Almost4x4

Hi everyone!

Last Saturday we were blessed with an amazing weather for this time of the year and an amazing company as well . We conquered most of Nahil dunes and made a relatively long route covering most of the 2 chains with 53 km done. Quite good progress for our eager short-experienced newbies.

I led the 5+ with known faces so I knew what to expect and adjusted the level to make sure that everybody was having fun on a controlled and safe level. I gave the convoy something around 30 min warm up and progressively I started to increase the level till we achieved a good flow in the second part of the drive.

Unfortunately, I was late in my expected arrival to “safety” as we encountered an unexpected pop out just 10 minutes away from the exit which was perfected managed by David and Jamhi. Thanks for that.

Takeaways from the drive and feedback to our dear newbies:
- Radio communication is a must, and the more you report the best performance the convoy will have.
- Appropriate distance is to be observed at all times specially when driving in technical areas and in fast sections. Too close or too far might lead our members in having problems.
- Leading car drafts the lines, and second lead and remaining members should follow that without changing the tracks unless instructed by the Marshal. Very minor corrections are allowed for second leads (avoiding bushes or ditches, mainly) but without changing the lines...and that’s all. Yesterday’s pop out was a good example and hope that everybody understood the importance of it.

Last but not least, thanks @Ehab for organizing, @David & @alshamsi_m for supporting. Thanks to our brave inter and advance showing up and to all members for joining.

See you soon.
Carlos (CARLOSS)

Firstly, thanks to @Ehab for organizing the drive, and to the rest of the support team. I was part of the second convoy led by @CARLOSS , with the support of David & Aljamhi.

It was a really nice drive. The first part had larger drops and arches, which gave me a good chance to practice and get back into it after more than a month off. The second part picked up the pace quite a bit, which I really enjoyed. The weather was amazing with even some light rain.

It’s always rewarding to feel more comfortable with the car and start anticipating how it will respond… well, most of the time at least!

As a bonus, we also got to watch a recovery after a tire pop-out, where Jamhi and David showed their skills.

Overall, a great morning in the sand. Looking forward to the next one—though sadly, it’s still a while away.

See you soon,

Carlos Amortegui

Met the group right before 8 am and was provided the opportunity to be the second lead of the drive. Really appreciated it as it was the first time ever for me.
We started off with some perfectly executed gradual dunes starting from safari style and then into some smaller straight crests and side sweeps.
Watching Carlos and his approach to navigating each dune was a great learning opportunity as with each calculated approach, I could see that he is applying only the lines that the entire convoy can drive.
Towards the end of the drive, I made the mistake of going off Carlos' line which led to Layal's pop out as that was not a very well calculated move on my part. Massive thank you to the team once again for quickly repairing the pop out. This was an extremely valuable coaching opportunity where I learnt more about how to best tackle such scenarios and how to do a much better job of being a second lead.
Overall, this was the first drive where I got to truly learn what I means to not just follow the drive lead, but to always pay attention and be mindful of who's following behind as well.
Absolutely loved the drive and I look forward to the drives to come