Up and away

[Petr]

@Booy organized this inter trip in the Badayer area, we started at Al Madam. We started a warming up at smallred dunes while approaching the high hills on the way to Grand Bowl and Iftar Bowl. It was Friday, the weather was great and this area is the best for offroaders coming from Dubai, Sharjah RAK or Fujairah, so it was sometimes populated like Time Square and Booy had to change the route operatively. This and some second tries influenced our flow that made @alshamsi_m say at one stop: "Booy, speed up, my passenger is texting!"
We arrived to Badayer shops before sunset and I continued to the roundabout, where I met dozens of cars assembling for camping, with some police cars surveilling the crowds.

It was a nice ride, quite eventless except one car leaving earlier due to tech issues and a desert fox who was sitting at her throne at the top of a dune and watching calmly the convoys passing by.

Thanks to Booy for the organization and leadership, Bu Salem for keeping his eye on us and all fellows for the company.

[Rooies]

I was looking forward to playing in the sand the Inters after a long time.

We met at the meeting point, went through the usual drills & then it was time for the briefing, @Booy kept it short & sweet "You are all intermediate, you know what to do".

We head into the dunes with @Mabubaker second lead, we hit the first few big dunes with no issues, then there was a tricky dune & @Mabubaker decided to "park" his FJ & look at the view, well that is what he said. @Nabil & myself ended up in the little bowl, but it was not long & we were both out, it took a while to get @Mabubaker out of his parking area. The convoy reconnected & it was play time again.

The going was nice & fast with hardly any serious mishaps. I had a few second tries, but other than that the going was good.

When we got to Iftar & Super Bowl, it seems half of Dubai was there. There were cars, quads & buggies everywhere. @Booy managed to steer us safe through all the traffic & eventually we headed back to Badayer shops, just to many other vehicles driving around.

Thank you to @Booy for organizing the drive, it was lots of fun & looking forward to the next drive.

Till we meet in the sand again, stay safe.

Greetings
Rooies

[Slydubai]

After finishing the newbie drive in the morning, I was lucky enough to join the intermediate drive as a passenger/guest in @alshamsi_m 's car.

First of all, @alshamsi_m is an excellent host (thank you for all the advice and taste of the action of what's about to come if we listen carefully, practice and stay patient).

Secondly, @Booy picked up an excellent trail & I can confirm that no texting took place (though @presa had a point when he said "I'm texting to say goodbye to my mother" ).
I can also confirm that my mouth remained wide open throughout the drive, not only because of the adrenaline, but also because I had a massive smile on my face.

When you drive with intermediaries and you're in a sweeper's car, your stomach goes through various phases. I am actually pretty sure that it'd been turned upside down and then back and then up again multiple times throughout the drive - the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Roller Coaster might be moving at 240km/h, but trust me, it is NOTHING compared to the fun you have in the dunes, at fast pace.

At some point, I was brave enough to reach out for my phone to shoot a video, when @alshamsi_m goes to say "save your videos for the good ones, we haven't started yet".

One of highlights had to be the bowl self-recoveries by @Nabil and @Rooies as well as @Mabubaker's top of the dune self-recovery assisted by the "buddies" (buddy system = your offroad buddies help you self-recover, in this particular case by standing on the side of your car and digging). This goes to show you how capable one can get offroad, if you practice.

Long story short: amazing taste of the action and I'm super grateful to have been a part of it.

[presa]

Hey Almosters!

We had a great drive from Al Madam to Al Badayer Shops this Friday afternoon.

Convoy flow was good, but there were a too many second tries for the level of the drive.

Those could be avoid by checking and slightly adjusting the track before start the climbing, since most 2nd tries were lack of speed/angle when reaching the crest, mainly due to the track being in bad shape at the end of the convoy.

Aside from it @Booy gave us some good challenging climbs and I dont believe many will disagree :)

[Booy]

Hello everyone,

I really enjoy this area - especially driving back from Al Madam side to Badayer. We drive against the wind direction, and we are able to play with the high dunes.

This is where you need every last horse power that you have under the bonnet to push you safely over the high side crests. It's fun filled action!!

Thanks everyone who joined, and shared in an afternoon of action!

It's been a very very long time since I have seen Iftar bowl that busy. I suppose it is time to move to the less well known places where we do not have to contend with hundreds of crazy drivers - somewhere like Liwa :)

Get ready - Liwa Wonders is just around the corner.

See you again soon