SOLO BATS 8.0

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optimus
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Hi All,

“SOLO BATS” One of the most hyped drive’s in our club and why shouldn’t it be!

Into the darkness, it’s just you, your driving skills, off-road lights & the GPS.

@Scorpio took the attendance and explained the rules of the game & the sequence of the drivers.

Once the drivers lined up, I checked the coordinates one last time in order to make sure that I have saved them rightly. The points were SB1 to SB6. Where SB1 & SB6 were the highest.

The sand storm, made the drive more challenging. It was very tricky to judge the nature of the crest but since we had signed up for the challenge so let it be. Everyone of us had the kind of attitude “come on! bring it on”
It was my first solo bat drive, I decided to take go easy mode until I reached SB2. After this I started to feel more confident and switched on the pedal to metal mode until SB3. The drive from SB3 to SB4 , there was also an easy long route behind the dunes but I decided to overcome few dunes side cresting over them, I crossed the first one easily, and while crossing over the 2nd one, I couldn’t get much space to maneuver and got bogged down due to very soft sand, thanks to the FJ magic buttons, I managed to self-recover and reached SB4. From here until SB5, I went full on sports mode, attacking those sand stormy dunes with a combination of straight and side cresting techniques. After reaching SB5, I stopped for some time, got down, took some fresh air, had some refreshments then headed towards SB6.
After reaching the final point, it brought that confident smile to my face. I enjoyed the adrenaline yet completed the route safely. I completed the route in around 45 minutes.

I would like to thank @Scorpio for organizing the drive.
& ofcourse a big thank you to all the marshals for your time, energy & training. You guys are awesome!
Its only because of you we are able to overcome such challenges.

until next time!
Optimus
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Mabubaker
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Solo Bats is more like a self assessment to your abilities as a real off-roader. Desert driving on your own is a challenge by itself, how about doing it in a moonless dark night?
If you made it safely out of this drive you are definitely a serious off-roader.
Scorpio kicked off the night event by a quick and to the point briefing. Drivers were released to the dunes in 3 minutes intervals and I was the last.
I played between point 1 and 2, the crests were clear, 1/4 way to point 2 I went back to point 1 because I felt like I'm not sure if I really touched the exact coordinates :lol: well, this is the benefit of being in the last position.
With the minimal sight you can see, you need to really look into the tiny details to make the right decision, like shape of the dune and how soft or hard is the surface of the crest. This helps you visualise what is behind the dune so you do the move with more confidence.
Having this skill will make even stronger 💪 and sharper when you drive in the day.
So hats off to our Marshals for making such unique experience to empower the members with the right skills.
Finally, thanks to @Scorpio for organising this trip, and thanks @alshamsi_m , @Booy, @presa , @Yazan Ali and @Abu Odai for your support.
Can't wait for more challenges, specially the All Lead yuush .
Thanks,
M Abubaker
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alshamsi_m
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Hello everyone


First of all, well done for all intermediates who did the SOLO in a very fast base. thumbsup

The weather was windy and dark to spice up the situation but our Marshals looked at it a bonus arr.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the Kunfa destination point due to sick passenger sick .But I was enjoying the radio comments grin .


Till next time, everyone stay safe

TNX
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presa
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Solo Bat is a really cool drive!

It test your ability of navigate by yourself, drive with low visibility at a difficult terrain. To make thinks worse there was a strong wind that makes difficult to see the dune's crest.

All challengers did amazingly well, so that by the time I left the start point, as the last car, the first one was arriving at the finishing point!
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Petr
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I couldn't manage to make this entry earlier, but this was a sort of drive that definitely deserves a review!

As you know Solo Bats is a popular solo night drive for inters, where each of us has to rely on our own skills, our car, our lights and our ability of a quick and correct judgement. @Scorpio made a challenging route, finishing at the top of the Iftar Bowl rim (which I didn't realize until the end). The difficulty obviously comes with the night conditions - you have to make decisions based on the limited view of the light cone in front of you.

The extra challenge this time came with the strong wind - when you climb the soft side of the dune, you reach suddenly into the level where the wind goes from the opposite side of the crest, and it blows all the whirling sand towards your lights. All the flying sand pulls immediately a white curtain across your windscreen and you can't see anything. For those of you who have been caught in the night of a snow storm, the view and feel is quite similar. This made me to abort the side cresting at the last moment, and I realized I am not that brave (or crazy) do do it again. I could continue doing the side cresting with the wind in my back only, and overcoming the crests against the wind by other techniques.

The limited view also made me to judge the gravity direction only by my inner ear, instead of correcting the perception by the view of the horizon, but you cannot rely on these vestibular signals while your car is moving, especially when circling. At times I had to fight with the feeling that up and down swapped their positions and that I continue driving after being rolled over without noticing redbullsmiley.

But it was not that dramatic all the time. After getting used to these special conditions I started to enjoy the drive and finally arrived to the final point, relaxing and watching others approaching. @hamzahng and his legendary Jeep made one of the most spectacular arrivals and I recorded his exhausted car when he did - unfortunately I cannot attach videos here, but most of you have seen it at the chat group cool.

It was an unforgettable experience and I was really grateful for taking part.

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