Stright Drops

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone


Driving on Cruise control was an interesting part of the drive But let us go back to the start !!!

By approaching the meeting point our members lined up in a way that makes you think that you see only a few cars but while you are approaching closer and closer you realize that was a delusion and the whole group is hiding

This drive was planned to give more insight for our new members on how to control the car in drops and how to recorrect the car while you are approaching the decent angel. After a couple of drops then members started to get a grip of it and doing what they are supposed to do !!

So spent the first two hours making climbs and drops and the last 45 min was the FAST part. Of course, it was associated with lots of DUST but this is how you learn to keep a proper distance and at the same time to keep up with the pack speed . I put my car on cruise control at the speed of 80 km to give the cars behind me to travel between 80 - 100 kms to catch up !!

Thanks everyone for joining and looking forward to see you in round FIVE before we go to Liwa

Till next time stay safe.

Shamsi

[Abu Hasnain]

Hi Guys,,,

Yeah, First two drops were like a new beginning for the newbie's infact I felt like I was not a part of the previous 2-3 trips which gave me a bad jump and then Mr. Shamsi again gathered and briefed the group to go for the Offroad basics and there we go,, we were good to go. I noticed few cross drops a bit scary but still all done thankfully.

Had a very nice chat with Mr. Gabor during a short break of the trip. Always feel a second family with this group.

Absolutely, the speed and dusty part was very paced up maintaining the distance. Enjoyed!!

Love to join as always.

Thank you to all the Marshals, Support, and the entire group.

Abu hasnain

[giorgio]

Straight drops:

A 5- drive as a preparation for the lucky newbies that will make it to the Liwa trip in two weeks from now.

The lead car and organizer put the drivers on a training session of what is to come on the Liwa terrain.
The first part of the drive was straight crest followed by medium soft side drops. It was expected that the majority of the drivers will struggle in the beginning until they get familiar with the concept.

Lessons learned from this exercise was:

a) safe distance (to allow you to maintain the required momentum to clear the crest)
b) radio communication ( giving the clear after completing the decent)
c) controlling your fear ( what is on the other side)
d) controlled decent ( straight line and safe touched down)


The second part it was a Sabha straight (80km/h) fast pace drive, with limited visibility. Another important lesson required to master as an offroader.

Over all the drivers did well and slowly but steadily they improved their performance as they got the opportunity to practice the same technique dune after dune.

Job well done boys and girls. Keep it up. It will take time to master these techniques. You just need to keep driving and practicing and you will see the difference in the next few drives.

To close my report I would like the thank the lead car and organizer @alshamsi_m as well as the supporting team led by @Booy

Until next time drive safe

[CARLOSS]

Morning guys!

First of all thanks a lot to Shamsi, Booy, the rest of the Marshalls and Intermediates for your support, patience and wise advices.

We started in a very lovely place (remind me old Mad Max movie with a paved straight road surrounded by the desert both sides and sand flying over it because of the mild wind) and when arrived only a few cars were already waiting. A few minutes after that, the rest of the crew showed up with a nice cloud of dust.

Drive's briefing conducted by Shamsi with very clear messages and everybody got in their cars ready to go.

It took us no more than 5 min to face the first nice drop: I brought a new copilot not familiar with that and after the first one we has a bit scared (after the drive he confessed to me that he thought at that time "what the h*** I am doing here! :-)) but he had a good time too afterwards as he realized that the drive was very safe.

I loved the fast drive, new experience far away from driving on the dunes. Hopefully we will have more of this in the future.

Lessons learned: i) Do not overtake even though by not doing that you are stuck because the car in front of you is slowing your way for whatever reason. I did it (first and last time) and Shamsi got me afterwards :-) and gently explained that no more overtaking as it is dangerous and keep the safety distance: ii) Do not push too hard on the car as "it is a car, not a tank".

As usual, I had a great time and improved a bit my driving skills and look forward to seeing you again in the sand this Friday.

Have a good week guys

Carlos

[Booy]

Hello everyone,

We had quite a big convoy on Friday morning.

We arrived at the meeting point, after spending the night in the desert at our Meat & Greet Camp. I still felt well fed in the morning, after all the grilling the night before.

This drive was intended to build some skills in preparation for the Liwa trip next weekend, where the dunes are much bigger than the ones around Dubai.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again this coming weekend for the last round of preparation for Liwa.

Till then, stay safe.

Regards,

Booy

[Slydubai]

Highlights:
-1 x second attempt

---
Let's start with the "thank you" to @alshamsi_m for organizing the trip, @Booy and @giorgio for sweeping as well as @Gabor for helping in the middle of the convoy and @Mahmoodyasin for being a second lead.

This time, we gathered near Al Faqa to practice on slightly larger dunes. @Mahmoodyasin and I got to the meeting point at 8am sharp and had a nice, relaxing chat. We started seeing more cars arriving around 8:30 and - before you know it - there were around 15 cars lined up for the action.

Solid briefing by @alshamsi_m and then off we went to practice the drops.

We didn't start off very well. @alshamsi_m and @Booy had to give us some tough love after the first 2 drops. And frankly - deservedly so. Some cars got stuck due to lack of momentum. I also expected a little bit more from myself after 4 drives. The way I approached the first 2 drops was not good enough. I didn't get stuck nor felt any sort of struggle, but such cautious approach would have costed me dearly on bigger dunes. Thanks @Booy and @alshamsi_m for patiently reminding us of this.

The second briefing was a blessing in disguise - the pace impressively picked up and we were able to maintain it, excluding some occasional 2nd attempts. As always, @alshamsi_m decided to check if we were sleeping (or perhaps he was slowly waking up after enough coffee in his blood ) and took us through some more challenging drops. I did relatively OK there, but then a rookie mistake resulted in a 2nd attempt. Why? I didn't maintain enough distance and couldn't keep the momentum.

We finished with a fast-paced drive back to Al Qudra road followed by a quick chat and then drive back home.

[jayslens]

Dear Almosters,

I had reached the location on time just to see only three other cars were there :P It was quite windy but the location...I instantly fell with it. As @CARLOSS mentioned about it in his post, this spot is just perfect for landscape and aerial photography and I hope to go back soon to this spot for shooting now I just need to invest in a drone

This drive was a little technical and challenging and this time the marshals were keeping strict eye on everyone's performance and drive. There was a point where I had done the drop quite well but failed to get the Pajero at speed to get out of the drop zone which led to @alshamsi_m kinda shouting on the radio and reminding me to stop fighting against gravity.

The last bit of drive was really fun! Where we all were driving at speeds 80-100km/h at 10-15psi tyres it felt like rally kind race which was just super fun!

Overall, this is my first drive where I didn't get stuck or bogged down in sand!

What I learned from this drive, momentum is key and it's not necessary to follow the same track if you feel you're losing power, your arch might be small but at the same time you'll get out of the drop/danger zone rather than forcing yourself and your car to follow the same track which may lead something worse.

It would be great if the marshals could give us tips in the drives ahead on how to read the dunes and how to expect what is after the dune.

A big thank you all the marshals @alshamsi_m @Booy @giorgio @Mahmoodyasin and @Gabor for your continuous support and guidance.

See you all soon!

[Vika]

Hello everyone!!!

My weekend started on Wednesday in preparation for the upcoming event Meat& Great. After reading all the information about the event and being a big lover of meat, I realized that I had never cooked a BBQ on my own and had never even made a fire. Seizing the opportunity to try something new, I started my preparation. On Thursday, reaching home from work late, in a hurry I threw all the accessories, food, clothes, kids))))) into the car, i rushed to the meeting point at 8.00pm, where the rest of the event participants were already waiting. After a quick overview, 5 km drive through the desert, we arrived at our destination. And what a surprise it was, the campfire was already on, the smell of fresh fried meat was everywhere. So without a minute of waiting, we got down to cook our steak. I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone who helped me @alshamsi_m, @giorgio ,@David . From my point of view, all the members were incredible and their bbq was delicious. Our steak was good as well. Afterwards we enjoyed the stories around the campfire, the good weather and the starry sky.

In the morning, after a cup of freshly made coffee, we headed to the meeting point. The briefing sounded like an incantation for me: "if you fail this drive, you will not see Liwa as your ears . Then, exhale, drop, inhale, drop, again exhale, drop, and I did not even notice how @alshamsi_m announced the end of the drive. Tense fingers made it clear, that another unforgettable 4 hours in the desert were already behind.

Thanks for everyone and looking forward to see you next week!

Stay safe!!!
Viktoriia

[Stephan]

Hello everyone.

It was a great weekend well spent in the desert. We joined for the Meat & Greet Camp where everybody gathered around the campfire and tasted lovely dishes. We spent the night and woke up early the next morning getting ready for the drive. Once we arrived at the meeting point, you felt the excitement among the members getting ready for the drive. At the drive we learned new techniques in preparation for our Liwa trip. We started the drive with technical dunes, with sharp left and right turns, up and down and the last part of the drive was really fast!

Once again, thank you to everyone for making this drive possible. I always learn new skills with each drive.

[piotr]

All,
Apologies for coming a little late with this report - first again big thank you to the organizers! It was a perfect preparation before Liwa (if anything can actually prepare you for what Liwa is ;) ).

The drive had really 2 separate parts: initially we exercised on a number of climbs (making quite a few mistakes, but that improved with more descents under our belt), and then the fast and exciting section driving is a convoy at 80-100 kph (I thought that was super fast, but only until spotting @Booy doing a couple of jumps at probably something close to 160kph on a paralell track ;P )

Lessons learned:
1) Maintain good approach and descent speed in the drops. Make sure the car is always straingh, and accelerate if it fishtails (don't break!).
2) Communicate via the radio and give clear every time to keep the convoy moving!
3) Give all-out lights while driving in convoy in dusty conditions.

Piotr