Stars Track XIX
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2024 10:58 am
Dear Almosters
As is customary after a CM drive the next drive for our newly promoted Newbies, this time it was held in Al Qudra area with the start and end point near to the location of the Meat & Greet event to be held later in the evening.
Unfortuneatly the General @Barish who arranges the Star Track drives was unable to attend however we had @rapailo step up to take the role of lead marshal, with the ever present @alshamsi_m in attendance to float around and mentor the new drivers.
After attendance and predrive briefing - to explain to the new drivers what to expect and a reminder of some of the basics required to safely enjoy the desert, we set off with @rapailo leading, myself as 2nd lead (again). We had @galindakis positioned mid convoy and @Mghoneim sweeping to ensure we didnt loose anyone.
The drive concentrated on lots of moderate climbs, straight crosses and decents, for the drivers to practice - following distance, radio communication, approach speed and the proper technique for decent. there were quiet a few lessons learned during the course of the dirve with crested cars, stucks, 2nd tries and one instance where the driver made the mistake of turning to avoid a bush on the descent and ending up side ways to the dune - fortuneately on this occasion he avoided the worst case senario for such an action - rollover. A mid drive briefing was held where @alshamsi_m and @rapailo reiterated some of the basics - most importantly - dont fight gravity, dont turn on the decent, dont brake hard on the decent !.
Towards the end of the drive @rapailo threw in some more interesting challenges including a climb in extremely soft sand with a small ledge (bump) just before the crest ! I watched from my 2nd lead postion as his FJ bounced over the ledge and then crossed the crest, not wanting to fly over the ledge before the crest, I found myself with a lack of the required momentum to make the cross over - (better than flying over the crest) so I backed up, adjusted my approach speed and sucessfully crossed over the crest, as it turned out we spent quite a long time at that particular dune as almost all of the drivers required a 2nd try to get the correct speed and line to cross the dune.
The Area was particulary busy with a lot of other convoys in the area, making it a challenge for our lead and supporting car to ensure the area was safe for the convoy, at one point @alshamsi_m was playing chicken with a pesky Jeep ! who wanted to disrupt his line - that Jeep picked the wrong guy to mess with in the sand - @alshamsi_m held his line forcing the hapless Jeep to change his line, he headed off in the other direction never to be seen again
.
Just on 530pm the convoy of tired Newbies arrived at the Meat and Greet location after a very memorable afternoon
welcome to our 1st star Newbies @AhmedFJ @Feras85 @LuisFlavio @mac @massaleh @OmarShams @Rafal @siddharthsai @Warrior
We look forward to reading your trip reports as you continue your journey developing your offroading skills with Almost4x4.
Your trip reports are invaluable to the marshals to get feed back on the drives allowing them to plan drives that will develop your skills,
As is customary after a CM drive the next drive for our newly promoted Newbies, this time it was held in Al Qudra area with the start and end point near to the location of the Meat & Greet event to be held later in the evening.
Unfortuneatly the General @Barish who arranges the Star Track drives was unable to attend however we had @rapailo step up to take the role of lead marshal, with the ever present @alshamsi_m in attendance to float around and mentor the new drivers.
After attendance and predrive briefing - to explain to the new drivers what to expect and a reminder of some of the basics required to safely enjoy the desert, we set off with @rapailo leading, myself as 2nd lead (again). We had @galindakis positioned mid convoy and @Mghoneim sweeping to ensure we didnt loose anyone.
The drive concentrated on lots of moderate climbs, straight crosses and decents, for the drivers to practice - following distance, radio communication, approach speed and the proper technique for decent. there were quiet a few lessons learned during the course of the dirve with crested cars, stucks, 2nd tries and one instance where the driver made the mistake of turning to avoid a bush on the descent and ending up side ways to the dune - fortuneately on this occasion he avoided the worst case senario for such an action - rollover. A mid drive briefing was held where @alshamsi_m and @rapailo reiterated some of the basics - most importantly - dont fight gravity, dont turn on the decent, dont brake hard on the decent !.
Towards the end of the drive @rapailo threw in some more interesting challenges including a climb in extremely soft sand with a small ledge (bump) just before the crest ! I watched from my 2nd lead postion as his FJ bounced over the ledge and then crossed the crest, not wanting to fly over the ledge before the crest, I found myself with a lack of the required momentum to make the cross over - (better than flying over the crest) so I backed up, adjusted my approach speed and sucessfully crossed over the crest, as it turned out we spent quite a long time at that particular dune as almost all of the drivers required a 2nd try to get the correct speed and line to cross the dune.
The Area was particulary busy with a lot of other convoys in the area, making it a challenge for our lead and supporting car to ensure the area was safe for the convoy, at one point @alshamsi_m was playing chicken with a pesky Jeep ! who wanted to disrupt his line - that Jeep picked the wrong guy to mess with in the sand - @alshamsi_m held his line forcing the hapless Jeep to change his line, he headed off in the other direction never to be seen again

Just on 530pm the convoy of tired Newbies arrived at the Meat and Greet location after a very memorable afternoon
welcome to our 1st star Newbies @AhmedFJ @Feras85 @LuisFlavio @mac @massaleh @OmarShams @Rafal @siddharthsai @Warrior
We look forward to reading your trip reports as you continue your journey developing your offroading skills with Almost4x4.
Your trip reports are invaluable to the marshals to get feed back on the drives allowing them to plan drives that will develop your skills,