Flash

David
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Difficult drive to explain ... my 1st time in that area and I was really looking forward to it as I had heard great things about it, arrived the night before for camping and straight away you could see those diggers had also reached Remah, upsetting sight, it was obvious what was coming the day after.

It was a hard drive, long convoy, soft sand, trenches everywhere that do not allow to create any flow or momentum, somehow it felt that you were fighting all the time ... I believe drives like this you don't enjoy but individually they make you a better offroader and as a group a better Team. 2nd tries, incidents, tire changes, ... a bit of everything, good and bad.

Felt very sorry mainly for 3 groups.

First those who had to abandon the drive earlier for issues against their will, see you on the sand soon.

Second for the leading Marshall, Solmaz in this case, what a hard drive to lead in very uncomfortable circumstances, she did an outstanding job with what was thrown at her!!!

Last but not least for those who joined an intermediate drive for the 1st time, hard one to welcome you guys, part of the learning process.

Last to thank everyone that showed up in great numbers for this drive, Marshalls (driving and passengers), Founder, Explorers, Advanced, Interm, passengers and the rest ... well done everyone.

See you on the sand soon.
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Tomvanhouten
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Hello everyone,

what more to say, then @David already explained, difficult circumstances.... but indeed, hopefully this improves us again.
What a waste of all those beautiful dunes.

I was driving Gamora for the first time on this level and some fine tuning needs to be done in the suspension setup. Constant clunking made me feel uncomfortable and made me decide that this area doesn't deserve to break Gamora down, so left a bit earlier then the rest.
Found out the reasons being the upper arm angle towards the coilover needs to be changed, so let's do that soon and back to testing getting those 'baby' issues out of the way.

All and all, I hope everyone still enjoyed their time in the sand and hopefully see everyone rather sooner then later.

Tom
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Mahmoodyasin
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A long-awaited drive at one of the most beautiful area 'Remah'.... but this time it was different the drive was to be led by @Scorpio. However the scenario changed At the briefing, when we were presented with a surprise that the lead has changed to @Solmaz eyes on fire , who takes this area as her backyard. cool
the convoy was lined up with newbies in the front followed by intermediates, advance at the tail and marshals/explorers keeping the watch.
Area was not the same as how we remember Remah . it was completely ruined by the man made tracks which didnt leave any room to build up momentum/flow for multiple climbs and sidecrests. That caused continuous start stop sessions due to the unsafe terrain caused by the tracks. Although we had some stucks, pop outs, tire cuts and an unfortunate incident, @solmaz still managed to give us a drive, to enjoy and smile about. have a nice day
Everyone did well considering the challenges on the way.

thank you @Scorpio @Solmaz , @alshamsi_m @Rashidjass; @Agalon, @Daggerfall for the drive , @giorgio and @rapailo for keeping an eye. and the rest… for a wonderful company.

Helping out when required, is the most unique thing which makes this club to stand out from the rest!!!
Almost 4X4 Tag line: "no one gets left behind"

till next time
Mahmoodyasin
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Rathica
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What can I say about FLASH?
...that @David hasn't said already 😀
It was a much anticipated drive and we were all really excited to drive.
@Solmaz, my inspiration, was in top form as Lead Marshal and it was fabulous catching up with @Daggerfall and @Agalon again - missed you guys ❤️ We also had the fantastic @Scorpio @Rashidjass @alshamsi_m @optimus @rapailo and @Mahmoodyasin and @Giorgio for watching our backs.

We started the day eating chocolate covered fruit thanks to @osman.

We got going and then had a double popout and a flat in one go that required fixing - @rapailo got busy under the hood as we swatted flies😀 We continued the drive. Then we were greeted with more mechanical problems and later, a cut tyre which required changing.

We discovered that @ivantorrellas's boot was filled with wonderful gadgets that could help in any situation👍🏼

We also had 3 Inter "Trybies" that got a sweet tasting of Inter Level drives and I bet that they're now super hungry for the next level😀

The dunes were so gorgeous but there were trenches that had been dug everywhere so cuedos to @Solmaz for still finding those beautiful lines and fabulous bowls.

As always, it was great fun with my Inter Drive Buddies so looking forward to the next drive❤️ 👑 💃 🚙
Join me drawing in the sand
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CARLOSS
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Hello everyone!

My first interm drive was challenging as expected and not also for the difficulty but for the destroyed area of Remah completely ruined by diggers so thanks a lot @Solmaz for the outstanding track's selection and leading us safe. thumbsup

There were 3 newbies being examinated in the front of the convoy so all the best my dear friends and congrats because you did it well.

My perfomance was not brilliant with some second tries and a few not so good clean creastings but not major mistakes made so I am still happy ORLY

Now I fully understand why Almost is so rigurous when upgrading drivers compared to other clubs being a sort of admin process: You send the request and depending upon the number of drives and overal opinion you are upgraded. And it is very simple, our founder and marshals want to make sure that we are not entering into the next level until we are fully prepared and able to drive safely whatever the situation may be. And after only 1 drive I realized about it and I fully appreciate how Almost approaches this topic thumbsup

Finally, big thanks to @Agalon , @Daggerfall , @giorgio , @rapailo , @Rashidjass , @Scorpio, @alshamsi_m and advanced members for taking care of us.

Sorry mate for that and hope you are coming back soon.

Carlos
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giorgio
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Flash entering intermediate level drive:

This morning drive found the convoy celebrating @alshamsi_m BD with a fruit cake under a wonderful light breeze.

From the start we saw the trenches been drawn all over the place so we new from the get go that it will be a miserable drive.

@Solmaz had a difficult task in her hands as well as the floating team. The area had become so unpredictable that your eyes had to be rolling in every direction to ensure that you will be ready for any unforeseen event.

Lessons learned from this drive? THE POWER OF ALMOST 4x4 club. This drive was not just another drive. It took all skills, men power, equipment and knowledge to complete the drive in a safe manner while we leave no one behind.

Broken bumpers, cut tires, broken steering, suspension failures and not only was some of the issues that we had to negotiate before we all reach in beat and pieces to the inflating point.

We may end up came out from that hell scattered and in pieces but we all got out and drove home safe.

Congratulations to all drivers for their dedication, team spirit and hard work. We turned a regular drive to a survival event.

Job well done. Special thank you to the Leader @Solmaz our Founder @alshamsi_m who was the brain behind all operations. All Marshalls which were supporting surrounding the convoy and the advance drivers for their help.

It was one more successful drive from our club that will be talked about around the camp fire.

Hope to see you all soon at the upcoming drives.
The Wolf is not concerned with the opinion of the sheep
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AndreAJ
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Good morning guys,

Well what an honer it was to have been invited to drive with the intermediates that @Scorpio planed for us. I arrived at the meeting point filled with excitement and a slight tough of nervousness.

Again our beautiful desert was destroyed by the new created tracks this in my opinion makes driving just that more dangerous, lucky for us we have fantastic support, @Solmaz was at her best again leading us through the desert at a great pace and ensuring we try and avoid as many of the tracks as possible whilst keeping us on our toes with her amazing technical driving skills, thank you.
This was side cresting heaven for me, as the side crests just kept on coming as we climbed higher and faster, we also had some interesting bowls where driver skill and speed was tested.

The drive could not happen with out the support of our fantastic Marshals, Explores, Founder and Intermediate support drivers, @A alshamsi @giorgio , @Daggerfall , @Agalon , @Rashidjass , @rapailo a big thank you to you all, your leadership, training and time is greatly appreciated, and i look forward to learning allot more from you.

A special thanks to 3 intermediate drivers who supported me and provide many words of encouragement during the drive, @David, @CARLOSS , @Rooies .

To my team mates who was not able to finish the day with us, i hope to see you all in the sand again.

I also would like to say well done to @dorudoru and @ivantorrellas who drove very well on the day.

See you all in the sand very soon.... Liwa here I come!!!!

Andre
optimus
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Drive : Flash
Level : Medium Intermediate
Organizer : @Scorpio
Lead : @Solmaz
Area : Remah
Float : @alshamsi_m @Agalon @Daggerfall @giorgio @Rashidjass @rapailo
Adv : @Mahmoodyasin , @orlantsev & myself

Solmaz started the drive with a bit of warm up sesh. However it was not far from the starting point, the drivers started to call the 2nd tries. ORLY

The convoy was still warming up when we had a temporary setback oh noes that required some mechanical know how in order to put that rig back on track. pacman

Once we restarted, the lead car began to choose the lines carefully due to the fact that after almost every side crest we had to face man made ditches. pissed off

I tried a few and once I was coming down the other side, there were big trench’s. these were forcing us to hard break otherwise we could damage the underbody parts. zomg

So it was difficult to gain the momentum while coming down hence the lead car was being very careful while choosing the lines even though Solmaz did an amazing job cool

by throwing some nice challenges to the drivers behind and at the same time keeping them safe. Thank you Solmaz. thumbsup



Few things I would like to highlight :
-The drive is not a race.
-You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.
-At this level there is a very fine line between an error & an accident.
-Side cresting sound a herculean maneuver but don’t do it just for the sake of doing it.
-Even before you reach the crest, if you feel that your approach angle, throttle control is not right or you are not confident enough to do it safety, nothing doing! just abort. Period!
-Once you approach the crest in a wrong angle, you may be lucky once to cross over but next time or may be one day you guarantee yourself a rollover.
-Stay focused & be confident but don’t be overconfident.
-keep coming, driving & getting better as you progress.

Thank you @Scorpio pio for being my copilot. It was my pleasure to have you in my cockpit. grin
Thank you to @alshamsi_m for always being there for us.
Thank you to @Rashidjass @Agalon @Daggerfall you guys are simply awesome.
Thank you to @giorgio having you in a convoy is always fun & @rapailo your mechanical know how is next level!


Until next time!
Optimus
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Solmaz
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Hi everyone,

Flash was an unusual drive as explained above.

Most of you already know how Remah has a special place in my heart. It is the place where I got terribly stuck once, at a solo exploration trip on a random weekday. I had to dig for hours to free myself, which was a great "me against the world" moment. cool It is also the place where i did my first intermediate lead, a great day to remember. Unfortunately this time we found Remah in ruins.

@Scorpio's plan for the day was to have fast paced drive on the high crests, so when he very kindly offered me the lead, my intention was the same; but it quickly turned into a very technical survival drive.

I have to accept that it was a challenging lead, and I know it was not an easy track to follow. As everyone above explained in detail, sometimes things does not go as smooth as it should. But I believe this drive made us all a little tougher and a little more prepared for the next obstacle to come.
The most important thing is how we stick together through all as a big family.

Thank you all for the great team work.
ivantorrellas
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Thank you very much @Solmaz for leading the drive, and thank you @Scorpio for inviting us.

It was a challenging drive but we have learned a lot from it.

Thanks to all the Marshalls and all the supporting members.
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