Do it my way

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David
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Very very early start for this one, didn't feel it that much in the morning but what a nap was needed to recover from it!!!

Drive organized by Rapailo, Rashid as only support, rest of the convoy a mixture of experienced and fresh intermediates.

I was looking forward to the drive for many reasons, 1st as I always look forward to any drive, secondly as traveling to Spain next weekend and not driving now with Altmost for some time and finally as I was looking forward to seeing the new interms in action!!!

Rade touched all of the main points in the briefing, I did like a lot that he recommended to try in the convoy positions not used to, those who normally at the back to the front and opposite, different skills are learnt in different positions and all skills are needed. I started as 2nd lead and switched to sweeper half way in one of the breaks.

Leading Marshall managed to put together a very nice track, nothing too difficult but enjoyable, more trying to built momentum for the new drivers to get used to the pace, distances, adjustments, ... other than a small technical sector where the convoy had a few issues (the change of 2nd lead ... pacman ) I thought everything went quite well.

Message to the fresher interm, these drives are for you, rest of us are there as extras, take your time to adjust (better if not too long have a nice day ), be safe but trust the Marshalls, don't worry about 2nd tries, stucks, pop outs ... it is what it is supposed to happen, you are not meant to hit the ground running, everyone needs some time to adapt.

Finally to say thank you, first to Rade for organizing and leading, Rashid for always being there and to my fellow interms (old and new) for a great morning in the desert.

See you on the sand soon!!!
Last edited by David on Mon Jul 18, 2022 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sorin
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Hi everyone,

I was very excited to drive with Rapailo as leading Marshal for the first time so I got to the meeting point an hour and a half early grin

The somewhat full moon provided enough light to see the contours of the dunes and I stopped on a higher dune to film the sunrise while waiting for everyone else to arrive.

Weather was a breezy (and I’m not being ironic) 35 degrees Celsius, no humidity which I enjoyed very much while holding my phone’s tripod from being moved by the wind.

First cars started to arrive as the night went away and soon enough everyone was there.

Briefing was very detailed and focused on the fresh intermediates and how to tackle the area.

Then the fun began thumbsup

I was near the end of the convoy and behind a Jeep :XD:

Super soft sand and chewed up tracks made me struggle a bit and I did end up sort of crested at one point from which I managed to self recover.

The pace was good, a little fast and very enjoyable.

We got to play on some of the well known dunes in the area and I did get carried away a few times while some where going down, I would ride on the crest :yaeh_am_not_durnk:

Hawk-eyed @Rashidjass quickly spotted my antics and put me back in line blank

Starting so early is a pleasure for me and that also allows us to reach the end of the drive around 10:30 on time and still in decent temperatures.

Big thanks for the amazing drive to @rapailo and to @Rashidjass for support.

Hope to see you all soon!
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Tomvanhouten
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Hello everyone,

Early morning start was very much appreciated, as temperatures rise quick enough these days.

As @David already mentioned, the drive was meant to learn to drive in different positions and myself had to start out as a sweeper and later in the middle of the convoy. I enjoy everywhere in the convoy nowadays and appreciate the marshals putting focus on this, as it really is different in each position.

The drive started from the well-known meeting point in Sweihan, where several other groups with known members were already lined up as well. A quick wave and off to our 'point of interest' were others were already deflating and getting ready.
Briefing was very thorough with the focus on safety within the area.

Off we were to have fun and fun it was!
As expected multiple second tries in the beginning, this soft sand catches you fast enough, but all and all we had a nice pace.

Unfortunately, at Nagra, I had an encounter with a ditch, which decided it was time for me to go home. A bended rim, a leaking shock were the result of this unnecessary action.
All fixed up now and ready to enjoy again!

Hope to see you all soon

Tom
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CARLOSS
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Hello everyone!

As already explained by my senior colleagues, the early start promised good weather and we were not disappointed however, it was a bit hard waking up around 3am. 2 z Z

When I explain to any of the "non off-road" friends that we have to wake up very early on Friday night, driving during almost 1.5 hrs to reach the point, then driving for 3-4 hrs under 40 degrees, sweating like pigs inside and outside the cars, coming back home with another 1.5 hrs of drive, emptying our pockets with the fuel and finally, to fix whatever was damaged during the drive, if any, they don’t understand wtfsmilie …but this is the beauty of this hobby: Nobody understands but us. thumbsup

Now the drive: “Do it my way” was perfectly executed by Master Rapailo and properly briefed for a couple of times: at the beginning and in one of the breaks in Nagra. The idea was to start familiarizing with the big dunes and soft sand with decent pace and enough safety distance.
Both new and old intermediates enjoyed the ride a lot and the performance of the convoy was ok, even though eagle eye Rashid playingsmiley was pointing out whatever it was not correct.

Finally, I would like to thank @rapailo for organizing, leading and giving us a boost with his delicious karak, and @Rashidjass for taking care of us.

See you soon!
Carlos
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