Almost4x4

Hello Guys,

I reached the meeting point around 8:45 PM with @siddharthsai . To be honest, I was a bit nervous even before the drive started because I had never done a full night drive before.

When we arrived, quite a few cars had already gathered and many of them had their off-road lights on, which made the whole desert area bright. I quickly deflated my tires, fixed the flag, and greeted everyone.

After some time Mr. Samshi arrived. Attendance was taken and we had the briefing about the route, terrain, and convoy positions. Once everything was clear, the convoy got ready to move.

The drive was led by Mr. Samshi in his Jimny which reminded me of F13, with Ahmed as the second lead. We started on a unpaved road with mostly flat terrain, which actually helped everyone get used to the darkness and the lights before moving into more challenging areas.

As we continued, the terrain slowly became more technical. Arches started appearing and the sand became softer, which made the drive more challenging.
I was lucky to have Bob driving in front of me with good lights, which really helped with my visibility and made it easier to follow the track in the dark.

At one point we stopped near a bowl where the intermediate drivers played for a while, attempting climbs and enjoying the terrain.There was also a moment when the GPS stopped working, but thanks to the experience of the lead he was able to navigate the terrain in the dark for some time until the GPS started working again.

Later we had a nice break where everyone sat together, had some snacks, and relaxed with famous samshi coffee, which was perfect after the drive. It was also nice watching a few drivers trying climbs on the nearby arches.

After the break we started heading back towards the road. This part of the drive was faster and flowing, which made it very enjoyable. Overall the convoy moved smoothly throughout the drive with very few second attempts and no recoveries.

One thing I learned from this drive is that night driving is completely different from daytime driving. Visibility is limited, depth perception changes, and it is easy to misjudge the terrain. It definitely requires more focus and confidence.

The drive lasted for approximately four hours. After reaching the exit point said goodbye to everyone and I started the drive back to Abu Dhabi, reaching home around 3 AM. On the way back I kept thinking about the drive and the experience of navigating the desert in complete darkness. Even though I was nervous at the beginning, it turned out to be a great learning experience and a memorable first night drive.

Thanks to @alshamsi_m for organizing the drive, and to @ahmed77moharem , @nidal78 , @Mghoneim , @bobpavan , and @Spyda for helping manage the convoy and keeping everyone safe.

Looking forward for the next drive ..

Attended the night drive at pink rock area which is very convenient as I live only 20 minutes from the meeting point.

I was positioned in front of the sweeper, track choosen was perfect for the newbies to get a taste of driving at night. One of our key senses vision is limited and we cannot see perfectly as we can during daylight. This makes us use our feelings and instincts which the clubs training program develops

Newbies did well only a few second trys, couple of convoy disconnections which was expected in an area like this with hundreds of tracks at night.

Finished off sharing some delicious snacks And Karak Bu Salem had brought for us thank you. Watched the buggys challenge the Dune while we chilled to 1 am.

Always good to be in the sand and ride with the sand family