Catch Me If You Can - Nov 2019

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Fat Rabbit
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Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:22 pm

Hello all,

The trip report for the most exciting drive I have had with the club so far. Even in my sleep after the drive, I was dreaming about it.

Two weeks ago I received a private message from @Booy when I logged into the website. The title said "Catch me if you can". My heart skipped a beat. I had only heard about this drive. Now it is a reality.

The message said "By invitation Only, so there is no thread on the forum about this drive". The message also said "No passengers". Yikes, this was the real deal. I accepted the invitation with thanks and read previous trip reports on the catch me if you can drive. All of them said the same thing... a fast paced and challenging drive, try to keep up with the marshal and the second lead will change every 10-15 mins. One other thing all previous posts said... ADRENALINE! And they were all so right!

During the briefing, @Booy and @alshamsi_m said there are no intermediate drivers for rescues. We are going to use buddy system for rescues but we are all responsible for each other. So we will do the rescues ourselves and will all help to fix popouts (its like they knew there will be multiple popouts grin ). @Booy said this drive almost touches the level of intermediate drives and is designed to put our skills into practice. He specified this isn’t an intermediate test so there is no pass or fail. But safety remains the number one priority, so turn down and don’t fight gravity. He also said that if you start fighting gravity, the marshals will know you haven’t learned anything! ka boom

We were about 13 or 14 of us in total, split into 2 convoys. The first was led by @Daggerfall with @Solmaz as sweep and timekeeper and @Rashidjass as floater. The second convoy was led by @Booy with @Scorpio as sweep and timekeeper and @alshamsi_m
as floater. I was in the second convoy and my original position was car number 3.

And the drive began... no warm up... just straight pedal to the metal at a fast pace with adrenaline pumping. The rains of last week hardened the ground, but the marshals were still able to give us some pretty challenging routes, climbs, crests and descents. Before we knew it, there were second tries. The marshals knew the particular spots where all cars may have difficulty, so they parked on vantage points to enjoy the show hehehe. The time I spent as second lead behind @Booy was one of the highlights for me, getting to experience first-hand a marshal's judgemental skills in assessing the dune and momentum required to climb.

Before long, there was the first pop out, and it was me. Surprisingly though it was a rear tyre. All the newbies sprung into action and with great teamwork we were all fixed and ready to go in no time. By the time the drive ended, we had two other popouts, with one on a crest. Good learning that too... no jack was required as the car was on its belly on top of the dune. We also had a couple of opportunities in pulling out the stuck cars.

Although @Booy and @alshamsi_m said we are responsible for the rescues, there were two rescues that were performed by @alshamsi_m and @Scorpio. These were highly technical and only goes to show, safety in ALMOST4x4 always comes first.

We finished the drive on time, the last part of it was safari style driving at a fast pace. I enjoyed every bit of the drive, I will definitely say one of my best drives ever. Brilliant teamwork too amongst all the newbies in the convoy. Got to know a little bit more about each one on a personal level.

Thank you @Booy for the invitation and for organising the drive. Thank you to the marshals, advanced drivers and crew who supported the drive. Thank you to everyone who participated in the drive to make it a truly memorable experience.

One note at the end: No matter how much the previous posts spoke about how challenging or scary this drive will be, there was never a moment in the drive where I felt unsafe. This speaks volumes about how much time the marshals spend in planning routes to keep everyone safe. Thank you, really appreciate it.
Where the road ends, the enjoyment begins..
With Natalie, a 2-door beige Nissan Patrol Safari
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Fat Rabbit
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Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:22 pm

Some photos from the drive.

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Where the road ends, the enjoyment begins..
With Natalie, a 2-door beige Nissan Patrol Safari
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VTC4800
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2019 4:56 pm
Location: Jeddah
Been thanked: 4 times

Fat Rabbit wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 4:13 pm Some photos from the drive.

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Lucky you 🍀


Hopefully someday I receive such invitation 😎

Nice ride by the way 👍🏻
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Fat Rabbit
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Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:22 pm

VTC4800 wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 9:40 pm
Hopefully someday I receive such invitation 😎

Nice ride by the way 👍🏻
Oh for sure you will. Come for the drives regularly and improve skills on each drive. The marshals are always watching :)

Yes the ride is amazing, as is yours. The photo of your ride isn't here, but VTC4800 can only mean one thing thumbsup
Where the road ends, the enjoyment begins..
With Natalie, a 2-door beige Nissan Patrol Safari
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