The Beginning

[Sanadshaikh]

Firstly, thanks to Georgio for giving me a slot in the -5 group. Decided to take a few steps back and relearn, given the new height and traction.

A nice chilly drive to Al Faqa, reached on the dot and did the deeds - deflate, flag, and 10 clicks firm :D Quite a few new faces and always great to meet the familiar ones.

Overall, a relaxed drive with mix of climbs, drops and technical areas. Gave me a good opportunity to test the new feel of FJC. No major hiccups, just few recoveries managed very swiftly by Marshall and supporting crew. Drive ended on time or a little ahead of time I think.

See y'all in the sand 🏜

[Chris69]

Thanks again to Giorgio and almost4x4 crew for a very enjoyable morning. Got myself crested and required a little tug to get unstuck and reverse down for a 2nd attempt. Route chosen was ideal to challenge newbies like myself and push us that bit needed to help us progress.

Really well organised event with tips and training over the radio guiding us how to attack and conquer the obstacle. And the odd light hearted remark from Giorgio over the radio "oasis I said 20m not 200km away, close the gap!!!"

Looking forward to the next event and see you on the sand soon.

[brett]

Dear Almosters

it was a chilly early morning start on Sunday, with my alarm set for 530am ! but arriving at Al Faqa meeting point just on 7am made the early start well worth it.

I arrived together with @giorgio and set about preparing "The Red Baron" for its first trip to the dunes

we were soon joined by other intermediates, advanced and of course very eager 5- newbies

The Briefing was done and the convoy positions assigned, we had @osman in 2nd lead, @galindakis positioned mid convoy and myself as sweeper. Floating around the convoy to keep a watchful eye we had @orlantsev

The weather was fantastic as we headed into the dunes, @giorgio set a great pace and picked some interesting lines to challenge the newbies. The main points that need to be practiced by the newbies are of course, following distance and radio communication. These things become more and more important as the level of the drives increases.

We had as expected a few recoveries which were dispatched quickly and safely by myself and @galindakis under the watchful eyes and instructions from @giorgio.

As we approached the end of the drive I noticed something that happens in all of the Newbie drives - mistakes start happening and more and more cars become crested and require recovery. This is possibly due to the fatigue on the part of the drivers after having had to concentrate and focus at 110% you need to be aware of this and maintain your focus until the very end of the drive, another factor is drivers possibly thinking oh that was easy so they relax towards the end - my advice - don't relax! stay focused throughout the drive, in my observations and experience the bad things happen during the last 10 to 15min of the drive.

So stay focused !

I am looking forward to the "All in Drive" next weekend where we can all get together and enjoy the Almost4x4 culture and companionship. Also an opportunity for The Red Baron to be tested just a little further !

[giorgio]

What a beautiful morning to attend a relaxing drive.

Over all it was a fun drive with plenty recovery incidents.
I would like to first of all thank the supporting team which had their hands full with all shorts of recoveries.

As was highlighted during the briefing, aim of the drive was to tackle straight crests which will train the drivers on the following:

Momentum
control decent
accelerator control

Furthermore radio communication and proper convoy distance were the other two important areas for improvement

Last but not least, Listen to the instructions on the radio and follow them.

In these early steps of developing the basic skills of off-reading you need to make sure that you keep attending the drives in a consistent manner, and always review at the end of the drive what you did right and what you will need to focus on the upcoming one to ensure continues improvement.

Looking forward to see you all next weekend

[BShehzad85]

Thanks Giorgio for a great drive. My second drive with club as a newbie.
It was a cold morning in Al Faqa, had our safety briefing than started the trip.
Main focus was on straight climbing from one side of the dune to another and radio communication to give clear to driver behind.
Challenge was maintain momentum and power when going uphill, at the same time reduce speed at last minute to smoothly descend to other side. Thanks to support team and Marshal for making it a pleasant and smooth drive.

[galindakis]

Greetings off-road family,

I'm thrilled to share our recent off-road drive in Al Faqa, where the chill in the air couldn't the excitement. The trip, led by @giorgio , was a delightful mix of challenges for newbies 5-.

The rescue and support was formed by @orlantsev @brett , @osman and myself.

Positioned in the middle, my focus centered on practicing recoveries—a crucial skill for any off-roader. Al Faqa's terrain provided the perfect training ground, allowing us to enhance our recovery techniques amidst the challenges.

While the weather blessed us with clear skies, ideal for off-roading, it also highlighted areas for improvement. Maintaining proper distances between cars and refining radio communication emerged as key aspects to fine-tune for smoother and more coordinated drives.

A big thanks to @giorgio for leading us and to all participants for contributing to a successful and enjoyable drive. Until our next off-road journey.

Best regards,

[osman]

Hello All,

When I arrived to the meeting point we had nearly half an hour for the start time and almost everyone were at the meeting point already, enjoying the nice refreshing air. Well seasoned Vika joined the convoy at the halfway through, warming-up for the GPS challenge.

@giorgio started easy and then gradually increased the speed and the height of the crests. There were nice soft sand drops and I hope the drivers had the window down to hear the sound the tires made while going down. Actually, keeping the window down was the instruction given during the briefing for the reason to hear the engine sound of self and compare with the intermediates if they are in front.

I think the critical experience to gain is to control the speed on straight crests so that the car should have enough momentum to climb but not too much to avoid flying. Flying looks when you watch but can be very expensive if you do yourself. And it is considered uncontrolled driving by the marshals. Please drive safe, better to get stuck and pulled by someone instead of having the free spinning wheels in the air.

The communication is also critical for moving the convoy smoothly and continuously. If someone waits the clear sign from the car at front to move, the gap between the cars increase, then he/she may mix-up the tracks and gets disconnected.

We had a great morning, thanks @giorgio. Finally, I considered myself as the laziest person of the day as did not perform any recovery because of being the second car. See you next weekend along with all the active members.

[Vika]

Hello everyone!

I want to thank you all for the wonderful Sunday morning, especially now when I realized that offroading for me at the moment is a breath of oxygen in the full sense of the word, regardless of the level and the number of drives, it is a feeling of a team spirit, a feeling of freedom and boundless happiness. It's a joy to see everyone you know, and it's especially nice to see new faces, which brings me very pleasant memories of my first steps, which are by no means ideal to this day. I still managed to get stuck, and this is part of the game and it’s , it’s just when I wanted to say good morning , and you shouldn’t underestimate the desert, it will always take its toll.

I express my deep gratitude to the marshal @giorgio who organized the drive, the support group, @brett your Mars really stands out from the crowd, I wouldn’t want you to be used as a sweeper, especially in Liva)))
@galindakis for the rescue, it was fun, @osman for the second lead, @Orlantsev for yor support, @Oasis Long time no see
All and everyone, who made this event happened.

With love and gratitude

Yours Vika

[AdamApples]

Amazing drive to get back into the swing of things.

I’ve been out of the desert for a few months and this was a great drive to slowly get back. We had some great practice of crossing dunes and a nice mix of basic skills to practice with a few stucks and second tries. The support crew and Marshals were amazing and patient.

[ahmed77moharem]

I reached the meeting point on the fixed time, the convoy start deflate the tires, we started our trip and I was not expecting that high speed off roading experience it was high adrenaline and I got stuck twice but these is how I learn and the rescue helped to cross high dunes.
Under the full support, of marshal @giorgio who was giving everyone instructions.
I enjoyed a lot by our amazing trip, thanks to all Almost 4x4 team.