Almost4x4

Hello everyone

1. I came
2. I drove
3. I left safely

Thanks

Hi everyone!

Symphony of destruction interm drive almost “destroyed” me after 5 minutes of following @Daggerfall on steroids after several weeks without me driving and joining the drive on a very relaxed mode…but let’s start from the beginning.

@Solmaz was supposed to take the lead and I was supposed to float, again, planning to drive nice & easy to catch up with the sand after my summer break but, the whole plan was spoiled as soon as Solmaz announced that Daggerfall was taking the lead and he decided to line up all drivers (inter and advance) in the same convoy and I was “lucky” enough to take the second lead.

As I said, after 5 minutes I felt like I was pushed under the bus but not on the “literal” way but on the practical one! And while trying to catch up with the pace I was looking at the rear mirror and only could see two of them really following the pace…others were outside of my sight range

As expected, convoy was scattered many times and we ended up waiting for them from time to time, the 4 of us.

By mid-drive, I started to recover some good sensations but then we got started with the cut tires’ party and pace became intermittent…it was good exercise though to help on replacing some tires…lost the count at some moment.

And now it comes the million-dollar question…is there any life beyond Coopers? For those trying to get them nowadays will understand. Geo, new Kumho…only God and… maybe @alshamsi_m, know.

Lesson learned: After the summer break only join CM drives

For finalising, I would like to thank all Marshals (Solmaz, @Agalon and Daggerfall), Founder, Advanced and Interm members for a very fun drive under 45 degrees

See you soon.
Carlos

Dear Almosters,

I hope you can remember my name or face as my last dive was over 3 months ago and I felt like a year away from the sand and my friends. Second day after my come back to Dubai, @Solmaz posted the drive for immediate registration, which I did not have to race against faster fingers, just by chance checked the app at the right time. But I had to do some homework in order to prepare myself. I took two post-it notes and write one of them "press the pedal on the right to move, press the pedal on the left to stop", and the other one "long stick is to change gear, short stick is to get the front wheels spin". Then put them on the dashboard so I can cheat!

Thanks to Solmaz again, she also posted a newbie drive for the morning so I could do some warm-up as support before the intermediate drive. @Moustafa19, @Ely and I drove in the morning with @Solmaz leading, had a lunch and little snooze before the drive.

Solmaz asked @Daggerfall to lead the drive while she, @Agalon and @alshamsi_m were patrolling the herd, @haider alnuaimi, @orlantsev and @Carlos taking care of the support as advanced drivers. Then the "Symphony" begun.

Before the first hour, I got the first pop-out and stepped-up as the virtuoso of the destruction symphony, then performed a couple second tries and one ugly side crest. But noting on the side crest, it looked ugly but still safe. The cresting point was soft and destroyed sand. When I reached there I nearly sat on the belly while making the turn, so it looked very slow and sharp turn down.

We had number of second tries, which was normal for that size of the convoy and generally had a good flow except the tire instances, 3 cut tires to be replaced (and swapped along with some rim lug nuts) and two pop-outs to be popped back in. @Carlos was the star action man for every instance, working hard under the hot sun. Thanks to @Moustafa19 for the cold and tasty watermelon. After all we had a joyful day to remember and surely for me get some rust out. It is really good to be back with friends in our playground. Hoping to join the next drives and see you again.

Dear almosters,

This was a great surprise from Solmaz and I was about to miss it ! You better be a master of the “click” to register into an intermediate drive on time these days…

While we nearly all reached on time and deflated under the scorching sun, we got announced during the briefing by Solmaz that Daggerfall will be leading the drive (!)
With Carlos as second lead, Abu Haider as sweeper, Orlantsev as support and some older inter in the pack ; we were also extremely lucky to have Solmaz, Abu Salem and Agalon on top of that as floating marshals!

The name of the drive says it all… I would just personally add Tyres into it (Mostly Coopers… how surprising !!!!! )… since we “destroyed” a lot of Tyres that day… and it’s all started because of Bu Salem’s words who was referring to the morning pop out record to beat… a wish that definitely came true!
I honestly lost count of the numbers… but we changed a lot of Tyres and it all went mixed up since some marshals and members lent Tyres to each other’s. I know better understand why wrench tools is required for intermediate level… and you better get a good one .

What was surprising is that, although we spent some time off working on these Tyres, it didn’t feel like the drive was that much scattered… indeed, at the beginning of the drive I felt that have been off for couple weeks since it took me some time to adjust my driving to feel “back in the game”.
However, despite all the rescues, It felt more like small breaks with some refreshing watermelon (thanks to @Mostafa). And what a drive… such an amazing feeling to be back on track switching these beautiful yummy crests and driving into these bigger bowls . I got my shares of second trials (of course!)… terrain reading is definitely my next goal along with refining the rest of my skills.
I am enjoying the adrenaline of the speedy drives and higher dunes and I can’t wait to see and drive more !

A great thank you to all our marshals (Solmaz, Daggerfall, Abu Salem and Agalon) for your time, financial investment (it definitely is…) and support! As well as a big thank you to our advanced members (Carlos, Orlantsev, Abu Haider) for their support!

Take care and see you all very soon for more adventures !

Bisous

Hello dear Almosters
Symphony of destruction II drive it really matches it title
3 cut tyers 2 pop out and 3 stucks but despite that the fun and excitement was guaranteed
Our drive this weekend was in Remah and as I knew it is @Solmaz special area so I was excited and wondering what she has in her pocket for us
The briefing was quick as usual in summer due to high temperature
The first surprise was Solmaz will not lead and she decided to give the lead to @Daggerfall ( I think she had a vision about what’s coming next )
Last time for me in this area was around month ago under Marshal M Abu Baker lead and I was his second lead, but this time I felt that I am driving in different area and that's the beauty and the benefits when you drive even in the same area but with different marshal
Our leading marshal @Daggerfall was like a maestro of the symphony as usual but it seemed like the instrumentalists weren’t as good as the maestro
The drive was really challenging even for some advance drivers the sand was so soft as usual in summer specially on the top of the crests which causes multiple second tries and the destruction that I mentioned at the beginning of my report
despite that the drive was great
Closing my report with big thank to the organizer of this wonderful drive @Solmaz @Daggerfall for his great lead @alshamsi_m and @Agalon for keeping an eye on everyone, @Carlos , @orlantsev and @haider alnuaimi for their support
Finally to my fellows intermediate you did great my friends specially in changing tiers
And special thank to @Moustafa19 for his usual delicious watermelon we are going to miss you both for the upcoming couple weeks
Till next time stay safe and see you soon on sand

Hi Almosters,

Our journey with the current intermediate batch continued at the Remah area. It had been a while since I last drove in this region, and I noticed that the desert plantation we've observed in recent years has also affected the Remah area. Navigating through these "land mines" of the landscape made it challenging to approach the dunes at full speed.

A big thank you to @Solmaz for allowing me to lead the group. We started off with a fast pace but soon had to adjust to match the convoy's speed. Overall, everyone performed well. The need for second tries and the occasional stuck vehicle were signs of the challenges we faced—and the progress we made.

Then, the tire troubles began! It almost felt like the universe was responding to the adventure we were asking for.

All in all, it was another great day with my fellow Almosters. Special thanks to @Solmaz for organizing the event, @alshamsi_m and @Agalon for watching over the convoy, and to everyone who participated. A special shout-out to @Moustafa19 for the delicious watermelon, as always—he will be missed next week.

Looking forward to the next adventure!

Hi Almosters,

Fist of all, thanks for @Solmaz to organize this event. It was amazing to see @Agalon on sand after a long long break . We miss you a lot! You need to show up much more often.

During the briefing, @Solmaz broke the news that @Daggerfall is going to take the lead.

Some comments from the members are noted by @Solmaz , I dont want to throw people under the bus by revealing them here

@Daggerfall started the drive on a fast pace, it was like he felt the need for speed! However, convoy were not able to keep up with daggerfall on steroids. At the end he adjusted the speed to the needs of the convoy, where the convoy is still on the edge but safe and sound.

Many second tries, issues, stucks have been observed however there were still a flow until we started cutting tires here and there like watermelons...

The last thing I remember that bolts and nuts were being shared among the members.

All in all, it was an eventful and great drive.

Thanks for @alshamsi_m , @Solmaz , @Agalon , @Abu haider for supporting and rusty @CARLOSS for second lead.

Looking forward to the next drive @Daggerfall .

See you on the sand.