Almost4x4

Hello All

Another great lead by Yoghybear on the Golden Dunes area but it was a bit shocking for our rusty members who got spoiled during summer vacation. All in all every one did well in the third part of the drive. Thanks to Khatib and Zico for the support because Mini Me was not in a good shape to rescue. Rashidjass, the man behind the scenes doing all the rescue quietly& quickly ... Well done:like:

Hope to see you all again. In the sand.

Regards

sorry About the delay in writing the trip [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] its not that i forgot about the trip jus that after a night long of hardcore gaming and a day filled off hardcore offloading the body gets tired and needs sleep. this is the first thing I'm doing after I'm up :grin:. Anyways this trip after a long while was more of refresher lesson (i did learn a few new tricks). The marshals realized the lowest trips attended among this convoy was 6 so they decided to step it up a notch at some points it felt like i was driving rally style. [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] did an exceptional job and lead and amazed all of us. thanx Yoghy!. It was about 43 degrees @the hottest but that wasn't hot enough for the almost team and we kept advancing. The convoy did face some issues in the starting with distance maintaining between each other and i was doing newbie 5- mistakes which i realized once [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] stopped us to let us knw about this. The drive overall was more of a "know how to control your car in different situation " kind of drive and i enjoyed it to the very best.Learn a lot about controlling the vehicle when we tend to cross over dunes and the vehicles kinda slides if you don't approach in from the right angle. All in All a trip well organized by the founders and marshall .Great rescue done by [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION]. Another successful trip in the books [CENTER]:victorious:[/CENTER]

After arriving Al Badayer shops we gathered and got a short briefing from @Yoghybear for the drive ahead. He gave the hints on what was waiting for us ahead.

We moved at 07:30 as planned. I was the 4th car and at the first pass the 3rd car, @Mark B had a stuck. I managed to get out of the back of him but i was not successful to get a correct stance to move after he got out of the situation. I made a couple of forward rewinds to get out and follow him. A nice example on keeping the correct distance and taking position to easily move again. After that i tried to keep the distance better.

The track was amazing. I guess one of the most technical and fastest drives i ever joined. There were a couple of points which i felt like we were being exposed to a stress test by @Yoghybear. Some parts were fast and a real adrenaline rush where in one point i felt like my steering speed won't be enough to catch the track but, thank god, i was able to keep the pace. I was afraid to have a pop-out which gladly did not happen.

We stopped a couple of times due to stucks. This led to two briefings by @alshamsi_m on keeping the right distance and how to use the cars properly, especially on cresting. If i may share my opinion on keeping the right distance; you can not always guess what will happen with the car in front of you. Additionally, i believe if you get closer you are putting additional stress to the driver in front, which might cause him/her to make mistakes. At the end the driver need to have full attention on what is going on in the front so it feels better and life is easier when you know you are safe from behind. Regarding the engines, mostly we have big and powerful engines that can easily hold high rpm for long times. This is what they are designed for as long as they are well maintained. Most of the drive i was on first gear and honestly it feels better hearing the engine on high rpm's :)

All in all, the drive was so much fun and the track was amazing. Thanks to @Yoghybear for the lead and the small tests embedded inside :) and thanks to all the crew for watching over us.

Below is my track record. Just as info, i forgot to stop the record when we reached Badayer shops. Actually we arrived at app. 10:25 to the shops.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2037[/ATTACH]

Start time: 09/05/2014 07:32
Finish time: 09/05/2014 10:56
Distance: 30.5 km (03:23)
Moving time: 01:10
Average speed: 9 km/h
Avg. Speed Mov.: 25.9 km/h
Max. Speed: 69.4 km/h
Minimum altitude: 178 m
Maximum altitude: 221 m
Ascent speed: 337.9 m/h
Descent speed: -198.7 m/h
Elevation gain: 235 m
Elevation loss: -250 m
Ascent time: 00:41
Descent time: 01:15

See you all next time...

Yesterday trip was interesting and funny ...after the awesome green in Salalah straight away to the golden sands ..What a lovely change :pacman:!!

Convoy was 14 cars , at the beginning we had some difficulties related distance and accumulation in wrong places

Especially bowel .... for me yesterday i had new experience i stopped my car on the top of dune because three cars
were stopped in front of me ...but actually my car was standing very diagonally :O_O:so i did drive down looking for safer stop...suddenly
I heard Abu Salem on the radio saying Yasser what you are doing:wut: !!.............. ( i was swimming in the sharks trap ) :ninja:
So the learned thing is stay away from wrong stops especially if other drivers already stucked even if you have to stop your car on two tires :=B:
After that i carried on my drive without any stucking or even any second try:confident: in addition with more challenge and fun

Last and not least Thank you Yoghy for nice drive, thanks to Abu Salem and Rashidjass for valued given information and helps

See you Soon Almosters

Yesterday's trip was really a Back to the future trip lead by [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION]. It took us back to learning the desert driving after a long break since Ramadhan and showed us what the future drives hold for us as we increase your drives count and level.

Trip started with a short welcome and briefing by [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] which stressed on punctuality and making sure we were there by the assigned meeting time posted.

The trip was a fast paced drive with a few stucks here and there. A lot of side slopings and crestings which taught us how to read the dunes and adjust our momentum accordingly.

As mentioned in the earlier post, 2 briefings given to us by [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] with inputs from [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] on what they noticed during the drive. One point to remember "Be nice to your tires , Don't be nice to your Engine":yarr:

During this trip [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] was sweeping in the mini me while me being the driver at the end.

My Ford F-150 was given a new name by [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] and was being called "The Armada" Hmm interesting, the all new Ford Armada

Due to a stuck during the drive there was a huge gap in the convoy and [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] was waiting at a distance for us all to catch up. Once the stuck was recovered the following conversation took place on the radio.

AlShamsi: Yoghy, Yoghy
Yoghy: Yes, I am waiting ahead
AlShamsi: Ok, you can move after you see tlaThe Armada
5 seconds of silence.....:023:Yoghy: Which Car????:050:
Alshamsi: That's the new name for Duli's Car (The Armada):005:
Yoghy: :you're kidding, rig


Thank you [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION], [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION], [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION], all the intermediate/advanced drivers who accompanied us and all the drivers on this trip for once again giving us a wonderful weekend and looking forward to the next drive with the Almost family.

Pictures of this drive will be posted shortly.

Till then tc and be safe.

A few pics taken during the trip are available on https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 2dedbcee21

Enjoy.

Started at 7:30 AM and finished at 10:30 AM just like it was planned or say just like a Swiss watch (of course we had a Swiss commander, thanks Yoghybear)
This trip was the best for me so far after about 3 months brake because of few reasons:
1- I had 3 stuck in my first 5 drives, but Friday I had 4 stuck in one day, each one of them has added a new experience to my driving and recovery skills, Yoghybear was so supportive saying that it's the way to learn
2- Track has been chosen carefully to suit levels from 6 to 13 drives
3- I had the chance for the first time to use my 8 months old electrical winch under the supervision of Abo Tarek in a two sides recovery (Many thanks Abo Tarek)
4- Rashijass was my hero, three times recovery (Thanks buddy)
5- One advanced/ professional recovery without any equipment by AL-KHATIB (Thanks big boss)
6- Be nice to your tires not to your engine - a golden short tip for off roaders
Finally many and many thanks for all times hero alshamsi_m we love to hear you shouting on the radio, we know it's adding up to our experience and adding up a real value to ALMOST 4X4 family
See you all guys soon in the sands

Thanks The ARMADA owner
Nice pics

[quote=Duli;37839]A few pics taken during the trip are available on https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 2dedbcee21

Enjoy.[/quote]

Driving with Yoghy is always a trick
So i selected my senond position in convoy so quick
Beautiful track stuck by stack
Copy paste Yoghy tail race
Helpful hint from Bu Salem on side crest
Looking forward to hit more of them to test
I noticed reaction is our best friend
If there is situation in front
Dont get stuck drive a circle bend
Fun and jokes like in all time
Playing kid sometimes is not a crime
Running back after happy race
Suddenly wind rushed into my face
Thank you Hockey Karim for helping to fix the soft top beam
Almost drivers are great team
Never leave a member on side road
In sutuation extreme
Wish all of you happy new season
And drives well to do
With best regards from Kathmandu!!!!!!!!!!