Almost4x4

Hi everyone!

This post-Eid drive was totally unexpected but very well welcomed as you may imagine. Two drives in a row it is something not too much usual these days, so I really enjoyed it.

During the briefing, Scorpio told us that it was an old tradition and he wanted to recover it…if that is the case, I hope that all good remaining traditions will be recovered very soon!

Before the drive, I was trying to remember the last time Scorpio took us for a ride and I could not. Most likely, it was a Newbie drive because I cannot recall any intermediate drive with him. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get the second lead position (thanks Scorpio for that) so I could enjoy and see how Scorpio was reading the dunes and making the track on a VIP position!

As mentioned in previous reports, by this time some already know how Marshals design and execute their drives. I really like to analyze that and not only for curiosity purposes but from a learning point of view as I normally “steal” whatever I see interesting from my “teachers” and try to incorporate that in my skills’ toolbox. Not always with the same outcome I must say

Anyway, I did not know what to expect from Scorpio and was super curious about his driving style and what I found was very interesting…he is like a tailor customizing every single detail of the track. He did not leave any meat on the bone. If you see the below screenshot, you will better understand…every decent dune was covered from every single angle…and even more, whenever the original plan was not achieved, he came back for revenge and made it right!

Scorpio is the Master Tailor of the Dunes.

It was fabulous following his lead, beautiful lines, medium-fast pace and very sophisticated technique. It was difficult for me in some areas to follow exactly the same track (I am not that sophisticated) so sorry for my colleagues if I spoil part of the fun but all in all, it was a fantastic experience.

The convoy performed well in general, with a few second tries, a pop-out and not sure if any stuck car situation. The playground was crowded as expected in the major dunes with deep tracks everywhere but still Al Badayer is a fantastic area…a pity that too much visited.

We finished on time and still had time to chit chat a bit with a few senior members. Thanks Rashid for taking care of us and my fellow interm and advance mates for playing safe.

See you soon
Carlos

Hello everyone,

One weekend, two drives! What more to ask!

Arrived early at the meeting point, deflated and chit chatted with the rest. Then, 'the briefing', this is the frequency. Let's go! Hungry as always people started to run to their cars, but then we were called back...

Dune 1 and immediately second tries and pop-outs to fix, aha Scorpio is back!!

Remainder of the drive, went a bit calmer but the terrain starts to work against you the moment you get closer to the tourist areas. A few close encounters with other convoys and bikers were there, not even to speak of the suspension, which was really put to the test.

As Carlos mentioned already, the tracks in this area are so much, that from time to time you start to wonder if your fillings are still in your teeth.

Thanks marshals for letting us burn some fuel once more!!

Tom

This intermediate drive came as a bonus being part of the 2023 Eid drives series, recovering an old tradition, as explained by the drive organizer and leading marshal @Scorpio.
After a quick briefing, we started the drive aiming to cover 7 known points from Madam to Badayer.
There was no time to warm up, resulting in convoy having some 2nd tries and a popout to fix just by attempting the first crest!
I did not count if we made the 7 points or not, but what I can tell, and @CARLOSS also mentioned, is that we tackled all the nice dunes from every possible angle, lefting no crest untouched.
I'm still driving my FJ with stock tires and suspension, which is allowing me to learn and understand the car very well. The downside is when we cross a terrain with so many and deep tracks like Madam/Badayer areas, which punishes not only the car, but every bone in our body!
Nevertheless, it was a great drive led by @Scorpio and supported by "falcon eye" @Rashidjass, this time as passenger of @Mahmoodyasin.
Thank you all.

See you soon in the sand!

Pedro

Hello Everyone,

I was supposed to join the Eid Drive 2023 but got invited to a semi-official gathering and could not make it and miss Eidiya from @alshamsi_m . Fortunately, I was free the next day so, planned for the Eid Afterparty for intermediates .

First of all, I would like to thanks @Rashidjass for supporting me to conduct this drive safely (Marshals never leave Marshals alone ).

The area was purposely chosen for this drive:

• Stay near Dubai so members can still spend some time with families on 3rd day of Eid

• Keep the drive fun yet ‘interesting’

• Give a teaser to let members know if they should or shouldn’t register for the upcoming ‘Falcon’ and wait for their time until their skills are more polished

Before the drive, I posted the previous drive (Enter the Inferno) video that I had conducted in the same area, on the T-chat. Well, we did not exactly follow the same old route and I improvised it for more fun, this time .

As everyone was at the meeting point well before time so, we started the drive 5 min early than scheduled. I had @carloss as the second car (thank you for being a safe 2nd lead ), and @mahmoodyasin, @fida and @orlantsev as Advanced members supporting the drive under the supervision of Rashidjass.

There is a saying that ‘Marshals always keep the drives apt to the members’ level ’. Members most of the time remain unaware of the fact that there could be another level of drive on the same dunes until they are shown and up-trained to drive safely at that level. But, to add a little bit of spice, Marshals often give atingeof that level to the members and see the response in the form of radio-silence (means everything is fine at the back…hopefully) or 2nd tries and then adjust the level accordingly. The rule of thumb is that you should not push yourself to reach to any level pre-maturely; rather it should come to you naturally and you would know it when you start doing it seamlessly without effort; until then keep the patience and give yourself time as it is quite subjective.

We had a very enjoyable drive on some (not all 7) of the highest peaks of that area and thank you all for playing safe . We had a nice chit-chat break beside the Super Bowl and then took the easy exit out to end the drive on time.

See you soon on the sand again.

Cheers,

Hi Almosters

This was different

We went to this area 100 of times, with the club or private, and i thought we tackled all dunes from all angles, i was wrong.

This weekend we tackled at least 3 large dunes in the area, Scorpio did not leave a single angle or a way to approach them unattended. We usually climb these dunes on the walls and crest or do an arch, this time the strategy was different, we approach the tip of the dune through the dunes next to it, riding ridge after ridge, short crests, back and forth until we realize that we we are actually on that top of that large dune.

Scorpio also gave us a little bit of flavor of how advanced level drives looks like, yeah we had a lot of second tries during these maneuvers.

Overall, very nice drive, very limited issues and the best of all is that the area is close by to everyone.

From car point of view, i am still learning the car and trying to find the best combo of gear, speed and RPM, i am also trying to adopt windows closed strategy trying to save my time vacuuming sand which seems fine this week, lets see how it will go over the next few drives.

See you soon

Eid Afterparty
I arrived at the meeting point in high spirits. All my Almosters were chilling and happy. We had a quick briefing and we were off. The dunes had sharp edges and had changed so much since our last play - we were warned to side crest with caution and expect surprises.

@Scorpio masterly navigated the area and quickly found amazing challenges: loads of steep high climbs, ridge riding and switching! We rode some sharp long twisty turny ridges and definitely had some hair raising side crests but the bigger the challenges, the more I wanted I just couldn't get enough.

All in all, it was a fabulous drive and the chit chat and atmosphere between my fellow Almosters was incredible

Thank you to all the Marshals, Advanced drivers and Fellow Inters