Weekend Warriors II

Foxtrot
Newbie
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 4:10 pm

Wonderful scenic drive with excellent support, advice and patience from the marshals. You guys know how to get everybody to learn something new in a super safe way in beautiful surroundings! Thanks for a job well done!

On another subject, looks like my wife wants her own radio, but as I learnt this would only come with a second car! :lol:

Looking forward to the next more challenging drive!
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knifelight
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Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2018 1:29 pm
Location: Dubai

Every time I join a drive with this group I realize how happy I am to see known faces and new ones. Actually, I didn't recognize [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] at the beginning, being him in a Michelin-like inflated jacket grin ...
I came late, but just in time to deflate, stick my flag on and have a quick briefing, and there we went, ready for another amazing drive with excellent lead by [mention]Solmaz[/mention] and second lead by [mention]Petr[/mention] . I had the honor of being the first newbie -10 car after the leaders. They all -together with [mention]presa[/mention] in the back- did a great job in helping with my double stuck on a dune's crest and after that with a pop-out, in which everyone helped and learnt.
And definitely, this time we learnt (not) to fly, didn't we, [mention]Tekton[/mention] ? XD



Thank you everyone, see you soon in the sand!
FJ Cruiser - Gandalf The Gray
Nosce Te Ipsum
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presa
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knifelight wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 3:09 pm . I had the honor of being the first newbie -10 car after the leaders. They all -together with @presa in the back- did a great job in helping with my double stuck on a dune's crest and after that with a pop-out, in which everyone helped and learnt.
Hi Almosters!

@solmaz the organizer was very kind to open a third convoy so more newbies could enjoy a drive at Almost4x4. Tks to Marshals for being there for us!

I was floating around and @rapailo was closing the convoy with @buzaiyed in the middle.

We had a relaxed drive with several front crests so our fresh newbies could polish their skills.

Sand was hard, due to rain/humidity at night, what makes those front crest challenging since you will climb easier but when breaking the crest the soft sand will be there :)

Everyone on our convoy did great!!

In one of the breaks someone asked why coming to a newbie drive if I could drive at a higher level and I will repeat the answer here: firstly answer is selfish... for the people, there are very nice people in Amost4x4!! secondly as gratitude for the club, since I learned 100% of off-roading with the club, so is no more than giving back what I got from the club. The third that I haven’t mentioned over there is that coming to fresh newbie s drive you see the evolution from the drivers and is amazing to be part of it!!

Hoping to see you all on next weekend!!
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Gabor
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Hi everyone!

Again an amazing drive, what was my second Weekend Warriors. :)
Big thanks for the marshalls, they opened the third convoy, so a lot of drivers could join to our drive.

According to the arrengement I was with the 10+ convoy, lead by Booy and sweeped by Jock.
The area was clear, not too much fresh track, the surface was hard due to dew,, but under the top was quite soft. Technical areas changed by medium dunes, again technical section, and so on, we did not boring. :)
Our drive was quite fast with very nice small and medium dunes, a lot of sidecresting and snaking like a rollercoster.
Everybody did his/her job well, we have only two popout, and some second tries.
I had two friends with me, they both of them first timer in the desert. They just smiled till I dropped them at home. They felt the very warm welcome feeling and the real teamwork together.
Big thanks to Almost 4x4!

See you next time.
Gabor
Mob: 0561453092
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kriskian
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Hi All,

A good fast paced drive with a lot of crest and slopes, the pace of the drive was good and became very fast by the end of the drive.

The dunes were medium sized but the small ditches in between were a challenge especially because of the speed, took a nice hit on the bumper as I was not able to stop in time.

Otherwise, the drive was superb with minimum stoppage time thanks to the Marshal and Support teams.
kriskian,
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Johanna
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Hi everyone,

this drive was fully booked, our meeting point was full of newbie drivers, so we had three convoys, two with 10- drivers and one for the 10+.
I joined the 10+ lead by [mention]Booy[/mention] in the front part of the convoy. The drive took place in Al Faqa, this area has some technical areas as well as some higher dunes to play with.
After some rain in the area the sand was wet, which increases the risk for pop outs and roll overs.
(Spoiler: we only had pop outs)
We were riding on top of the dunes (I love that) and tackling some side slops, with only a few second tries at some tricky spots.
On one slop I lost momentum -> couldn't shift in first gear to keep the speed -> had to go down -> hit a small ditch/side wall -> aaaand pop out!
I was proud to overcome my pop out problem I had my first year of driving...I tried not to bother myself too much for having again a pop out.... I mean the sand was really wet and hard ORLY
But it was fixed super quick as everyone came to help. Thanks guys, I highly appreciate it, but please, can I next at least help to fix my own pop out? Psmiley

We continued the drive and soon at another slop one car got in trouble. He slid in the slop, didn't turn down fas enough and came to stop on a very bad angle. The wet sand made the situation worse at it builds a wall on the tires, so the risk to flip over the car during the recovery is pretty high. scared
@Gabor and me came to jump on the side steps to put some weight on the side, but as there was no side step, Gabor anchored the car from the top.
In the meantime @jock arrived at the scene, giving instructions for a safe recovery. So the guys had to free the tires from the sand, followed by a careful correction of the angle by the driver. After quite some time with this technique of shoveling + correction the angle seems to be safe enough for a gentle pull, but even this was tricky as the recovery point was on the wrong side. But thanks to the Marshals knowledge of how to perform a safe recovery, all went well and we continued without any more serious situations, I guess there was only one more pop out the usual second tries. grin
The last part of the drive was fast safari style, the convoy flew nicely and I guess at some point all drivers were in the zone, as the radio was quiet, usually a sign that all are enjoying the drive without difficulties. in love
A beautiful drive it was, but I honestly prefer to drive in soft sand, but for sure it was a useful lecture for all drivers.
Thanks all for the drive, cant wait for the next one.

See you all in the (soft) sand have a nice day
BR, Johanna

If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
paump
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:31 pm

Excellent day in the sand as usual with Almost 4x4!

Being the last car in the Newbie -10 convoy (excellently led by [mention]Solmaz[/mention]), I had the chance to practice my front crest skills, which so far I find the most challenging ones with my long base pickup.

During the drive we had 4 short breaks where [mention]Solmaz[/mention] teached us some lessons and reminded us of mistakes made. No better way to learn!

Looking forward to the next one
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Sostick
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Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2018 11:17 pm
Location: dubai

Hi all, another fantastic drive with Amost4x4. I was in the 10+ group led by [mention]Booy[/mention] .

The drive was great, but I was so surprised to experience for the first time the wet sand. It's totally different from the usual. Sometime it's hard but if you break the surface all of a sudden it become very very slippery.

I've never drifted that much in the desert. Even in flat areas, flooring while exiting a curve the FJ was constantly oversteering .... and it was much much fun.... I love it!

As mentioned by others we had few pop-outs, stuck cars and second try. They all happened in the middle of the drive, while the beginning and the end were very smooth and fast paced.

Thanks everybody for keeping as safe while progressing in our skills and experiences!

See you soon in the sand!
Sostick
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DustnGlory
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Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:53 am
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Hi All,
Weekend Warriors II was a really fun drive packed with adrenaline! The meeting point was teeming with Newbies and thankfully [mention]Solmaz[/mention] opened a third convoy with the strong support from marshals and club seniors. thumbsup

I was part of [mention]Booy[/mention]’s convoy with [mention]Gabor[/mention], [mention]Johanna[/mention] and [mention]Saeed FJ[/mention] as support driving in the convoy and [mention]JockJKU[/mention] sweeping and floating. The dunes in this area were medium sized most of the time and it allowed for some really exciting driving. The pace was fast from the beginning and it was cool to do the side crests, driving on top of the dune and then taking those tight arches. The sand was wet and early on it felt good but as we started moving I understood that it can be tricky specially since you find dry soft sand right on top of the dune. Wet sand is also hard and delivers stronger hits if we’re not careful going down or approaching ditches. The convoy moved pretty smooth throughout the drive and everyone was maintaining good distance which translated to less stops and second tries. There were good opportunities to understand and find the right line when approaching some of the dunes - too low and we struggle close to the top wink . We had 2 pop outs which were fixed quickly. There was a recovery that took some time (didn’t know it was this tricky until I read the report) which allowed some time to chat with [mention]Phoenix[/mention] and [mention]Hakkoum[/mention].
If the drive was fast for the first 2 hours, the last hour was pretty much like rally racing. We were going in all directions – up, down, left, right... Psmiley and on we went without any stops in between… and the radio was super quiet. It felt like man and machine were in total sync and the convoy was one nonstop train ripping through the desert… priceless feeling! enjoying mah playlist
Thank you organizer, founder, marshals, advance and inters for another safe and memorable time in the sand. Until next time… Here’s to sun, sand and smiles.
Jithin AKA Dust'nGlory

Drives an FJ = Silver Surfer =
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AJ_88
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Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 11:36 am

Yet another brilliant drive - and well worth the early start! The day started with a pre-drive chat with both familiar and new faces. Great to see more people get in on the fun - to the new newbies reading this, you're all in for a treat as you develop with this club and learn from the best!

[mention]Booy[/mention] was leading our 10+ convoy and made sure that nobody had the chance to put their guard down for a second. I was third in the convoy, behind [mention]Rooies[/mention], who put in a very respectable effort as second lead trying to keep up with [mention]Booy[/mention]!

This drive had it all - wet sand, technical areas, dune top driving, nice big arcs on the larger dunes, side cresting and most of all - speed speed speed (both on the dunes and the sabkhas - where we were zipping through at almost 120kmh at one point)!

I have the dubious honour of being the driver who needed recovering mentioned by [mention]Johanna[/mention] in detail in her report. I lost momentum going up a tricky little dune, didn't turn down fast enough and then made the amateur mistake of hitting the brakes. This left my car seriously dug in at a 45 degree angle in the wet sand, and despite shifting into 4L and switching on diff lock and A-Trac, the wet sand would not let my poor FJ move an inch.

As always, everyone stepped up to help. [mention]JockJKU[/mention] coordinated the recovery while [mention]Gabor[/mention] anchored me from the top. The sand around the tires had to be dug out so that it didn't act as a wall and cause the car to slip when I was pulled. All in all, it took two rounds of digging followed by pulling to get me out given the bad angle and my recovery point being in the "wrong" position - elevated on the rear far side facing the sky.

This episode aside, the drive was super smooth and fun. [mention]Booy[/mention] kept a great pace, members maintained good distance and flow, and stoppages were minimal. The two pop outs we had were both fixed in record time. You can really tell how far along everyone has come since I first joined the club - all thanks to the marshals putting the time to teach us how to drive properly and safely.

Thanks again to all who helped with the recovery and to [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]JockJKU[/mention] for a great drive. Until next time on the sand!
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