Superman is back Fewbie+ night drive 4 Jul 2019

[Roshan Abraham]

Thank u @GauravWe will be at the meeting point by 9 30.. confirmed

[Roshan Abraham]

Thanks @Gaurav and @Rahimdad for the full support N cooperation throughout the drive. Had a good drive, new experience.. looking forward to catch up next time.. 

[Gaurav]

4 hours ago, Roshan Abraham said:

Thanks @Gaurav and @Rahimdad for the full support N cooperation throughout the drive. Had a good drive, new experience.. looking forward to catch up next time.. 

You are most welcome and it was nice meeting you as well. Looking forward to seeing you starting your new offroad life with new 4x4 following the offroad structure from newbie level. That will be safe and more enjoyable for you and your 4x4, to test its limits and its capabilities with slow and steady pace.

[Frederic]

@Rahimdad thanks again for the fantastic lead in the beautiful area 53. Some areas were proven to be a bit tricky with soft patches and all of us had to stay on our toes a bit, which is actually a good thing when driving at night. 

@Gaurav your skills as first sweep are  something I really look forward to learn in the near future. Your fast reactions, anticipation, clear communication, and the ability to stay calm and composed is what makes a true crew member. Thanks for the assistance and company on this adventurous night.

Thanks to the rest of the team for keeping the spirits high, even after consecutive stucks or refusals. The more time you will spend with your car the more you will feel it’s strengths, weaknesses, and you will learn how to apply either a feather touch or a full lead foot on the pedal at the right appropriate timing. Idem ditto with keeping distance which like Gaurav bhai mentioned needs constant adjusting based on the terrain, overall pace, and person in front of you. 

@Shamil when I announced that I didn’t see you in the convoy anymore you seemed to got lost. Don’t be afraid to immediately announce on the radio that you don’t see any team members anymore and best to stop the car and walk to the highest dune nearby. We’ve all been in similar situations and I know it feels a bit scary.

see you guys soon !

Edited July 6, 2019 by Frederic

[Gaurav]

Thanks @Frederic for giving me wonderful support in that extra adventurous night drive where we were having 1 stuck every 10 min average. I was really very fortunate to have you as a second sweep that night. Without your physical and calculative support and patience I would have gone crazy with so many stucks in one drive. Your team player attitude is really something special that we rarely see in today's offroader. Really thank you from the bottom of my heart, when I was fully exhausted and drained that I crashed first on the mat where we suppose to eat, which I have never done that before.

You are on a very right path to excel and learn lot more than others to reach the higher levels, just because you "genuinely" love to help people and in return learn lot more than just usual recovery skills.

[Fuad]

Miss you all Guys. Hope you all had a wonderful time.,👍🏻

[Rahimdad]

Trip Report.

What a night, Superman truly back into action caught flying all over Area 53 after 3 weeks of exposure to kryptonite. With myself in the lead, @Javier M in second lead, followed by @Roshan Abraham, @MATHEW FELEX, @Shamil and @Frederic and @Gaurav bhai in the sweep.

Earlier @Gaurav and myself were flying to the meeting point to brief the new personal on board, but had to wait and thus got somewhat delayed in our start. The first bit itself was fun but soft sand which made it difficult for all 7 cars to go through. A little reroute saw better results with 400 meters without a stuck, but it was that kind of a night where the sweep team had to do overtime to keep the convoy moving.

Every time I tried to make through closer to Iftar bowl we were faced with a soft sand wall which was impossible for all 7 cars to clear. Slowly but surely we moved around the Iftar Bowl to find a path that would finally let us through. There were a lot of hits and misses, but close to early morning hours we finally found a track and almost made it through. Just edging at the back side of Iftar Bowl waiting for the rest to catch up, I came to find out that one of the cars was caught up in an awful pocket. I made my way back to the sweep team and assisted with a couple of tugs that had the vehicle in a better position. From here @Gaurav bhai took over and got it out in a jiffy. With the sun coming out, we played a while on the Iftar Bowl.

This was time for @Javier M to bow out as his friend Ramon was not feeling so well. Rest of us headed 100 meters away from the action to a safe spot with a shade which was not going to last very long. We lay our spread and enjoyed recapping the horrid night behind us. With the sun becoming just a bit unbearable we had a quick ride in the daylight to exit. We all inflated our tires and promised to meet another time.

So in short the drive was challenging yet fun. It had Superman written all over it but not without the help of the sweep team. So until next time I bid you all farewell. See you all soon.

[Shamil]

What a night! it was a fun filled adventurous drive indeed. @Frederic yes thanks for pointing out that i need to be vocal when i am lost. Why i went mum, was because I realized that  @Roshan Abraham was stuck on the other side anyways and since i had a fair idea of where he was located, and since the convoy would stop to recover him, i thought i could try and get out of that sticky spot by myself. Else, if the convoy was moving on, i would have definitely radio'ed in seeking assistance  

Besides that, I loved the side cresting exercises as it gave me a good chance to work on those skills. Tackling soft sand is still a tough one for me as i am still trying to figure out at what point and how much gas i need to apply. And on this night, i made my second ever attempt at climbing iftar bowl and yet again i failed. But when @Rahimdad bhai attempted the same with my car and he wasn't able to make it straight up (he eventually did with an alternate route) i was a bit relieved 😜 Definitely looking forward to more drives and to eventually climb off-road ranks (and dunes effortlessly) with this awesome group.  

Edited July 9, 2019 by Shamil

[Gaurav]

2 hours ago, Shamil said:

Besides that, I loved the side cresting exercises as it gave me a good chance to work on those skills. 

Like I mentioned before, don't love side cresting as that's the most dangerous thing to do in offroading that can flip your car in no time. Instead learn how to not to side crest, by keeping the momentum to climb and "accept" fast if it won't go up, so that you can turn downward safely and make another attempt. Fighting with the gravity till last second when you don't have enough momentum cause side crest, which is very prone to flip while recovering.

[Shamil]

😨copy that and noted