MDG, Sand and Driver

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refad
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:43 pm
Location: Dubai

Thank you Marshals for organization such nice trips and making our weekend enjoyable and even helps us to release all our stress which was got accumulated.


I arrived at badeyer shops at 8:30pm. I was able to see Cars Were there Already including Capri. Abu jimmy also arrived with in another 2 minutes, I saw him already while I was coming. 9:30pm we moved to the camping place. Initially Capri took us through flat surface. Every one was happy - soo all of us was in mood of lil careless. Suddenly Capri moved to the dunes and every thing changed. But every one was enjoying change we managed to reach camp with in one hour and we started to setup for camping. Hamdan karack was again a Hero (and also kind of life saver in the morning time) sandwich was carefully crafted under the supervision of Khatib, lamboo and hamdan sandskull was under there supervision for the process. Main event of the day was the performance done by the lady - sorry i don't know her name. Nise songs was sang by her which made the environment more cheerful.
The the night made people lazy and few of them left for sleep. Still there was few night riders enjoying the desert. And we were talking and talking till the sun reminded us its morning. 8:00am we moved to badeyer shops and others drivers were arrived already. Marshals made 3 convoys. And again the fun began. I was in convoy 2. Kathib was leading, Abu jimmy sweep, lamboo, Dl, buhamdan also. We drove to pink rock in the safari route which was nise thanks to all convoy drivers for Being the same phase which made the drive more fun from other side of the road till pink we took only 15 or 20 minutes which was similar to the safAri drivers take tourist. And coming back was more fun as Khatib made sure that no high dunes was untouched by almost4x4 convoy. Suddenly announced on radio " see u next week" hoooo man the drive is finished for today as I checked the watch I realized that we were driving continually 2 hours with out much delays while comming back from pink rock.
Thanks for marshals and advanced drivers
Special thanks to marshals for arranging trips for us and spending your valuable time.
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Nbaker
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:53 am

Thursday FINALLY comes after a beautiful week full of joy and fun at the office..starring at the watch all day..run home, meet my 2 guests for the trip, pack up and hit the road.
We reach on time, deflate, chit chat with everyone then we smoothly drive to the camp site. Some dune were quite high and tricky for some of our fellow newbie drivers, but with our marshals help..everything is possible :008:

As usual I get my tent ready and help my guests with theirs. We enjoy the beautiful weather, amazing sandwitches (bought by Abu Jimmy and cooked by Lamboo, wrapped and topped by Hamdan) thanks a million guys! 5 star service in the middle of the desert :045: where else can you find that :smile-new:
Zico bought some guests of his who sang beautifully and added something new and lovely to our camping experience..thank you ladies :045:
We then go to sleep, I managed to get only 1 hour of it as there was barely any wind, so I joined the fellas by the bonfire and had a chat and laughs.

Morning comes, we pack up and head to the shops, split into 3 convoy and headout. As a surprise the marshals make each intermediate and advanced driver lead the convoy. My personal favorite was Toby's drive..a pro in action :028: thanks buddy.
I did ok at the beging till we reached a humongous dune, Hamdan informed us that when each person's turn comes he should head out to the high dunes, nothing small and normal lol so I tried my best to stay by it and focused too much on that so tried to stay up high for as long as possible, however it's not the best idea as there were too risky angles so I had to go back down. Learning in progress :057:.
After all the bouncing around one of my 2 passengers felt way too dizzy and was about to throw up, so I had to go back to the shops. Mighty Bu Salem off course wouldn't let me go on my own no matter how much I told him to stay, didn't want to ruin everyone's buzz, but off course he insisted and escorted me all the way out. Thank you sir! :045:
As usual, I had a blast and all the thanks goes to the phenomenal Marshals and crew that we are lucky to have.

P.S: I don't think I'll be bringing anyone with me anymore lol Apparently I have a talent of making people puke like a shotgun :angel:
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ROBY
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:21 am

The day started not really well. I met Yoghy 7am at Nazwa shops just to test new tornado 4wd but after 10 minutes the car had same issue as Liwa:012:. Then, he decided to come back.
I reached Al Badayer shops alone "O solo mio 2.1":011:. I was there 8:30, just in time to hear my name during the briefing:013:.

As you know the drivers have been splitted into three convoys, two newbies and one old convoy. For this last there was a surprise... lead the convoy one by one. First Geni then me, :002:oh oh... I was worried because it was the fist time but is gone well. It was awsome. Thank marshals to dedicate your time giving us the opportunity to grow up step by step:like:.

At 11:30 we reached the starting point. As usual, after inflating, I cleaned the filter and everybody helped me:045:..especially Sarookh, but he lost a bolt somewhere into the engine but he found it fallen into an unthinkable place. After trying one hour to take it out, Sarookh has found the perfect trick, a small wooden stick and bubble gum.. finally he got it. Congrats

See ya
ekkajay
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:16 pm

We started our drive in Convoy 2. Khatib led the convoy and it was a fantastic drive. Great experience as the drive was continuous and it was very interesting. Also glad to see none of the members in the convoy in a really stuck position. Excellent drive by all members in the convoy. Of course with Abu Jimmy sweeping, Lamboo, DI, Bu Hamdan, overall experience was worth as always is with ALMOST 4x4 team. Around Pink Rock saw a team from perhaps another club but one member was actively taking a lot of photographs / video shoot of our Convoy, very interesting. Once again thanks to all the Marshals and participants for the wonderful trip.
Code Red
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:24 pm

Had a great morning and a great introduction to driving in the desert.

I am still waiting on my vehicle to arrive from the States, and was offered the chance to ride along with Al Shamsi. Wow, what an experience.

We were in the perfect spot for someone new to the desert to observe the ride. We stayed in the back in sweeper position for most of the ride with the "other" convoy of intermediate/advanced drivers. I apologize if I forget someone, but my poor memory leaves me with the following poorly spelled names: Hamdan, Roby, Nbaker, Genni, Sarookh, Kashmir, Salvatore, Toby.

These brave drivers were instructed by Hamdan to take turns leading the convoy through what, to an amateur like me, looked like a maze of dunes and bowls. Roby and Nbaker’s posts above make it sound like they were nervous, but you couldn’t tell from where I was sitting. All of the drivers took turns leading and the drive was great. I especially remember Kashmir’s turn in the lead. We definitely spent a lot of time up high when he was out front.

There were two recoveries practiced by Sarookh, Toby, Genni, and Roby. I’ll leave it to them to tell who was recovering who. And one nice self-recovery by Genni that got her a round of applause when she got back to the group.

I had a great seat because not only did I get to see all of this expert driving from the outside, but I was also able to watch Al Shamsi pick his lines and feel the silver patrol respond to each gear change, and feel the way the truck responded to different lines and ways of approaching the face or crest of a dune. If you ever get a chance to do a ride along, you should take it.

When we made it back to the shops, I got to see Sarookh’s demonstration of true “old school” technique when he used chewing gum on a stick to retrieve the bolt that fell into Roby’s engine compartment.

I’m off to the US this week to put my Jeep on a ship, but soon I will be back and find a way to get out there on a ride.

Thank you all for the great hospitality and particular thanks to Al Shamsi for his generous offer of a ride-along and the brilliant demonstration that followed.

Code Red
Maddie
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:54 pm

When I joined the almost4x4 website, I used to wonder why everyone says second family, I mean after all this is a group of people from different backgrounds, nationalities, religions and status.
The first drive and yesterday the second; and I have realised why...
1. I turn up late for April First star and instead of frowns, I am offered tea and arabic coffee in the back of an FJ.
2. I am given advice on deflation without asking for it, the guys say what tires you have, i say the normal ones and instead of laughing, they start discussing it and tell me to try 10 psi.
3. I am busy deflating and reach the roll call late but when I reach the cafeteria gate, I hear Bu salem calling me, and Chief marshal and others I chatted with, come and greet me.
Then, yesterday, I reach early and hang around alone but the intermediates and advanced who reach early wave and shake hands and strike chats like they know me forever.
1. Mazaaj turns up with Gahwa and starts pouring out and everyone gets a shot of arabic caffeine.
2. Roll called and everyone in his own convoy, I am with Zico.

I am assuming it was Melfi who very kindly offered one of her Walkie Talkies to mostly strangers, many thanks dear..

3. We drive over the bridge into the desert and we are allocated our positions into the convoy.
4. The fun begins with the Black Magic being third last.
5. I think oh God, the tail of the convoy??? Then, I see Chief Marshal behind us and breathe easy.
6. Everyone leaves ditches and pitches behind but for me, its the ultimate thrill. Because its where we got the directions from Chief Marshal how to clear them and to enter with which angle and how to clear.
7. There came the toughest part when on a high dune, I couldn't see anyone in fron of me and working upon chief's earlier tutorial for me and Anees, I made a round into a bowl, crested and became the sweeper for a change, right behind Chief and wrooooosh, the TJ on second gear gave me showed me how a Jeep overcomes anything in front of it.
8. Suddenly we could hear commands flying on the Walkie Talkie and after a while, the chief brought in safely two of our team members.
9. When climbing pink rock, the Chief says 'Maddie Floor it' and I do.
10. Then the chief climbs it easy like a hot knife cuts butter ???? Experience, my dear watson :P

The group photo time was amazing.
Most amazing was the care shown to us by Strawb and the Slovak Stallion !!
Yesterday's drive taught us how not to panic and build confidence. More important was, what it means to be a convoy.

Now I realise why I will call it always 'my second Family'.

Thanks everyone for everything ...
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caprihorse
Golden Member
Golden Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:23 am
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
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[TABLE="width: 900, align: left"]
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[TD]Statistics

Summary
Distance: 26.5 km
Area: 2.3 sq km

Time
Elapsed Time: 3:36:16
Moving Time: 1:23:02
Stopped Time: 2:13:14

Speed
Avg: 7 km/h
Avg Moving: 19 km/h

Elevation
Min: 157 m
Max: 218 m
Ascent: 523 m
Descent: 513 m
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[TD][IMG]http://www.drivingindubai.com/various/track27.jpg[/IMG]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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Sandskull
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:41 pm

Too excited, i was the first one to reach badayer shops at 8 pm and it was worth as got some advises from Chief about the routes for not only to Desert but also to my work place. Within few minutes the convoy left to the camping location. Some dunes were a bit challenging for us newbies. As usual it was an interesting night with a lot of good food - thanks to Abu Jimmy, Lamboo and hamdan, also knowledgeable discussion and entertainment as well. Some of us had a good sleep in the tents, in the cars, besides the cars and even above the cars
(I have Lamboo's pic):005:

In the morning i was in the 2nd convoy. Thanks to marshal's arrangements and selection of drivers, most of us were of the same level and that made the drive smooth and fast, and off-course the lead by Master Khatib was amazing. We climbed EVERY big dune in our way and i think in that area too. We drove fast and covered a lot of distance, probably the most of it in all of my drives till now. Thanks to Abu jimmy, Lamboo, DL and Bu Hamdan, whole convoy was safe and we finished whole one hour earlier than the finishing time.

It was a great trip and looking for same again soon.
Thanks to all the Marshals and advanced driver for such a good time.

See you all soon again in Sand :048:
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bombays
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:05 am

Hi All,
First would like to THANKS Marshals and Management of Almost 4x4 to accomodate me inspite of being in waiting list. Reached Badayer as registered for morning drive only. I was in second Convoy Lead by Al Khatib. Sweeped by Abu Jimmy. To Make the drive more safe and fun filled it was supported by lamboo and DL. We started from badayer and were heading towards Pink Rock. Honestly was never having a clue that this would be one of my best and most memorable drive to PINK ROCK. We were breifed and we started to move. Guys i was amazed at the pace of the drive and within minutes we were at pink rock. Quite exciting. As refad said we covered the complete area around pink rock and while returning we also covered big red. I was so excited as never before i have covered so much distance in desert in an roller coaster style drive in such a short span of time. KHATIB YOU ROCK !!! Thanks to all team members who drove quite well and making this drive wonderful. Thanks To AL Khatib ,Abu Jimmy , DL , Lamboo for making this happen.
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Bu-Shahid
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 0
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:51 pm

One more time, great trip with great group...

It was a pleasure to join this amazing event with you guys...the adventure started by the night drive (first time for me) to the camp which was a bit challenging for me specially in night :013: (many thanks Abu Jimmy).
The group was amazing and cheerful and weather was good with no wind, met some great new friends enjoy the great food prepared by Lampoo, Hmadan, and AlKhatib (thank you very much guys :024:), also I had the chance to be passenger at another enjoyable night drive with Jenny and LD around 3 am. had around 2 hours sleep (4 am to 6 am) and get ready for the new challenge, way back to Badayer shops to meet the rest of the team was quick and easy.
The other day started with some well prepared Arabic coffee offered by my new friend Mazaj who has enjoyed catching some memorable picture (face book hehehehe :005:) for me when I got stuck.
The trip to the Pink rock was great, smooth and enjoyable by Zico leadership and the chief Capri, Strawb care as well as Mazaj advices, the group was great and the group picture time was nice too :victorious: :048:.
the most difficult part was driving 170 km back to Abu Dhabi and i was very sleepy...:039:

Looking forward to join more trips and get more experience and more advices from our great and helpful marshals.
Thank you Almost for this great group :like: :048:
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