Almost4x4

Good Morning Almosters,

first of all congratulations to all our new Newbies, I can assure you you have a great offroad-journey with us ahead of you grin
We had 2 full convoys this morning, one lead by [mention]Booy[/mention] and the other one lead by [mention]Agalon[/mention]
I joined [mention]Agalon[/mention] convoy in the middle, with [mention]SINGH[/mention] floating and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] sweeping, [mention]Rooies[/mention] was assigned as second lead.

We started from the Badayer roundabout towards pink rock, the plan was to climb it from the backside, enjoy the view and go back to the roundabout. Due to sand drifts Marshals decided to skip the climb this time to prevent everyone from damaging the cars.
The track was safari style with some challenging spots for our drivers I believe, especially when we came across some climbs with soft sand.
Another challenge were some sharp straight crest, which gave me the chance to practice some rescue cool
Pink rock was very busy, we came across two other convoys and the area was full of tracks, but thanks to our rules and safety regulations, no one lost track or bumped into someone.
In this situation I cherished our convoy rules.
When you start driving with us, you have to focus on a lot of things. Maintain right distance, proper radio communication, correct technique to overcome obstacle, do not block other cars, do not overtake, have the necessary equipment … I know its a lot to focus on in the beginning, but it will get easier after a few drives and it will become a habit.
All this rules the club established will make you a confident and safe Offroader and you will learn everything from scratch. So if you keep coming to our drives, you will gradually build your skills and your confidence.
I always get a bit sentimental when I drive with our fresh members, as it reminds me of my early days (I had my CM drive in October 2017). I learned so much since then about the desert, offroading and cars and became a passionate Offroader and sand addict. I found a new family away from home and I am looking forward to the winter season with campfires and BBQs in love

It was a great morning with all of you, thanks to our Marshals and Explorers for organizing and leading.

I hope to see everyone soon in the sand. have a nice day

Our drive could be devided in two parts. 1st was reaching Pink Rock and the 2nd was driving back to Badayer Shops. I think I am becoming the official sweeper now as this was my 4th consecutive drive sweeping and I love it. We have an amazing new batch of drivers who have an amazing journey laid ahead of them for months to come.

I got the chance to guide a stuck car to perform self-recovery even before the drive started and in hindsight that was a glimpse of what was to come later in the drive. It was an amazing track with safari style driving and some straight crests, there were a few stucks and a few second tries but nothing serious at all.

We reached the Pink Rock where we got to enjoy Shamsi’s world famous date cookies with karak and coffee. Although the plan was to climb up the top of Pink Rock but due to safety reasons it was decided to avoid the climb. We drove around the Pink Rock and made our way back to the Badayer shops, by now pretty much everyone had understood how their cars were behaving so the convoy picked up the pace apart from a few stucks and 2nd tries.

I got to practice recoveries 6 times out of which half were on radio guidance for self-recovery. By the time we finished the drive I had exhausted my whole supply of drinks and was down to one last can of coke, after inflating I just took some ice out of the ice box and started rubbing it all over my face and neck, it was HOT !!! … later we all gathered up and chatted about the drive and said our good byes.

Its good to be back and even better to write my trip reports. cool
See you in the sand.

Hello Fellow ALMOSTer's

After having my club member drive in 2018 been to sand several times for other rides but not on the driver seat. This was the first drive which was so awesome that even at the entry point my learning started. Yeah, I was trying to deflate my wheels which were (almost) stuck in the sand even before the ride started. faill

Though I was trying my best to deflate faster I was done with only one wheel when the briefing was about to start in a few mins. Thanks to the kind gesture of another ALMOST member [mention]Germain[/mention] who volunteered to deflate my remaining tires and asked me to attend the briefing. big shout out to you!!!

From the briefing, I understood I will be part of the convey lead by [mention]Agalon[/mention] with [mention]SINGH[/mention] floating and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] would be sweeping. Though it was relieving to know that I will be at the end of the convoy, the confusion of how to get my car to start point was still a puzzle that i was solving for sometime mentally.

With support from [mention]SINGH[/mention] and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] in the form of verbal instructions, I was able to get the car moving to the start point. Little did I know that I will be constantly needing their support until the very end.

The ride started I was a bit slow to catch up with the convoy from the very beginning. When moments of doubt on my capability crept in I reminded myself the task is simple to just follow the White FJ at the front and remember to see the Red WK at my tail. Even this was not simple as I thought, WhiteFJ at times vanished into thin air. It felt good to have [mention]SINGH[/mention] and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] at calling distance who helped me join the convoy every time when I was on the verge of getting lost.

Then came the big learning moment of the drive. I got Belly stuck on a straight crust by being not fast enough in my approach. Kudos to the support of the two gentlemen(by now you know who they are ) I was pulled out. On the retry did the next mistake of approaching the straight crest from a side angle. I think that was the reason the crossing of the crest was harsh on my car(that's how I felt from being inside..) Slowly was getting used to the car.

After repeated support and know-hows from the same two gentleman, I made it to the point where we stopped for a break. Thanks [mention]alshamsi[/mention] for the Karak though I don't drink tea, now I have started to love its taste. It felt so refreshing.

It was a slight disappointment when I heard the plan of climbing the pink rock was ruined for other reasons beyond our control and we would be going around it for this ride. By now my difficulty was only to the point of few retries(4) and then losing the track once. As usual, the same two gentlemen were there to guide back me with their instructions on the radio or route me to the convoy. Somehow when the time was 9.45 am, the speed of the convoy was increasing and the speed in which I was catching up was also surprising to me. I followed the whiteFJ to most part and made it to the start point.

Overall the times of sand made its unforgettable memories and we reached the Tarmac. Thanks to everyone for organizing a wonderful drive. It was good to say hello to a few people and get back to start the rest of the weekend with a whole new energy level. To those, I didn't get to say hello, see you on the next time on the sand.