Almost4x4

Amazing learning and scary cannot wait for the next one
Thanks for our amazing marshals for arranging such an experience

Nice to catch up with everyone after a couple of weeks away from the UAE.

5min intervals as in my previous Solo Bats, this time Nahil, easy and enjoyable without taking any risks and going for a conservative route.

We all finished pretty quick and gratefully Giorgio took us for a spin (thank you!!!)

Many thanks to all of the Marshalls that attended the drive with special mention to Optimus for organizing.

See you on the sand soon

Note - Points in the pics are not the SoloBats coordinates if not my waypoints in that area.

Hi everyone,

It was way overdue for me to attend a Solo Bats drove after missing the previous two editions and I’m happy we got to do it in Nahel for the first time. No other cars, no tracks just pristine dunes and complete darkness.

I started fifth (or 6th?) after Tom and took a cautious approach to reaching the points, it’s Ramadan and driving right after iftar when I’m drowsy and sleepy is not a good idea to push it in a solo night drive.

The experience was great nevertheless and being all alone, deciding my own line in the dark was a nice thrill.

Reached point 7 along with David who I met along the way and chilled with everyone else until the Marshalls arrived.

Because we finished the track relatively quickly, we begged Giorgio for a bonus drive and thankfully he accepted and we got a great adrenaline shot trying to stay behind him.

Went back to the end point where we met with the Newbie convoy and greeted everyone and shared drinks and sweets until about midnight.

Thank you to the organizers and fellow drivers, as always it’s a pleasure to drive with my second family.

The route that Optimus planned for this challenge was very well designed.
We did a very well known track in Nahil, but on a reverse direction.
This gave us a good warmup, since the biggest dunes, bowls and drops were mostly at the beginning.
This area is well known to the drivers who drove the "Cool Stars" and the "Go Fast" series, and opens a lot of different level opportunities for marshals to plan drives, but in the dark..., in the dark it's a totally different perspective.
In the dark, the walls are twice bigger, the bowls are 3 times deeper, and the crests are 4 times sharper and you you can see them only when you are practically on the ridge.
Nevertheless, our marshals have been training us so well that we completed our solo drive quite fast and without any incidents.
It was a pure adrenaline boost, but very fun!
But the story wasn't over yet!
After teasing Giorgio, he took us for a "quick spin".
Not only quick, but fast too!
Thank you Giorgio!
But the story wasn't over yet!
After meeting and greeting the newbie convoy, and sharing food and drinks, a few of us stayed a bit later enjoying the amazing weather, and we start teasing Shamsi to go back to his car "Mr. Cool" and try to recover it from its mechanical issue and bring it to the road.
Unfortunately the issue could not be fixed, so Tom had to tow the car out.
This was another great evening with the Almost4x4 family, and I thank Optimus for organising the drive, and founder and all marshals for the support and guidance.

Below are some screenshots of the track and some stats.

See you soon in the sand!

Pedro

Hi everyone,

Solo Bats 11 was my first solo night drive beyond reaching camping spots on my own at night. I have done many night drives before but always led by someone else, normally a Marshal.

So, when I received the PM I was curious about the waypoints’ selection and discovered that some of them were strategically located inside a sort of a bowl surrounded by big dunes, on the top of one of them, etc. by this time, some already know that Optimus has a creative mind , the “Architect of the Dunes”, and he spends time designing the drives and takes advantage of every single opportunity to challenge us. By the way, thanks Master for organizing this magnificent event, for the briefing and for feeding us after the drive.

My approach for this drive was clear since the very beginning: “Keep it simple, super safe and enjoy as much as you can” . Normally, I like to challenge myself a bit if leading with decent dunes, fast pace and plenty of side cresting but considering my lack of experience in night drives, I decided to take it easy, and designed the easiest track I could as per my findings on google maps. Plan was settled, sticking myself to the tentative path making corrections on my way without taking any risk.

I was selected for the 2nd position, with intervals of 5 min between challengers, and I started to head my way. The first thing I noticed is that I was lacking a lot of visibility on the upper side of the dunes…yeah, I know, FJ thing, but actually I believe that it was more a “lights” thing: I would have loved having a decent light bar on the roof . Anyway, I started to make progress spotting from time to time Ehab in front of me (he was the first car) and at some point, I realized that I pretty much covered half of the WP. I thought, maybe the remaining it will take more time but unfortunately, it did not. The drive finished in a blink of an eye with a bit more than 40 min including a very elegant stuck on the tip of a dune with my 4 wheels barely touching sand. My car’s belly needed to take some rest , normal I guess, it was late and laid down on the sand for around 10 min till my brother Tom gave me a hand. Thanks for that mate!

The experience was great but a bit short as I said, to be honest. When reaching WP no.7 and after a while, most of the challengers were there wondering…shall we come back and pick our Marshals up?

We waited till all the group got reunited and got a very nice surprise after the nice second Iftar brought by Optimus when Master of Dunes Giorgio accepted our “invitation” for a little “exploration mini-drive” in the surrounding area. Thanks a lot for that Giorgio, it was the cheery of the cake.

And thanks to all the remaining Marshals involved in the event: Rashid, Scorpio, Singh and Presa. It was also very nice to see the other convoy led by Master of Masters Shamsi having a good time after their drive, good to see old and new friends.

For the records, pls see below 2 screenshots with the purple track showing the actual drive and the orange the tentative route.

Thanks again to all and see you soon.
Carlos

Hi everyone,

A first time for me, attending Solobats, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
First of all, the atmosphere at the meeting point was super relaxed, where marshals and members were mingling, chitchatting and listening to some romantic music coming from a certain car (I feel for you Presa).

Then came the briefing by Optimus. Still very relaxed, but with the emphasis on safety, I was really impressed how this was handled!
We were told; maybe 2-2,5 hrs, that didn't turn out as such

Off we went, into the dunes, starting conservative, but then I couldn't help myself once I got the rhythm. I still kept it safely and only where I could see no risks in it, but those crests were asking for it.

In total, I drove for 26 minutes including two recoveries (as there was plenty of time anyway)

Really happy, with Giorgio and his little spin afterwards.

Thank you Presa, Giorgio, Rashid, Singh, Scorpio and of course our organizer Optimus! this was one to remember!!





Tom

Solo Bats 11.0

I had avoided the last few Solo Bats because I figured driving during the day when you are following a skilled Marshal is challenging enough. Imagine navigating by yourself IN THE DARK!!!!
But I had to bite the bullet and give it a try myself and that's what I did.
I was making my way to the meeting point without deflating my tyre… climbed up a steep dune which had super soft sand and got stuck at the top! I told myself: Girl! The challenge didn't even start - what the hell are you doing? Took a breathe, switched to lie gear+Atrack+Diff lock and reversed out if it but sadly it was a V-shaped ditch with walls all around! So I got out, deflated and worked a path out of it and got to the meeting point finding everyone in great spirit.

After some chit chat with @Giorgio scarying us with horror stories of his drives, we were placed in convoy order and we were sent off in 5 minute intervals.

Giorgio was warned us about the travel sickness due to the tunnel vision you experience in the dark but I figured I could handle it. It didn't take me long to realise that he was not kidding but I reminded myself that I am Dauntless so I focused myself on the navigation.

I remembered Al Shamzi’s advise - safety always; limit side cresting, do straight climbs were possible and if it doubt, see if there are other options from a different side and that it what I did.

I did not race; I took it easy and used my GPS compass to guide me and before I knew it, I had completed 5/7 points when I came across a fellow intermediate challenger who was stuck at the top of a dune. I offered help but he was happy to dig himself out so I went on my way. I had completed the 6th point when I found myself in a similar position beached on a dune edge. After digging under the chassis on both sides, I tried to move the car out but was not successful. Just then, the sweep team arrived and offered me a pull which I happily accepted. Rescue complete, I made my way to meet my fellow inters at Point 7 where I was greeted with loads of smiles and delicious food.

As we were all checked in, Giiorgio offered as a treat! An adrenaline rush night drive through the dunes. We took on every dune and crest on our path! It was absolutely awesome!!!!

When we returned to the meeting point, we were met by the Newbie team.

Thank you to all the Almost 4x4 Marshals, Inters and Newbies for an epic adventure

Enjoy watching

Solo Bats 2023 - United