Club Member Drive

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presa
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Topic to post the report from this drive.
Zoubeir
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Thanks everyone for the drive this morning. It was enjoyable and in an amicable atmosphere. The heat did not deter us as almost everyone was ahead of the scheduled meeting time. The area chosen was lovely. Sharjah desert will never cease to amaze me. Beautiful scenery from start to finish. Thanks Ovais & team!
Thanks also to Rashid who did my equipment check :)
David
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1st CM for Optimus as "Master of Ceremonies", nicely welcoming the new Members to the family and explaining the basic principles of offroading and safety. Can't wait until he takes us, as Shamsi said, "to the dunes where you will not be able to follow him" ...

Small number of new Members so guys here it is another important lesson, in the dessert "less is more", you are lucky you will get more attention from the Marshalls so make the most of it, get your safety tools ready and start driving, learning and having fun!!!

This drive mainly targeted straight climbs and descents, understand the speed and momentum needed and keeping your car safe in a straight line mainly when going down, things seemed to have gone well, not many comments and corrections at the break. From my position inside the convoy only noticed one "dangerous" situation due to not following Marshall Barish advice, car did not make the climb and instead or reversing for a second try in a straight line it decided to do a turn, always a very dangerous thing to do, please do not play with gravity, she always wins.

Also noticed a couple of times cars missing the correct track, please make sure you keep the correct distance with the car in front of you for this not to happen and if unsure about the track to be followed always check with a Marshall, don't forget the leading Marshall is selecting the track according to the level of the convoy, you go a different way and you are putting your car at risk and those cars behind you as well ...

Finally to thank all the Marshalls and Founder who attended the drive as well as advanced driver Orlantsev, my fellow intermediates, Crew & Media and most importantly all of our new Members that have joined the Almost Family. (Special mention to Mohamed Korym, the man who invented the nocturnal CM, looking forward to seeing you on future drives!!!)

See you on the sand soon.
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Tomvanhouten
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Hello everyone,

Always nice to meet new members of the club and family.

The drive was organized in the area, I did my CM, which always brings back those memories on how it all started. With a very long Ram pick-up, no experience at all and then getting crested on the first possible dune, everyone took with ease. Also remember @Rooies having to pull me off and my shaky/sweaty hands.
If you look back like that and remember the journey, we all learn in different ways.

That was the motto, @optimus described wonderfully in his briefing; the club doesn't teach you, you teach yourself with the safe guidance of the club. And that is exactly how it is, great job @optimus !

I very much enjoyed the drive thru this lovely area each and every time. Somehow it has a certain beauty which is to be found only there (off course other places offer different beauty ORLY )

I wish to welcome all the new comers to this great club/family, hope you all stay and enjoy it to the fullest!

See you guys next week!

Tom
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CARLOSS
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Hello everyone!

CM drives are always special and not only because of the new faces showing up but the memories brought specially when both meeting point and track are essentially the same you did …only difference was that my first CM was in 2nd Oct 2020 and led by @alshamsi_m …and still it seems that it was yesterday. :have_a_nice_day:

This CM drive was not too much crowded, around 12 souls willing to get its first experience with Almost in the desert. Good for them, because as mentioned before, this batch will get more time and dedication but at the same time more Marshal’s eyes cool watching over their shoulders so get ready for that! Maybe the “almost” summer session is not accompanying to that but on the contrary, it will make better and stronger off-road drivers if they are capable to deal with the heat. you're kidding, right

Even though we missed @giorgio (drive’s organizer) @optimus strongly took the lead and delivered a brilliant introductory briefing followed by a masterclass teaching the off-roads’ basics thumbsup . After that, the convoy was organized, and I was assigned as second lead (thanks for that) and we started the journey. As expected, only a few meters from the start line some second tries came up in the second dune so I took advantage of it for having a quality time with my son discussing about pokemon cards! blank

All in all, the convoy did well for its first time touching the sand including a pop out which it was like a balsam to me as I left my position, accelerated a bit serious business , climbed a decent dune and came to help the rescue team already who was already working when we arrived.

We finished as usual in the petrol station, and I saw plenty of smiles in the new and not so new faces meaning the drive went well thanks to @optimus (great lead) and the rest of Marshals and rescue team taking care of the convoy.

See you soon.

Carlos
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brett
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Dear Almosters,

I always look forward to the CM drives. it is a great opportunity for us to give something back to the club (family) as appreciation for the support and guidance afforded to us as we develop our skills under the watchful eyes of the Founders and Marshals.

I arrived early only to find @nidal78 already busy deflating. we were joined soon after by so many Marshals, Advanced and Intermediate drivers.

Huge thank you to @giorgio for posting the drive(unfortunate you were not able to join the drive) to our Founder @alshamsi_m your dedication to the club is 150%

As mentioned this group of CM's were extremely lucky - with only approx 12 first timers, with so many marshals, advanced and intermediate drivers on hand to give advice and most importantly to keep you safe during your initial drive with almost4x4. The level of enthusiasm from the new members was obvious.

As Crew we set up the banners to mark the location of the briefing thank you to @KIMOz @Rathica @Ehab @nidal78 for your help.

A fantastic briefing and introduction about almost4x4 and basic theory of driving in the desert by @optimus and @alshamsi_m.

The convoy lined up in the order given with @CARLOSS in 2nd lead and @Ehab sweeping. Scattered throughout the convoy between the new members we had @Tomvanhouten @Rathica @KIMOz @David @Laarni @mpodroid (apologies if i missed anyone)

Leading the convoy @optimus, Floating marshals @presa @SINGH @Scorpio @Rashidjass field commander @Barish directing operations and giving instruction and motivation to the new drivers. also floating around we had @orlantsev and @Arminion - good to see you again.

The Area for the drive was very nice - although the track has many little bushes that can add an extra challenge to avoid. the track taken by @optimus

Only a few situations of 2nd tries and crested cars as they attempted their first straight climbs crest and drops. everyone seemed to do extremely well and just one pop out ! some mechanical issues lead to one car leaving early and another was having problems with leaking air pressure - but as always there was plenty of help and guidance from the senior members to keep the convoy moving.

I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know the new members at the next drive(s) once they gather the required tools and receive the first Star ! Welcome to the "family" and enjoy the journey
Last edited by brett on Mon May 23, 2022 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Until the next Adventure

Brett
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dorudoru
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David wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:47 am Can't wait until he takes us, as Shamsi said, "to the dunes where you will not be able to follow him" ...
ORLY looking forward to it in love
optimus
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Drive : Desert Discovery
Level : CM
Area : Mahafiz
Organizer : @giorgio
Lead : myself
Support : @CARLOSS @David @Ehab @orlantsev @Laarni @KIMOz ,@mpodroid @brett @nidal.a-l-salti @Tomvanhouten
Floating Marshall : @alshamsi_m , @Barish ,@presa ,@Rashidjass @SINGH , @Scorpio

Hi All,

First of all congratulations to the new CM’s who got their first star.
Thanks to Giorgio for organizing the CM.
Alshamsi for the opportunity to give the safety briefing to the new batch of CM’s.
The new comers were briefly introduced to the club’s formation, its founders, marshal’s, adv & interm that were present at the event. Guidelines to move in a convoy, safety rules etc was explained aswell.

The initial plan was to have 2 convoy’s however due to less number of members that showed up at the event we could do only one. However it was a long one though with 12 cm’s in the middle with plenty of interm & marshal’s support.

The drive had its own small challenges but everyone at the end drove well with only few 2nd tries and a popout. thumbsup

At the end the marshal’s checked the tools of the members. Whoever had the complete set of recovery tools, were upgraded to the newbie level.
& the rest were advised to get the remaining items so to get the upgrade & they can start to join our newbie drives of their level.

I would like to advise our new commers/fresh off-roaders to have patience. Take one step at a time. Take this sport as a marathon & not a sprint.
Always listen to the marshal’s instructions. Take their guidance & I am sure you guys would reach your desired goals.

The feeling I had at the event was nostalgic in love since a couple of years before, I started my off-road journey with the club in my 2door Pajero. cool
Have done my CM in the same area. (in the below pic you can see me standing behind Bu Salem who was giving the briefing).

Good things come to those who wait & learn at the same time!



Image


Good Luck!
Optimus
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korym
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Good evening, Everyone
Drive: Desert Discovery
Level : CM
Organizer : @giorgio


This is Mohamed Korym with White Pajero and that was my first time as a driver with such amazing team members, since first second once I arrived to the meeting point, I found care and attention from everyone specially @ehab who already help me with deflation.


I touch the family spirit and I wasn’t feeling that I’m stranger to the group and I got welcome from everyone specially I announce that I’m the one who came at Night last CM trip instead of Morning, I think it will be unforgettable story stuck with me grin

It was smooth drive and so informative with support from each one starting from Bu Salem (Alshamshi) our founder till smallest one in the club which is me.

I’m looking forward to meeting you soon on next trip and can’t wait to get my first start with such amazing club. thumbsup

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for such amazing experience.

See you soon on sand

Mohamed Korym
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