Adrenaline Rush

[Dave]

[URL="http://[IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg1_zps6emeyo9w.jpg[/IMG]"]http://[/URL][IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg1_zps6emeyo9w.jpg[/IMG]

[Dave]

[URL="http://[IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg3_zpsbxswpsuc.jpg[/IMG]"]http://[/URL][IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg3_zpsbxswpsuc.jpg[/IMG]

[Dave]

[URL="http://[IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg2_zpsow1mfx77.jpg[/IMG]"]http://[/URL][IMG]http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah301/Davidmhoran/image.jpg2_zpsow1mfx77.jpg[/IMG]

[Dave]

With the clubs annual trip to Salalah taking place over the weekend I wasn't expecting a trip to be posted this Friday. Thankfully Yoghybear realised there would still be a good number of drivers available and willing to play Friday morning so posted at trip to entertain around 20 cars.

Two convoys were posted , Newbie -10 and Newbie +10. As it was open to all levels above I signed up as any level drive is better than none at all. The PM stated meet time 6am and start 6.15am. No time for late comers or pre drive chit chat! Al Badayer was the start and finish point. A joint brief was followed by a mini brief for my Newbie -10 convoy. We were to drive East of the Hatta road and the +10 straight out to the West.

The drive started with a little confusion as it was unclear how we crossed the highway so our convoy split in two but quickly regrouped. We also had at -10 try slip into the +10 but it was a failed attempt ! Hamdan led in his red JKU with Mazaaj doing sweep in his black JKU. I tucked into the rear of the convoy. 10 cars in all.

Progress was initially slow as we had a mixed level of experience , 4x4's and passenger count. I believe it was Stiphy (white Pathfinder) that struggled most initially but after a brief chat with Mazaaj he improved quite a lot. Baraa (2 door Jk) brought along 3 friends which is great sharing the fun but amongst the hot sand in summer around Badayer's dunes it's asking a lot performance wise for both car and driver. There were a couple of second tries but you drove well considering the extra weight and having the ac on!

Once everyone found their comfort zone and realised the errors of not leaving distance between cars, the most common mistake of a Newbie convoy, we progressed well. We reached Pink Rock effectively twice and made it back to Badayer in good time. Although the pace was slow in places, and some drivers invented their own track when they lost the car in front rather than stop and ask for guidance, we had no stucks and no pop outs. Many second attempts but this is good as we learn from our initial mistakes. There was no risk of roll over today and no collisions, which do occasionally happen!

I am in no position to judge or state as I was a guest of the Newbie convoy but I would suggest it was a very successful drive. Hamdan gave a great lead, both technical and challenging with a fast track back to Badayer to finish. Mazaaj was patient as ever and always there giving guidance when needed. There were some drivers in the group who would have coped easily at the +10 level also but were equally patient during the odd stops and second attempts that were performed.

Thanks to those who gave up their free time to bring everyone together for another Almost4x4 event. Another Good Friday morning thanks to the club.

[matts]

Good Evening Everyone,

Like [MENTION=8472]Dave[/MENTION] I was surprised to find a trip posted this weekend, and again I pass my thanks on to [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] for the foresight to post it.

My main mistake of the day was not paying enough attention when the brief split into the +10/-10 groups, I assumed (and we all know what assumptions do) that we were going to drive a short distance and do the second part of the brief. This resulted in me missing the 2nd half, sorry all. It transpired that I had the privilege of being Yoghys 2nd lead for the day. This comes with both advantages and disadvantages, firstly it is easier to follow the route the closer to the front of the convoy you are as mistakes tend to get compounded through the convoy, but conversely you have to try and judge more accurately the right distance to the leader to allow him to make course corrections as they encounter obstacles. In a couple of places where we met another convoy we had to change our planned route and we ended up recrossing our own convoy. Being self critical I think that I should have seen it coming and slowed a little so only yoghy had to cross but instead I concentrated on maintaining the momentum needed for me to make the crossing rather than thinking of the convoy as a whole. The marshals have a tough job that I think is very difficult to fully appreciate.

The drive was one of the most successful I have been on, everyone performed well, no pop outs, although admittedly very few pop out 'traps' today and very few second tries.

The only place where I felt the convoy was a bit out of sync was when we made the round in the big bowl 1 by 1. There were a couple of cars in the queue that had pulled up side by side over the crest inside the bowl. This meant the person doing the round, at a relatively high speed had to adjust for cars being within there desired path and not going too low so they lost momentum. Those cars should have stopped outside the bowl to minimise risk, there was plenty of space.

Yoghy tells us that he surfs the dunes so that we get a feel for the balance of our cars and so we can choose which side of the dune to take instead of the cars dictating it for us. It is a good lesson, well thought out and worth practising. But there is part of me that still believe he secretly loves it and does it for the joy of surfing the tops of the dunes!

Lastly, thank you to [MENTION=1803]Zorro[/MENTION], [MENTION=3080]Agalon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=8720]Solmaz[/MENTION] for performing sweep and rescue duties - and also [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] for reminding us that everyone gets stuck once in a while.

A small side note for anyone interested, i've been running Cooper AT3 35in (315/70r17) tyres for nearly a year and decided to go down to 33's recently to get a bit of power back in my 2007 jeep. I chose Yokohama ATS as they get excellent reviews for sand. My concern on the yokos was that they might be more prone to pop outs. I've been running the AT3's at 7psi and abusing them with no problems at all. I'm happy to report that the yokos at 8psi performed very well (I started at 10psi, a couple of you probably saw me take some extra air out about 20-30 mins in), time will tell if the are as robust as the coopers but so far I'm impressed.

Matt

[baraa]

Thank you, [MENTION=8472]Dave[/MENTION], for the feedback, I actually had fun and learnt a lot today, thanks for the track picked by [MENTION=59]Hamdan[/MENTION] and fit the watchful eye and instructions of [MENTION=1946]Mazaaj[/MENTION].

Having two second tries emphasized that I should use the speed and momentum to get to a higher point on the dune before descending, thanks for the clear guidance of [MENTION=1946]Mazaaj[/MENTION].

It was a very safe and fun trip. Thanks to all who made it happen and thanks to Yoghybear organising the trip.

[stiphy]

Hello everybody,

This was my third drive includes club drive with Almost4x4, and the drive was great. Being challenging at times, it kept the interest going to look forward to "okay conqured this, bring it on baby". But was amaaaazing. It was great to see the dunes up close and personal.

Dave,You are right,I had a multiple stuck, all self recoveries though. Mazaaj pointed out that I may be struggling a bit due to tyre pressure and Momentum while he was right, and we deflated down a bit. Thanks a lot Mazaaj for your advice's and thanks to my friends for patience.

Thanks to Hamdan,Dave,Ankit, baara,fadi, and all the participants who made this trip truly outstanding. Looking forward to the next trip.....

[Daggerfall]

Hi,

I wouldn't mind getting up at 04:45 for all upcoming trips if the weather will be nice like this Friday morning.

The pace and the dunes we tackled during the drive was great. I think everyone did well in general but I would like to emphasize how important to inform the driver following you if you get stuck or do a second try immediately since we are driving in a very fast pace it might be too late for him/her to stop once he/she pass the crest without knowing there is a problem ahead.

Thanks to all Marshalls and support for the nice ride.

I prepared a video and hope you like it. (Special Thanks to @Solmaz and @Agalon for the shots they provided)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31rpl ... -2015_auto

Alternative Link:

https://vimeo.com/136377818

[matts]

HI [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION] I like the video, especially the soundtrack! Its a touch long, i'd try to keep it to three minutes but the way you've done it nearly everyone is in it :) so all the drivers will be happy.

[matts]

HI [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION] I like the video, especially the soundtrack! Its a touch long, i'd try to keep it to three minutes but the way you've done it nearly everyone is in it :) so all the drivers will be happy.