drive that you hoped would go on, larger sweeping and even on the smaller dunes, there was a lot of fun to be had, great line of sight, approach, calculated design….. and or in a safe manner…. Go for it, this is what made a real difference on the drive… we were pushed to the limits and loved it… great dunes or more importantly a great lead @Daggerfall to get us up there, over and home.

Thank you to the Almost family, the lead @Daggerfall, second lead @Tomvanhouten and @Stephan, Intermediate@mpodroid and Advanced @Jasper support, good discussion on Jeeps mods, could have gone on forever with @AndreAJ, we now have a new Popout champ so thank you there, and cresting King …. All great company … @Daggerfall, @Tomvanhouten @Stephan @AndreAJ @piotr @NahorJP @all that I may have missed.

A well appreciated invitation to a sit in the desert from@Solmaz, we had a planned evening but would have loved to join the family. At the inflation point, enjoyable discussion after the event with @brett, @Booy, @Daggerfall @mpodroid… all absolute positive recharge equipped now to deal with the challenges of the week ahead.

I am not sure where this statement came from so cannot claim ownership but very much believe that life is too short and we should be sitting when we are old…. Regretting all the things we did rather than all the things we didn’t…. all in a respectable compliant manner.. just to be clear!

Ramadan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem have a super safe Holy month.

[piotr]

Dear Almosters,
I must say when a 10+ drive showed up I was very excited, after more than a month of tarmac-only driving I really craved the sand:) So on the registration day the usual excitement kicked already in the morning, peaking at 6:00:00:05, but I was lucky enough to secure a place :) Amazing that @Solmaz and @Daggerfall managed to arrange a second convoy, and by this created a lot of smiles for the less lucky ones at the initial draw at 6pm.

On the drive day the usual routine: prep the car and equipment, drive the way occupied 50% by fellow Almosters :), deflate, chat a bit, and then on to the briefing. I was allocated to the convoy led by @Daggerfall, living legend (but little did I know at that time what does it mean in practice :) ).

Right from the start, I must admit, it was THE most challenging drive I had so far, and that by a margin. And one during which I managed to earn a couple of badges (mentioned by @James above) ;) To cut the story short, quite early in the drive I had a popout right on top of a crest, and it only went south from there ;/ A number of smaller and bigger mistakes, add some bad luck here and there (like ending up in a small ditch or one of the tires losing pressure), second popout on a side crest - you get the feel. And most of this caused by poor driving technique definitely - need to work on it! To my defence I must say when I sc** up, I do it big, and it gets better from there (I still remember the CM drive where I straight-crested 3 or 4 times - and only a few more times since then!).

A the times when I was not stuck, second-trying, self recovering or getting the tires fixed;) the drive was great, going places I have only seen on the gopro clips from more advanced Almosters :) Arch-to-crest, crest-to-arch, some diagonal lines down the dunes - all new and all very exciting (if not scary at start). I want more!

A number of learnings to be taken:
1. Don't fight the gravity.
2. Don't fight the gravity, you will get a popout, or worse, roll.
3. Don't fight the gravity. Period.
4. Manage the momentum, moving car is a safe car so take decisions early (and again don't fight it).
5. At the end of the convoy the track is already damaged, and even more importantly, it's sometimes unclear where the actual best line is - learn to build your own "best line" taking the above into account.

Thank you @Daggerfall for great learning, and the rest of the convoy for your patience - I guess you had plenty time to talk ;)
Also big thanks to @Booy for being my guardian angel all along, and to @Jasper and @mpodroid for your assistance and getting me out of places ;)

Overall we covered 55km, and drove for 3h.

See you on the sand! *(Next time at night! again a first)

Piotr

[brett]

Dear All ALMOSTERS

Back on track was certainly an appropriate name for the drive as i felt i was really "back on track"

it started off with the now familiar gathering at the meeting point, deflate tyres, chat to usual bunch and some new faces. before the roll call, assignment to the convoy. I was in the convoy to be led by @Solmaz. after a quick briefing off we headed in the the dunes.

It started off with a few technical areas and we managed to keep a reasonable pace, however there were a lot of 2nd Tries as almost everyone struggled with the very soft sand. That rule of keeping the right distance from the car in front rang true for many of us ! I found I had to abort one climb and cross as I had not correctly read the car in front and as it seemed to start struggling at the cross I eased off, lost momentum and the the inevitable happened as gravity took over and I found myself stuck at an uncomfortable angle (lean) but with the guidance of @Agalon "4L hard right, hard right, keep going, that's it" I was thankfully able to self recover. while sitting in the stuck position I was going over in my head how I would recover, the affirmation from @Agalon as he talked me through the recovery (which was exactly how I had planned it in my head) having the calm experience of the Marshals helps to give one the confidence and extract yourself from the predicament.

As mentioned at the beginning we had @Johanna and @Rathica within the convoy to keep an eye on us, but it was then decided they were better off floating around to keep an ever watchful eye on us and they did an amazing drive with lots of advice and positive encouragement to all of us who at one time or another needed the confidence boost to clear the obstacle.

unfortueately towards the middle of the Drive @Laarni had to head out to the road (sorry to see her leave early). as the drive continued there were again some areas the proved a challenge and required 2 or 3 attempts by many to successfully complete.

During almost all of my previous drives i have had the pleasure of driving with @CARLOSS and we have become quite close - almost too close on occasion
towards the end (in that last 10min zone) i had my second "event" when doing a very short drop i managed to go slightly right and "hit" the wall of the opposite due instead of a slight left to exit. after surprising @CARLOSS. as he popped over the drop behind me. nice to know i had him at my back.

All in all a great drive, although many 2nd try's and self recoveries i don't think we had any stucks requiring a pull to get unstuck ? only 1 pop out and 1 DNF retirement.

My take aways from the drive
- get the following distance right
- learn to "read" the way the car in front is driving so you can predict how they will drive the different challenges
- radio communication is VITAL
- Listen, observe and learn.
- have faith in the marshals and follow EXACTLY their instructions when they are helping you recover.

My up most thanks to @Solmaz @Agalon @Johanna @Rathica
for the lead and support.
Convoy 2
@Daggerfall @Booy and the other support and rescue crew.

The convoy thanks for an awesome drive and camaraderie before, during and after the drive - sorry we couldn't join the BBQ unfortunately we had already confirmed other plans for the evening
@dorudoru, @Flor @AdamW @CARLOSS @Laarni @desertwrangler @James @NahorJP @Tomvanhouten
@mpodroid @Jasper @Stephan @AndreAJ @piotr
@Kris @Stephan.

There are others I know i have missed my apologies

and a very special shoutout to the one and only @alshamsi_m the advice and guidance knowledge you shared with us on the previous drive was of a great help as we went into this drive and accomplished things while putting your advice into practise - you were missed.

See you on the Night Drive

Regards
Brett
WASP V1

[CARLOSS]

Hello Almosters!

I have been told that Marshals always know what we are always doing but us, as newbies, also learn how Marshals lead & manage and try to accommodate our drive’s style to that and the drive’s specifics as well. This being said, it was my first time with @Solmaz leading our convoy and to be honest, I did not know what to expect.

After a few dunes I started to realize that it was not going to be an easy drive and specially when located at the back with some tracks a bit spoiled.

We started within a technical area with small dunes but very soft sand so as usual, it took me some time to warm up and start feeling confident with the car. After, larger dunes with high speed, safari style and side cresting: In a nutshell, perfect selection of the track with a bit of everything and very nice pace pushing me all the time to stay focus and not losing car’s control.

The more I drive this car the more I feel like trying to ride a big dolphin : the frontal section is pretty much ok however the rear one is most of the time moving and I see myself correcting this “fish tailing” with the steering wheel...even in flat terrain. Maybe it is too long, or I am too bad…or a mix of both.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun being this drive in the top 3! . And also very happy to see how my wife @Flor is making a significant progress drive by drive so it is a double good feeling.

I would like to thank @Solmaz for organizing & leading this amazing drive and @Agalon , @Johanna and @Rathica for taking care of us. Thanks Rathica for your wise advice coming on the right time

Lessons learned:

- Keep safety distance specially when @brett is in front of you
- Keep enough momentum
- Improve radio communication

Thanks to all my mates and the new ones @dorudoru , @Flor , @AdamW , @Laarni & @brett.

See you soon in sand

Carlos

[Dauntless]

Drivers arrived on time and were in good spirits at the start of the drive. While it was hot, The weather was still bearable. With @Solmaz at the lead, We were off to a rapid start With Joanna and I Supporting the team and @Agalon floating at the back.

It is amazing seeing how much the drivers have developed. @Solmaz kept a really good pace And the drivers did their best to keep up.

This drive was peppered with quite a few second tries. But we still saw drivers Making progress with each challenge.@Johanna and I were allowed to float around the convoy after the warm up so we could keep a watchful eye over the drivers and reach them quickly if support was needed.
I also developed my rescue skills by doing 2 recoveries
Thank you everyone for the opportunity to drive and support you.

[Jasper]

Hello everyone!

We had a nice practice with our 10+ members during this drive and I think they had a very good time practicing the new techniques our leading marshall @Daggerfall delivered. I was assigned to float and assist together with @Booy whenever needed and enjoyed the crests of Al Faqaa while watching the convoy, @mpodroid to sweep and assisted on the pulls. Sometimes I got carried away riding some crests opposite the path Daggerfall was going and I have to do some catch up.

We had assisted recoveries, self recoveries, pop outs and second tries. This gives you the indication that our convoy is learning and they are mostly outside their comfort zone. This is a great opportunity to learn with experienced marshalls always giving valuable inputs. Radio communication is very important and in this drive it could have been better. As always been said, gravity always wins and fighting it is a losing battle.

Overall the drivers did well and I know everyone had fun! Thanks also to @Solmaz for organizing this drive. Be safe and see you again soon!

Regards,
Jasper