Over the Top

[Barish]

Hi everyone,

Another summer drive with early wake up but this time clear sky and dry heat. However, wind was there during drive on top of the crests with amazing views.

Organizer started with the attendance and then briefing explaining the terrain and challenges that may be faced while someone was serving some coffee to boost the energy and expedite the wake up

Hats off to @Daggerfall as the drive was all terrain as a great learning for our members and flow was good keeping the continous momentum and focus. Some challenges observed as explained in the briefing and members did well to overcome those. It was great pleasure for me to support 10- members nominated themselves to fight with the heat.

Dont forget: Improvement is the key to make the change as change.

See you next time.

Barish

[Daggerfall]

Hi Almosters,

Despite the drastic shift to heavy weather conditions in the afternoon the weather was very pleasant in the morning.

Our target was to go through "over the top" of any obstacles we might encounter on our way on a relatively straight line to learn more about our cars and improve our skills and everyone did good in general.

There were several Stucks and second tries which means you are "learning" and "developing" so no need to feel bad about it.

Our Marshalls Barish and Optimus was all over the convoy as usual, providing great support and guidance to our members. And thanks to our Intermediates Brett, Petr, Pedro and mpodroid for the support when ever we need them.

See you on the next adventure.

[Petr]

Daggerfall brought us to the Saih Al-Dahal area between E66 and Al Qudra. It is a challinging area with a combination of small technical dunes and larger sharp ones. The convoy was short, just 5 cars. Barish and Optimus were floating, Brett sweaping, Marco supporting from the middle of the convoy and I was assigned a 2nd lead.

Daggerfall started the navigation in the "straight Marshall line" style, bulldozering straight crests of one dune after another. For me it is always an interesting challenge as intermediates don't do straight crests too much, but it is important to retain the practice - and I got stuck on the first sharp dune by myself. The convoy coped realy well, there were just two cars struggling - one being in desert for the 2nd time only and one having a bit too long wheel base.

It was a great morning full of learning. Many thanks to Daggerfall for organizing and leading the herd, Barish and Optimus for keeping the cars safe and my fellow intermediates including the passenger Pedro for support.

[brett]

Dear Almosters
“Over the Top” with a meeting time of 6am this meant a very early alarm at 430am to allow me time for that all important caffeine kick start. I stopped along the way to pick up a celebrity passenger for the day.
We reached the meeting point in good time and were soon joined by the other drivers. It was already starting to warm up. Thanks to @Daggerfall for posting the drive, we also had the support of @Optimus and “The General” @Barish as floating marshals. Thanks also to @Barish for the additional caffeine boost during the briefing.
We had @Petr in second lead, @mpadroid in the middle of the convoy for support. I was the designated sweeper for the day.
There was a good mix of vehicle types, of course the majority were FJ’s a couple of Jeeps (a rare sight these days) and the now infamous Red Tacoma.
The plan was to drive through the dunes to Al Qudra, this is an area I really enjoy, some nice sized dunes for arches and crossovers, straight crests and a good mix of technical challenges steep short drops and steep climbs after the drop with very soft sand.
The convoy did really well with a nice flow the majority of the time, of course we had a few 2nd tries and stucks that required recoveries, thanks to my celebrity passenger @Pedro_Leah most times I did not have to leave the comfort of the aircon while the Viking rope was being attached to dislodge the crested car. The Tacoma encountered a popout that was quickly fixed by the marshals and intermediates while the newbies watched from a distance – maybe they were tired already from the energy they had spent concentrating on the intensity of the drive.
Driving at the back of the convoy has challenges of its own, driving in tracks that are already well stirred up resulting in a bit of a rough ride for myself and the passenger – I still need to find the right setting combination for the suspension setup. On a couple of the climbs I struggled due to the very soft sand – even 4L in 3rd gear was not enough – this is a new experience for me as I normally do not have the added weight of a passenger, once we were able to clear the climb – or adjust and find an alternate track, it was then fun to drive at a brisker pace to catch up with the convoy – the convoy doesn’t wait for the sweeper, as you are expected to deal with it and keep moving (thanks to @optimus for hanging back and making sure we were ok).
The complete convoy reached the end point in Al Qudra at 9:30am and headed home.
Liwa is looming so it will be a quiet couple of weeks for those of us unable to join the adventure.

[Zoubeir]

Monday is the designated trip report day while procrastinating at work
Over The Top was a brilliant trip designed by Daggerfall. After our caffeine fix (thanks Barish!), the convoy proceeded to climb every dune in sight. I was first taken aback by the task but quickly understood that Daggerfall had this planned for us as practice. Car control was key - just enough momentum to get through the crest, not to fly. It's OK to have a second try, rather than damage your car.
I enjoyed the "choppy" section a lot and when the dunes opened up, we got to practice side sloping. Proper control and momentum was key. It was also crucial to recognize when to turn down to avoid any mishap.
Thanks to Marshall Optimus and Barish for looking after the convoy, as well as intermediate level support team.

Looking forward to the next trip! Have a great week everyone.

[ThunderBird]

Hi Almost4x4,

I recently attended a drive organized by Daggerfall. The drive started with the routine start briefing with freshly made coffee brought by Barish. The drive was awesome! I had recently upgraded my shocks, and they were very useful while doing the drive I can really feel the difference. I got stuck a couple of times, but thanks to Brett, who helped me recover from the situation. In the end, I got my first pop out, and Marshal once again came to the rescue and inaugurated my new jack. But overall, the drive was great.

I had a lot of fun on the drive. The scenery was beautiful, and the company was great and I feel like I'm a much better driver now than I was before the drive.

I'm really glad I decided to attend the drive organized by Daggerfall. It was a great experience, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in off-roading.

Specific details:

The drive took place in the Murqquab, Dubai, and the scenery was absolutely stunning.
There were about 10 people on the drive, and we all got along really well.
We learned a lot about off-roading, including how to handle different terrain and how to recover from getting stuck.
I got my first pop out, which is when your vehicle becomes completely stuck but with Marshal’s guidance and support Taco was back on trail.