Ab Initio 9th generation
Great to see new faces joining the club. Welcome everybody!!!
We started with the introduction on history of Desert Fellas by Marko.
Then I explained the eight rules of Desert Fellas. After, we make everyone introduce themselves followed by Chef Marc demonstration of safety and recovery gear.
After dividing the group in two convoys(with and without experience) we did the safety briefing and defined the convoy order.
No experience group was led by me with Michael as second lead and Salah as Sweeper, Marko was supervising and correcting the trip.
We moved to an area where the prospects could start practicing straight cresting.
We did the same crest individually a few times and after getting confident we did it again as a convoy without stopping.
We did the same exercise several times in different crests to solidify the theory of “momentum, inertia, gravity”.
We had several second tries and about 5 stucks that kept our sweeper busy.
By 11AM we reached the starting point where we exited the sand to inflate our tires.
Chefmarc’s convoy
This group was the one’s with some experience and we had a unique mix of cars and nationalities, so after the briefing and radio check we headed to some higher dunes to conduct lesson 3.
We started off with some straight cresting and the fellas did well, we did notice that we need to warm up a bit after a second try so we did a few more till it was close to perfect. We then stated with some small sloping and increased slightly, everyone was warmed up and showed good technique and control.
The trip then progressed to link both these lessons together and we started to get a nice flow, all the fellas respected the 8 disciplines but room for improvement is always there. After a short 20km Drive we exited exactly on time as planned to inflate. You all did an amazing job and looking forward to the next drive with you.
Thanks everyone for joining!
Thanks Desert Fellas team for the support and thanks Marko for the opportunity to organize the Ab Initio 9th generation. It was an honor!
See you all soon on the sand, have a great week!!!
19 comments on Ab Initio 9th generation
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Big thanks to the team who make this happen.
Amazing job Tiago and Marc in terms of planing and conducting Ab Initio 9.
Big thanks to supporting team: Salah, Michael, Sujit, Siddhart, Pradeep. You guys are making fine team together which is improving each and every trip.
It was pleasure to meet nice new people in our group.
Looking forward to drive with all of you again.
Wish you pleasant rest of the weekend!
Thanks for the experience Marks, I learn everyday with DF!
This Ab Initio was excellent! The support team so a fantastic job, organisation from Tiago spot on and the leadership from Marko outstanding as always! Welcome to all the new prospects you guys were all amazing and looking forward to spending more time with you on the sand.
Thanks for the support Chef!!!
Great experience today with the new fellas . Happy to meet more desert enthusiast. Thanks Tiago, Marko and Salah for the learning today .
Thanks Marko, Tiago & Chef Marc for the initial brief, was really useful for a fresh fellas like me.
Big thanks to Chef Marc, Sujith & Sid for making the convoy safety is the first priority, & for making us more confident about ourselves and our cars in the different obstacles & challenges.
The spirit was amazing and i can’t wait for the next drive with the fellas.
Decending from a predominantly Bedouin community, I always wanted to join a group that respects Desert for what it is, for that it takes someone a lifetime to try learning about it and it’s rules.
Thank you Tiago, Chef Marc, Marc, Salah and everyone who is making this happen, the efforts are obvious and appreciated. Thank you for sharing your experience and giving your time for others and thank you for doing all that with a heart.
The drive was fun and educating while accommodating to everyone’s level. Thank you for the diversity of the group, and thank you for everyone for the discipline they showed in the desert and the nice spirit. Cannot wait to the next drive with you guys, God bless you all and may the desert be with you 😉
Shukran Habib, nice feed back!
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay, here’s my feedback:
– great initial briefing with visual demonstration. Makes it a lot easier to connect what we saw to real life and what to do and what not to do and when. This helps when you are not entirely sure on what to do, you’ll visually reconnect to the toy cars.
– loved the outline of the list for the safety equipment, it makes a lot easier to understand what is needed and what is not necessary and why. The offer of accessories out there is great and sometimes is hard to understand exactly what does what in what way.
– great to see the rules outlined at the very beginning with very clear expectations and the reasons behind them. This helps being all on the same page and avoiding messy and unpleasant situations.
– good idea splitting the groups so who is new doesn’t feel unsafe and who is a bit more experienced doesn’t get bored. Gives everyone the time to learn and have fun.
– great to see all the team leaders observing from different position, it made me feel safe and prompted me to do better with on the moment feedback and via radio.
– great culture of specific and immediate feedback. It helps knowing straight away what behaviors you should repeat or not.
I have never been part of any other group but it’s great to see how hierarchy and upgrades seem to be based on merit and slow learning rather than bravery.
That’s all!
I hope this helps.
Grazie for the feedback!
gracias por la experiencia!
Getting to experience the drive with desert fellas is unlike anything else I had before.
Loved the briefing, very useful and important information with visuals on situations that might happen and explanation on dos and don’ts in details. Recovery gears demonstration and explanation👌
Organization, safety and leadership is top notch along with discipline.
Feedback on the drive and improvement tips are on point.
Thank you all for creating such a community.
Today I have earned the DF flag which is a proud moment for me. All the more I was given an opportunity to be a second TL, which is after a good analysis of my skills and capabilities by the team leaders and instructors of DF group. I would like to take this opportunity to thank DF team in helping me to realize where I stand in my skills and abilities of desert driving.
The opportunity to meet new members and to understand their capabilities and to learn from each other has always been a pleasure for me.
Welcome on board and congrats to the new members of DF and a BIG Thank you to the DF TEAM (Marko, ChefMarc, SiD, Pradeep, Salouh, Tiago, Michael and others)
Congratulations to Tiago on Ab Initio Program.
Take care and God Bless.
Hi all,
Hope all is well, and everyone had a good weekend.
Thank you for the amazing AB intro drive.
I had a great time and the whole trip was really well structured.
The morning briefing was very well explained and took the edge off my ‘first timer’ nerves as it made me more confident with what to expect through out the morning drive. It also showed me the ‘family culture’ inside Desert Fellas as we all sat around like one big family 😄
It was a great idea to split the teams into different level of experience as It made me feel more comfortable knowing I wasnt going to slow anyone down and I was surrounded by similar skilled drivers.
When going around the dunes the feedback I received on the radio was always put out in a positive, constructive way so it always pushed me to do better on the next try.
I liked the fact that I could see the team leaders cars sitting on the crest and the marshals car dotted around our convoy – it made me feel safe and in good hands.
Everything was always well explained and I learn a lot from my first drive with Desert Felles.
Can’t wait for my next drive.
Sam
Thanks to Tiago, Marko, chef Mark who gave the invitation to New members in the club family. It was indeed a great experience and good to know about the finer details.
Looking forward for more drives with you all…
Another ab initio, another bunch of new recruits to build confidences and embrace values of the club. It was quite chilly in the morning. I was really impressed about the prospect+ drive that i was assigned to, as apart from only 1 2nd try the entire group was almost flawless. Thank you sujith for being my eyes in the front, pradeep in the middle and marc for bestowing me at the back to earn my badge soon. Totally amazed by every new members commitment to this club. I truly appreciate each and every one of you for proving us that you fellas got what it takes to be one of us.
Much love to all of you. Bless you too.
Sid
Welcome to all new members in DF family!
Thank you Marko, Tiago and Marc for organizing the 9th Ab Initio.
Marc, thank you for the pleasant & nice drive. And a big thank you for the 5 star rating review. Its truly good to drive with you my friend and learning from you!
Thank you all Fellas & looking forward to drive with you in the coming days.
Apologies for the late comments but I echo the previous reviews on this page. Had a wonderful time, and many thanks to all the team leaders for a well-organized and well-executed day out. A special thanks to my mate Tiago for a job well done. Also to Chef Mark for a great teaching session, a lot of learning was achieved on my part. Keep up the great work gents 👍🏾
Congratulations DFs and especially Tiago for organizing Ab Initio 9. Looking forward to many many more to come. I welcome all new members to our group and wish they will all enjoy their time on the sand every weekend like we do.