Loving the desert - CM - 050222

[David]

My 3rd CM and 1st one in Mleiha area. Nicely busy when reaching the MP, chitchat and time to find out if today would be the day, nope, not our first Bronco in the Almost family, I guess that until pricing is a bit reasonable it is still not an offroading car if not more suited for Dubai Mall and Jumeirah Road.

Shamsi, as organizer of the drive, took care of the briefing, he knows the basics of offroading better than anyone else, my recommendation would be to listen and trust what he has to say.

I was allocated as support (sweeper) to Mabubaker's convoy, Rashid's as floating Marshall with Ehab doubling as 2nd lead and media coverage. We got lucky and there were a good number of "no shows" in our convoy so total number of cars was a very manageable 10, "less is more" in the desert, something you all will find out soon ...

Mabubaker lead the convoy nicely and without any major issue, some nice climbs and drops that were resolved nicely by the very eclectic mixture of cars in our convoy. I think everyone did really well, good radio communication, following instructions, maybe distance in between cars a bit excessive but nothing that will not be improved with some extra drives. A couple of 2nd tries and pulls was all the "incidents" that are worth mentioning.

Now time to get your safety equipment checked (if not done yet), get your first star and start enjoying the "Almost journey", welcome guys to your "sand Family"

See you on the sand soon.

[PedroLeal]

My first trip report!

I was counting the weeks, and then the days to finally reach the CM drive day.
I've arrived early and was the 2nd to arrive since Brett was already there marking the "yellow" spot!
I had time to put the flag, deflate tires, and brew a nice cup of coffee.
The members were arriving one after another and soon the place was full of smiling faces.
It was really good to finally meet some of the the faces behind the names I got familiar with in the club forum and telegram group.
Shamsi made the call and we all joined for the initial briefing, while I was enjoying a cup of karak chai offered by my "primo" Danillo.
I was assigned to convoy A, led by Optimus.
But first it was time for another briefing about convoy discipline, offroad basics and safety behaviours. Again, a masterclass by Shamsi.
And off we go! The drive was expected to be easy with a few drops, and so it was.
However, Philip had to abandon the convoy, as the F-150 decided to refuse locking the 4x4 traction. After 15 minutes, the convoy started to move again and completed the course without major issues, and with just a couple of second tries.
Thank you to Optimus for leading the convoy, to all the marshals and support drivers, and to Barish that did an impressive floating making sure to be on the right spot every time supporting the entire convoy.
Finally, I asked Barish to check my tools and got my newbie star!
Congratulations to all new members, and I hope to see you soon in the sand!

[presa]

Hi Almosters!

We had a great drive today!

A good number of new Almosters, with great leading.

I was at Sigh convoy, and it was a drive with few 2nd tries and no stuck, what is very unusual for a CM drive and a couple of improvements are need on distance management and radio communication.

We were luck with 4 girls driving, and all of them did great.

@Solmaz always organize girls only drive, so the new ones can allowed to enroll it.

Looking fwd to see you all next weekend!

[Mabubaker]

Another great day with the new Almosters. A very well planned and organised trip by @alshamsi_m. I was leading the 3rd convoy with marshal support from @Rashidjass, @Ehab as a 2nd Lead and @David sweeping.

We had a VIP convoy with 10 cars in total, which gave us an advantage to spend more time taking drops from different angles .

At the beginning of the drive, the new members were having a smooth ride without stucks or seconds tries, so decided to raise the bar a littlebit which resulted in few second trys and recoveries by support intermediates. In summary, we had a great time and I was able to see the members have already improved confidence and control over their cars.

Thank you Ehab and David... you did a great support guys.
Thank you @Rashidjass for safeguarding the new members.

See you soon!
M Abubaker

[Tomvanhouten]

Hello everyone,

Attending the CM is always fun and exciting, seeing so many new faces, which are eager to drive. Meeting new people and simply having fun in the sand.

I was assigned to @SINGH convoy together with my buddy @CARLOSS and @mpodroid .
@presa was the guiding marshal.

With the convoy performing like this, we had such an easy morning, great job everyone!
I didn't have time so much of chit chat with everyone afterwards, but what I noticed is that new people are enthusiastic as always, so welcome to your second family and a lot a safe drives to all of you!

Tom

[Ehab]

Third club members drive for me but this one is a very special one as it fall on the same day i had my first CM drive. What a year and what a journey with Almost4x4 family. Lots of fun and lots of learnings.
Attendance and briefing were done by @alshamsi_m where the usual name pronunciation fun left all of us with huge smile in our faces.
I was assigned to the convoy led by @Mabubaker as second lead and to handle Media. It was an amazing scenery and very nice drops. Couple of easy recoveries and very few second tries all managed safely by @Rashidjass and @David while i had my first easy recovery under marshals supervision, great experience.
Enjoy watching

[brett]

Dear ALMOST4X4 family

I arrived early to set up our banners to let the new members know they had found the right spot

It was great to see so many new and enthusiastic members ready to take the first step in their off road journey

I was placed as 2nd lead with @SINGH leading. @presa floating marshal keeping an eye on everyone to ensure their saftey. We had @Tomvanhouten and @CARLOSS floating around to assist when needed. Media and additional support was covered by @mpodroid

As mentioned we had 4 ladies in our convoy which was great to see. The drive was very smooth. I made a rookie mistake. Taking off for a straight simple climb I realised approaching the crest i was in D ! After reversing back correcting my gear selection the obstacle was quickly completed.

Heading along the gatch road i was easing off the gas as the gap to the convoy was increasing. While watching in my mirror for the others @SINGH disappeared off to the left. Thanks to @Tomvanhouten and @CARLOSS for spotting him and directing me to the drop.

My take aways
No matter how many drives dont become complacent- always check tyre pressure etc and ensure you have selected the right gear !

[CARLOSS]

Hello everyone!

This was my first CM drive, actually my second but my first supporting the convoy and it was very exciting and not only for the drive itself but for the new bunch of people we saw eager to become off-roaders!

@alshamsi_m performed a Master Class fully appreciated by all members but my son who at some point of time, just at the end, told me: “Daddy, we were supposed to have fun but we are not driving at all!!!” . This new generations…Anyway, as soon as we get started, he had a lot of fun!

I was assigned to Marshal @SINGH convoy floating and taking care of the convoy along with Marshal @presa , @Tomvanhouten and @mpodroid . It is the first time I have the liberty to float and oh man! It is so ! and @brett taking the second lead…as usual . For newbies, forget about second leads if Brett is in your convoy ..and by the way, Brett and @KIMOz thanks for arranging my son's pullover!

The convoy itself did and extraordinary work and non-significant situation just a few second tries and minor stucks. These guys, especially the ladies, are looking promising!

I look forward to start using my viking rope with this new batch in the following drives...

See you soon
Carlos

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

The day was so beautiful with the fresh air, the meeting point was easy to access to all our newcomers but we had another group exactly next to our meeting but I think @brett saved the day by coming early and fixing the ALMOST4X4 flags.

After the hard part of reading the names the rest of the event was pure fun . The new family members got surprised with the number of drops in this small area which added to their excitement

We finished the drive at 11:30 sharp as planned but it took us around 1 hour to leave the petrol station after making sure that no one was left behind and the marshals did the tools check-up for whoever was ready.

Congratulations for the new upgrades and looking forward to sit down with you and enjoy the chit chats while watching the sunset.

Till then stay safe and keep the sand flying

Cheers
Shamsi

[Scorpio]

Hello Everyone,

After a long time, we had our CM drive in this and it felt good to be back.

The weather was just awesome and we had a decent number of club members who showed up for the drive. As usual, the attendance taking was toughest yet quite enjoyable part of the day . Following that and as per the practice, we had the detailed briefing on the offroad basics by @alshamsi_m. The batch was divided into 4 convoys by the organizer and I was part of the convoy which was led by Bu Salem.

Our convoy had a total of 13 cars with 7 club members included. The convoy flowed more smoothly than expected and Bu Salem took us to some nice drops on the way to powerline before the fossil rock. One of the crest, the truck got crested three times in a row and @Rooies did some nice job to recover him quickly . Thanks to @nidal78 for lending his tow hook to make the recoveries smooth. As there were three other convoys in the same area therefore, it was a bit challenging to find a track away from other convoys but Bu Salem made his track in a way that we never felt any drop in the pace throughout the drive. After the powerline, we enjoyed a bonus climb quickly to allow the other convoy, which was led by @optimus, to do the drop. The drive finished at the fuel station where we did the tool inspection for the club members.

I would like to congratulate the club members who have got their first STAR already and looking forward for the others to complete their tools to get the star .

Thanks to the organizer for arranging this drive and taking us back to the old playground, @Laarni, @Gabor, @nidal78 and @Rooies for the rescue and support.

Cheers,