NEWBIE-INTERMEDIATE DRIVE,FRIDAY 16 MAY 2014
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quote Saj:quote DuncanField:its looking like 3 convoys for sure. Should be a fun day in the sands for all members :-ssWhere are my bros Firoz and Humayun?
I’m in Saj….. :drive: How can we miss this kind of Party drive :yesss:
quote firoztv:quote Saj:quote DuncanField:its looking like 3 convoys for sure. Should be a fun day in the sands for all members :-ssWhere are my bros Firoz and Humayun?
I’m in Saj….. :drive: How can we miss this kind of Party drive :yesss:
:ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug:
quote firoztv:quote Saj:quote DuncanField::-ssWhere are my bros Firoz and Humayun?
I’m in Saj….. :drive: How can we miss this kind of Party drive :yesss:
:YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
When it rains, it pours. We have Ahmad Sb and Mathews as well on the drive 😀 .
If only Humayun was in the country, it would have been a clean sweep of the Marshals.
35 and counting………..
quote DuncanField:35 and counting………..:ymapplause: :ymapplause: :ymapplause:
That’s an impressive lineup. Must be a record for the number of registered cars! Unfortunately I will have to bring down that number by one :(( Jeep are keeping my car over the weekend to replace all four tires. The car has had an unreasonable number of “childhood diseases”, but I hope they will sort it out this time 😕 Until the next time…
I am sorry guys but i have to pass todays drive though i am craving for one 🙂 but i have family commitments!! Enjoy it all and be safe.. I am not gonna be there to tow you out hehehe
Ha ha Anas we will surely miss you buddy 🙂
Is was a good drive in nice dunes and soft sand :((
Thanks Firos and othersJean Pierre (JP)
good drive.
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It was quite a drive yesterday with the challenges we faced :-s . I opted to go with the Fewbie convoy considering I had brought along friends who were venturing for the first time into the sand for a real off-road(desert safaris don’t count) drive. It is always better to go with a newbie/fewbie convoy with new passengers as I have seen them suffer on Intermediate/Advanced drives causing the disruption of the whole convoy.
Firoz was assigned to lead this group with yours truly as Sweep. We had Duli as second lead followed by the rest of the members. My apologies as I didn’t get a chance to know all of you before the drive started. The first half of the drive was smooth and we were making good progress to our destination. However, once the flow is interrupted, the momentum gives way and you kind of get into a rut :(( . We had a few stucks, a couple of pop-outs and a completely damaged tyre on my rig as soon we got on tarmac #:-s .
Vijay’s situation was very challenging as he was stuck in a small bowl with a pop-out. I was really worried about his tyre which he had changed a day before. It is not the most pleasing sight to see your brand new tyre getting clobbered #-o . The recovery was done by winching him out of that hole and then pulling him with a viking followed by fixing the pop-out. Amazingly, his tyre seemed alright with no visible damage 😮 . I hope everything’s okay with the tyre, Vijay.
We lost quite a bit of time in this recovery combined with the stucks and pop-out and eventually the lead decided to follow a track from a farm to the blacktop before sunset. But our ordeal was not over yet. As soon as I hit the tarmac, I sensed something wrong with my tyre and on inspection found out that it was damaged very badly. We struggled a lot to replace the stepney due to the lift in the car and eventually managed to do so with the expert guidance and determination from Firoz :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: .
I would like to thank all members for patiently waiting while my stepney was being changed and having the courtesy of leaving only after the job was done and after saying their goodbyes. I really appreciate your gesture of demonstrating the real spirit of off-roading :ymhug: :ymhug: :ymhug: .
Karthyk, Jean Pierre, Stan and the gentlemen in the Grey Xterra and the LWB Pajero drove well. Vijay is learning and struggled in a couple of places. Always, remember that you should never stop while going around a bowl or cresting till your centre of gravity is on the other side. It’s easier said than done but practice will make you perfect :drive: :drive: . Duli drives a beast so has to keep his best friend(momentum) with him at all times. My apologies if I have missed out on anyone.
Last but not the least. What can you say about Firoz? A friendly, approachable and very likable bloke. He is calm and composed in every situation and taught me a very valuable lesson yesterday when changing the stepney. I looked for an easy route out but he was determined and never gave up and showed me how to do things when you are on your own. Thank you very much Firoz for your lead and guidance yesterday :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: .
A couple of points to ponder :
1.We all like to play around when we get the opportunity. However, it does not help if you get stuck. Marshals always make an effort give some play time to the members but delays don’t help their cause. Moreover, watching recoveries will make you learn a lot.
2.Members who aspire to progress and get an upgrade should start investing in the proper tools. I found members with unrated snatch straps/ropes which are not advisable. A viking rope is a must. Marshal Saif is organising the ropes and I advise members to get one if they don’t have.
3.Invest in a hydraulic trolley jack and compressor if you want your stars 😉 😉 😉Here is the route we did yesterday :
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I request all members to pitch in with their drive reports, whether negative or positive to help us all improve :thanks: .
As I hit the highway towards the group I was greeted with that sinking feeling of someone who had left his/her flag on the floor in the garage – never a great start to a drive. When I reached the meeting point I began to deflate my tires…due to the size of them this is a very time consuming process made thoroughly unenjoyable by the windy conditions on the day. We split in to our convoys and the drive started.
Faheem was leading the newbie convoy and before long that took us in the direction of a place where another convoy or two were waiting. It appeared as though a problem with a car meant that someone’s day was already over and they were escorted back to the road. This meant that the newbie and fewbie convoys were combined.
The newly formed n/fewbie convoy set off with Faheem informing us that he would need to pick up the pace to accommodate the fewbies. Though the leaders tried to get the convoy moving, unfortunately we had a few stucks along the way and Faheem’s tire seemed to want to drop air and needed to be topped up a couple of times during the drive. As I dropped down the side of a bowl I looked up to see the underside of a car and a front left wheel hanging over the crest. I assume that this was the rather tricky and stuck/recovery that Saj was talking about. The half of the convoy ahead of the stuck moved on to a safe waiting point whilst the cars behind sorted all of the problems.
By the time the entire convoy was regrouped the light was starting to fade and we were forced to head back to the road in darkness. This was not the easiest running since much of the convoy (myself included) did not have any additional lights.
All being said I had a great time on my first drive with DO. As Saj said it is often through watching recoveries that we are able to improve our driving the most. The help provided of the marshalls and sweeps was always there whether it was showing the correct line or pulling someone off a crest. The route was an enjoyable one – although some of the tight turns were a bit to tight in my car (I had to do a 3-poin turn at one point). I am very much looking forward to the next drive that I am able to attend. Thanks to Faheem and all of the members that organised and helped out during the drive.
Till next time.
MJJ
Sorry…that got longer than I was expecting…
quote MJJ:Sorry…that got longer than I was expecting…The longer the better, the people who missed the drive get to experience it reading your detailed reports 🙂
Thanks for the report. Had fun reading them. Remember, like everything else, in the sand every difficulty is a learning opportunity. As you get experienced, then you will see a great deal of reduction in the problems with your car. There is an amazing saying that a very experienced offroader used to say and I absolutely love it, “I love problems, as long as they are not mine”. 😉
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